If you are in the USA, I've found that
https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder/ can be helpful.
When I was tracking the delivery of my BMW (built in Leipzig, Germany) an error code (Notify BMW of North America...) would be returned. A day or two after it reached the "At the Port" (destination port - Brunswick, GA in my case) I no longer received the error message, indicating that it had cleared customs and had been accepted into the country. I could then see the details of my decoded VIN.