Should i be worried that i might inccur issues with not properly exporting it. Right now it is kinda of hard for me to file export with the car currently in canada however cbsa told me if i transfered the title to my wife she could import it but that possibly causes problems if we bring it back to the us does that mean as a visitor or relocating?
Possibly not able to export car from the us.
- Thread starter Usa2canada<3
- Start date
Before you moved your car to canada did you follow the car export process? Do you have export stamp on your title and import form 1 from cbsa? If not then you cannot import the car to canada without exporting it from USA, and to export the car from usa it needs to be inside USA for atleast 72 hours prior to exporting.
https://www.pcb.ca/post/importing-a-vehicle-to-canada-from-the-u-s-in-9-steps-5134
https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/how-to-import-a-car-from-the-u-s-into-canada
To bring the car back to usa as a visitor, you don't need to import it again to usa. If you permanently relocate then you may have to do the reverse export-import process.
I didnt get an export done. Did not even realize i needed to do that. I saw that there was a possible temp import. As of right now i am not panicking over it.
First of all the vehicle should not "to be inside USA for a least 72 hours" - just a notice (email) of intent of export should be given 72 hours in advance.
The only problem with the proper export US plated vehicle already in Canada at this moment is actual crossing to US and back to Canada during this stay-at-home order. Last time I went to US to pickup my medication in the middle of May and on the way back got 14 days self isolation quarantine from CBSA...
I also today called to CBSA asking whether I need the formal export stamp in the Title from US side, they basically said - "YES, only if US side require that".
At the same time the Appendix with "Procedures for Vehicles to be Registered in the RIV Program " clearly direct CBSA officer to ( step 8) : "Verify whether the vehicle, importer, and vendor information matches the information on the supporting documentation (Title, US proof of export (if provided), licensing document, bill of sale, invoice, etc.) ".
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d19/d19-12-1-eng.html
The key word there "...US proof of export (if provided)..." - IF PROVIDED, so they (CBSA) could allow to import without Export stamp.
Still it's a gray area. My take on this is that Canadians could allow to permanently import without US proof of export, but down the road, it could be hard to re-import the vehicle back to US ( if needed) without proper export.
Here is a snippet from the receipt email from Blaine border service after I sent my documents 72 hours prior to my export.
The reason the car must be inside the US for 72 hours prior to export is that they can make sure it is not stolen or something. You can verify this with the border service you are planning to export your car.
Also I don't see how you can import your car to Canada without the export stamp as I needed that during my RIV inspection as well as car registration. Although if there may be exceptions I am not aware of here.
Not sure about Blaine local directives, maybe the vehicle should stay in US for 72 hours from their point of view. As far as stamp in Title, not sure that RIV inspector cares about that. My RIV email from last week said if vehicle is in Canada - just go to CBSA office to get Form 1.
It's all flexible from my point of view. In 2018 I drove the US plated car back and forth to work from Canada until recall was done and after that decided to formally permanently import her, got ITN number, gave 72 notice by email, drove to US, turned around to export office, got stamp and proceeded to Canada for import. My spouse's second vehicle is in Canada, stuck here because of virus since March, US plated/insured/registered.
My worry now is just border crossing, since car import is not essential reason for travel.
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Are you saying you never ever exported car from usa and was still able to import in canada?
Please explain more how to do that as we cannot go to USA now so cannot export but we need to import it .
Good to see that there's some other people that are in our shoes. I hope this info helps them.
My partner was on a study visa, so we didn't need to change our plates when we brought our car into Canada/BC a few years back. It has Colorado insurance and plates.
In June we got PR and were worried about what to do.
Went to a local CBSA office yesterday and they said no worries and handed us a Form 1 and said we could keep driving the car and go through importation the process.
The problem is a classic Catch-22. We could import the car to Canada without going to the US, but then if we drove the car back to the US ever again it could be seized. And while we could technically cross the border, we'd be exposing ourselves to much higher COVID rates in Washington, and we'd have to quarantine for two weeks upon return. Blaine's import office was inflexible: they require us to be in the USA for 72 hours to export the car, and as the other poster says, a car import isn't "essential travel" from Canada's side.
So today we went back to the CBSA office and explained the situation and the officer said, "Don't worry about it. As long as your car is insured you can have it here with US plates until the border opens to non-essential traffic."
