Enable and submit a Paperless Trade digital customs invoice for a DHL Express international shipment via the MyDHL API
domain: developer.dhl.com · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Confirm Paperless Trade is activated on the DHL Express account (activation is a one-time account-level setup, not a per-shipment flag alone)
Build the shipment request selecting both the Paperless Trade and Customs Invoice additional services
Populate the customs invoice service block with commercial invoice line-item data (description, value, quantity, origin)
Attach the invoice via the Attachments block so DHL can transmit invoice data electronically to the destination customs authority
Submit the shipment and confirm the response indicates the WY paperless trade service code was applied
Retain no physical invoice printing for the shipment since compliant PLT destinations accept the electronic data instead
Known gotchas
Paperless Trade acceptance depends on the destination country's customs regime; not all 180+ supported countries treat it identically, and some non-PLT lanes still require a printed invoice affixed to the package
If Paperless Trade or Customs Invoice services are omitted from the request, DHL will not apply the WY code and the shipment reverts to requiring a printed invoice
Account-level activation must happen before the first API call; a shipment request alone does not enable the feature
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