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Customs-figure tool · Information, not advice

Is your box within the volume cap?

A balikbayan box is defined as a container up to a maximum volume of 200,000 gross cubic centimetres, without regard to shape — CAO 01-2018 §3.2. Enter your length, width and height in inches or centimetres and this shows the gross cm³ against that figure, with the exact headroom or overage. It runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent or stored. Size (§3.2) is a different limit from value (§4.2) and from the couriers' own weight tiers — the tool keeps the three apart.

Three separate limits — this tool checks only the first

  • Size

    A balikbayan box is defined as a container up to a maximum volume of 200,000 gross cubic centimetres, without regard to shape. That is the figure this tool applies to your dimensions. CAO 01-2018 §3.2

  • Value

    A separate ceiling: ₱150,000 total FCA value of all boxes per sender per calendar year (CAO §4.2). It is not the same as size and is not computed here. The ₱150,000 value limit

  • Weight

    Couriers set their own weight tiers. No customs weight cap exists in the CAO — so this tool does not check weight, and there is no customs weight figure to read into it. Courier weight & size tiers

Measure your box

Or start from a posted US courier tier:
Or start from a posted UK courier tier:

The live checker needs JavaScript. The standard box tiers and the 200,000 cm³ cap are listed below regardless.

Posted courier tiers vs the 200,000 cm³ cap

Volumes are arithmetic on each courier's posted inch dimensions (edge × 2.54 = cm; L × W × H). 4 of the 10 posted tiers above measure more than the 200,000 cm³ §3.2 figure. That is a size-to-definition comparison, not a customs determination on any shipment — confirm with the courier. The same rows are in box-tier-dimensions.csv; the §3.2 figure is in customs-constants.csv.

Sources — checked, dated

  1. Bureau of Customs — CAO 01-2018 §3.2 (master copy PDF, read visually) — checked
  2. LBC USA sea-freight page (archived 2026-10-12; live page since removed) — posted box tier dimensions — checked
  3. Highlight Express — posted box tier dimensions — checked
  4. LT Express — posted box tier dimensions — checked
  5. Balikbayan Box UK — posted box tier dimensions — checked

Sources checked

A worked example

Take the Extra Large tier LBC posted on its US sea-freight page (since removed; Internet Archive capture of 2026-10-12), 24 × 18 × 24 inches, and apply the §3.2 figure step by step:

  1. Multiply the three edges 24 × 18 × 24 = 10,368 cubic inches
  2. Convert to centimetres 1 inch = 2.54 cm, so cubic inches × 2.54³ (16.387064) → 10,368 × 16.387064 = 169,901 gross cm³
  3. Compare to the §3.2 cap 169,901 cm³ vs the 200,000 cm³ maximum = 30,099 cm³ under it (about 85% of the cap)

In centimetres directly the box is 60.96 × 45.72 × 60.96 cm, which multiplies to the same 169,901 gross cm³ — the unit toggle above just does this conversion for you. Not every posted tier lands under the figure: Highlight Express's Ultra Jumbo, 38 × 26 × 26 inches, works out to 420,951 gross cm³, about 2.1× the 200,000 cm³ that CAO 01-2018 §3.2 uses to define a balikbayan box. These are arithmetic on the couriers' posted dimensions and the §3.2 figure — sourced information, not advice.

Sourced & dated information — not financial or immigration advice. Our sources & ranking policy.

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