This is in line with this part of the CBSA site about COVID Info for Canadians and Permanent Residents:
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/covid/canadians-canadiens-eng.html
Temporary import of US-plated vehicles into Canada
Until further notice, the CBSA is lifting the 60-day condition regarding the temporary import of US-plated vehicles by Canadian residents. A new deadline for when these vehicles will need to be exported or permanently imported with applicable duties and tax will follow.
Hopefully this helps any folks out there in a similar predicament.
My partner was on a study visa, so we didn't need to change our plates when we brought our car into Canada/BC a few years back. It has Colorado insurance and plates.
In June we got PR and were worried about what to do.
Went to a local CBSA office yesterday and they said no worries and handed us a Form 1 and said we could keep driving the car and go through importation the process.
The problem is a classic Catch-22. We could import the car to Canada without going to the US, but then if we drove the car back to the US ever again it could be seized. And while we could technically cross the border, we'd be exposing ourselves to much higher COVID rates in Washington, and we'd have to quarantine for two weeks upon return. Blaine's import office was inflexible: they require us to be in the USA for 72 hours to export the car, and as the other poster says, a car import isn't "essential travel" from Canada's side.
So today we went back to the CBSA office and explained the situation and the officer said, "Don't worry about it. As long as your car is insured you can have it here with US plates until the border opens to non-essential traffic."
This is in line with this part of the CBSA site about COVID Info for Canadians and Permanent Residents:
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/covid/canadians-canadiens-eng.html
Temporary import of US-plated vehicles into Canada
Until further notice, the CBSA is lifting the 60-day condition regarding the temporary import of US-plated vehicles by Canadian residents. A new deadline for when these vehicles will need to be exported or permanently imported with applicable duties and tax will follow.
Hopefully this helps any folks out there in a similar predicament.
Thanks for this first hand information from cbsa ofc as anything helps people like me in similar situation...
Although you are sharing a good info about visit to the offices..
But the problem is that the 60days limits was for the people who imported car temporarily... And thats what they r saying that limit is no longer there..
But you (i assume) and me never imported it temporarily.. Correct? and understand?
Another questions are that how would we renew your US number plate?
And how would we renew our US license?
Or Did they tell you that we can we take Canadian license and use it to drive US number plated car?
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"We could import the car to Canada without going to the US, but then if we drove the car back to the US ever again it could be seized. " - I agree that missing the proper export is violation of US law, but during 2 years of commuting from Canada to US on my wife's exported/imported vehicle (before March 2020) never question was about vehicle itself. The both customs just took picture of plates. I had secondary inspections twice and again, they (CBP) searched the car, "interrogated" me, but there was no question about the vehicle. I am talking about former US plated vehicle, now Canadian plated. I do not think US or Canada customs have access for the vehicle history. Are they going to run specifically for you Carfax report or do they have access for the State /Province vehicle registration information?
Yes, we didn't do the temporary import - we just told them we were ignorant of that rule - and it's true. My partner's parents were the ones who technically brought it over to us.
But again, the CBSA officer said not to worry about anything. As long as the car is insured and everything is up to date we're good.
Great .. Thanks for reply.. .do you know what should be the insurance amounts here..
Usually the USA amounts of insurance coverage are less than Canadian province requirements.. But still US companies give the Canadian insurance paper with US coversge limits.. Is thst fine to continue with that for longer period?
You did not reply how are you planning to renew your US number plate and US driving license if its expiring before the border opens to let you go to do export process?
Thanks for reply.. But you already said it was exported and imported already.. So whenever u go to usa if they took ur plates photo or even otherwise they would not bother as u r travelling to and fro instead of permanently moving back to usa.. Even if they ask specifically for plate u still u were safe..
Here the problem and question was for the car which was never exported from usa but is imported in canada .. So even if there is low chance of asking but anyhow if they find out then its a big risk with a low chance too ... Isnt it..
Any updates regarding the case that US plated car in Canada to be imported? I sent emails to both RIV and CBSA, got 1 reply from RIV until now.
"If your vehicle is already in Canada, you will need to visit a CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) office in order to obtain a Vehicle Import Form (Form 1) and begin the import process. To find the office nearest to you the CBSA can be reached at 1-800-461-9999. "
According to the comment from Alex54321, I think this email reply is automatic.
"If your vehicle is already in Canada, you will need to visit a CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) office in order to obtain a Vehicle Import Form (Form 1) and begin the import process. To find the office nearest to you the CBSA can be reached at 1-800-461-9999. "
According to the comment from Alex54321, I think this email reply is automatic.