Exporting a Vehicle from the U.S. and Importing into Canada: Complete Step-by-Step Guide
- Thread starter KBH
- Start date
1. Confirm
2. Confirm.
I would like to add that in addition to US insurance experience letter I've got for my spouse the official letter from Michigan SOS stating the date (how many years) when she got her first DL with them. Each year of having DL counts and earns discount on Canadian insurance - in our case ~$600 yearly discount.
3. I also paid a bit for conversion my US car to Canada's daytime running lights (depends on the car, Windsor MB dealer charges $130/hour and they spent on this pure software update almost 2 days with help directly from Germany) and for Safety Standards Certificate ( around $90, in my case with the same MB dealer $180 the same day) in addition to $350 RIV fee and $199.00 fee to Service Ontario.
The side effect of this conversion is car's dashboard shows temperature only in °C now, but still can switch between mph to kmph.
Just looking on a photocopy of my "Vehicle Import Form - Form 1" filled by CBSA officer by hand in front of me - the paragraph 6. Manufacturer's Statement of Compliance Label or Manufacturer's Letter of Certification was left unchecked, but the actual picture from the the car sill door with VIN number and Statement that "This Vehicle Conforms To All Applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety and Theft Prevention Standards...." was requested. The officer just looked at the picture from my smartphone.
Hi
By any chance do you know if CBSA keeps the form 1 ?? Actually I did get only yellow paper and now service Ontario says they need white color form instead of yellow
By any chance do you know if CBSA keeps the form 1 ?? Actually I did get only yellow paper and now service Ontario says they need white color form instead of yellow
Hi
Does anyone have a reference of a vehicle broker that would faciliate this entire process? Also currently I have TPS and moving to Canada under PR status. Not looking forward to paying a visit to US customs for my registration release process due to my status. More comfortable if there is a company that can handle the whole process from start to end. Any input asap would be appreciated.
thank you
Does anyone have a reference of a vehicle broker that would faciliate this entire process? Also currently I have TPS and moving to Canada under PR status. Not looking forward to paying a visit to US customs for my registration release process due to my status. More comfortable if there is a company that can handle the whole process from start to end. Any input asap would be appreciated.
thank you
I do not know a vehicle broker and did export/import myself for my spouse who was EWI, so the same concern about US customs (although they have nothing to do with ICE). The spouse landed to Canada first with vehicle listed in the List of Goods to Follow. When she got her Ontario DL and we found insurance we started export/import and registration process. For export I've ordered AES ITN number using http://simplifiedtradesolutions.com/ service for $35.
Hey all.... I'm Canadian who has been living in PA since 2009 as a PR. Want to move back to Mississauga this summer --- I really dont want to import my car --- my car insurance is super cheap here . I still own a home here and just going to rent it out -- which means I will be in PA every few months or so I imagine. So question --- When I come back with my UHaul full of my personal stuff --- Im going to include my car as something I will import later ---- is there any sort of time frame for that?? Could it be years? Thank you
There is no time frame for the Goods to Follow List.
You have to have a plan as how you are going to drive "for years" your US plated/registered/insured car in Canada. I assume that you are going to keep your US DL and make sure your Insurance will cover the vehicle while you are "visiting" Canada.
How about your PR status in US? You would need to take care of this as well...
Another complication is taxation, more likely you will become a Canadian resident with foreign rental property ...
I don't think you can avoid paying a visit to US customs before importing your vehicle. It's a straight forward process though. They will stamp your vehicle title and at least for me the CBSA officer did ask if I did the export formalities on the US side. I would recommend https://www.autoexports.us/ to get an ITN. They had good customer service and responded to my requests quickly.
Thank you for thinking about all that --- a lot more to hash out for sure. I didnt think about filing taxes....hmmmmm....maybe I need to figure that out with a tax advisor before I do anything. My move will be in June so I do have some time to get everything situated.
Hi,
I bought a used car in the US when I was staying there under a non-resident visa. I drove that car back to Canada when I moved back (I am a Canadian resident). The border at both sides didn't give me any trouble, and the Canadian border service agent told me I could decide to import the vehicle later if I so choose.
Now, I want to import the car in Canada, but the registration and insurance on the US side have already expired. The Canadian Customs Services told me I can still import it, but I am worried about the US side since I didn't export it.
So my question is, do I still need to go through the process of exporting it? Will I get into serious trouble if I don't?
Also, will I get into even more trouble if I go back to export it? and they find out I didn't export before I imported or give me all sort of trouble like I didn't surrender my plate in time? I know from experience US border service is not pleasant to deal with even if one is Canadian.
Thanks.
I bought a used car in the US when I was staying there under a non-resident visa. I drove that car back to Canada when I moved back (I am a Canadian resident). The border at both sides didn't give me any trouble, and the Canadian border service agent told me I could decide to import the vehicle later if I so choose.
Now, I want to import the car in Canada, but the registration and insurance on the US side have already expired. The Canadian Customs Services told me I can still import it, but I am worried about the US side since I didn't export it.
So my question is, do I still need to go through the process of exporting it? Will I get into serious trouble if I don't?
Also, will I get into even more trouble if I go back to export it? and they find out I didn't export before I imported or give me all sort of trouble like I didn't surrender my plate in time? I know from experience US border service is not pleasant to deal with even if one is Canadian.
Thanks.
If car is already registered and plated in Canada and you don't plan to take this car back to USA, then you don't need to do anything now.
Need more clarity on this. Is the car now registered in Canada or still has US plates? I imagine you were not able to register the car without importing it?
The thing to remember is the 72 hour notice that you have to give the CBP before you go there for export formality. Folks have had different experiences but some officers will ask where the car was 72 hours prior and refuse to do export formality if the car was not in the US. I don't remember being asked for insurance or registration while doing export formality. Only title and ITN. Having said that it is always risky driving without insurance. Perhaps your Canadian insurance will cover you, but again need more information to answer your question accurately
Thank you guys for the speedy reply.
My car is still plated and registered in the state of NY, but both insurance and registration are both expired. However, I still have my clean title. I plan to import the car first and get it registered and insured on the Canadian side, so I can at least drive it. I hope they won't take away my NY title, so I can still export it.
Oh...so I have to stay in the US for 72 hours to export it even if I get an export agent to help me? From what I can find online, it just seems they will give me all sort of trouble to export it.
Right now I'm tempted to just not export it, and change the title to a Canadian one since I will never drive this car to the US in the future. I'm just worried that if I sell this car eventually, and someone else drives it across, gets into trouble for not exporting it.