Originally Posted by
Nayef
Since my family would be entering on tourist visas, meaning they're not US citizens or permanent residents, does this part mean they're not required to fill out the form? I'm not entirely sure what the rest of section d) means.
No. To make this simple, (d) means someone in the money business.
Originally Posted by
Nayef
It also doesn't say anything about gold jewelry or any other kind of jewelry even in the definitions of monetary instruments, so that's another source of confusion for us.
When in doubt, file it anyway. There is no penalty for filing the form. But there is a penalty for not filing the form when required.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
I recall something about duty often being waived on personal effects imported to the US when the personal effects are more than one year of age when it's part of a relocation. Unlike with personal effects (where duty is sometimes waived) , however, household effects come in duty-free. Personal effects are subject to duty. And personal effects includes jewelry.
You are both right and wrong. When what you have said is completely true (about the exemption), the problem is OP's parents are not a U.S. person. So there is no such thing as "relocation" for them.