Rental car from Michigan to Toronto
- Thread starter jumanji
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I have never heard that Canadian PR's are not allowed to drive foreign rental cars into Canada but they have a problem sometimes with Canadian PR's driving their own US registered cars. It depends on if the immigration officers realize the difference between a PR who is residing in the US and a PR who is residing in Canada. Sometimes they want to force people to import their US registered cars to Canada even if they are not ready to move to Canada yet.
And what if you don't have a Canadian license? You are supposed to go to Canada first and get one? One thing you could do is take your rental car to a border town, cross on foot, get a rental car on the Canadian side as well as a drivers license, drive it to the US side, transfer your luggage from the American to the Canadian car, return the American car to the rental company, cross again with the Canadian car. However, I don't really believe that they expect you to do that.
This issue comes up all the time. Having PR status is not the same as being a resident of Canada. If you are a resident of the U.S., you can drive a U.S. plated car in Canada regardless if you have PR status in Canada. However CBSA is woefully untrained on this issue and some officers do not understand the difference making for a possibly bad experience at the border. If you end up having problems, I would politely ask to speak to a supervisor. CBSA needs to send out a bulletin to its officers on this issue, because it is creating a lot of unnecessary angst for people.
Thanx Links18....i called customs n the first lady honestly said she has no clue n transfered me to a senior officer who just kept telling me i cant use a rental car with a us licence or plates eventhough i am a us citizen n have been in the Us for two years n just retuurning to canada....so i kindly requested to speak to a supervisor.....she relunctantly transfered me....the supervisor was very polite. This is what he told me.....1) when renting a car ask for plates with Canadian plates instead of Us plates. 2)make sure have all the right paperwork..3) it is fine to use my Us license as long as it is valid.......i then called Hertz who says it is possible to get a car wth a Canadian plates....thanx Leon n Links for ur info...God bless
I imagine you can get a rental car with Ontario plates in Michigan or Buffalo, but that probably won't be possible elsewhere in the U.S. There really shouldn't be a problem driving a U.S. plated car (rental or otherwise) into Canada as long as you can show you are a resident of the U.S. A U.S. drivers' license should take care of that.jumanji said:Thanx Links18....i called customs n the first lady honestly said she has no clue n transfered me to a senior officer who just kept telling me i cant use a rental car with a us licence or plates eventhough i am a us citizen n have been in the Us for two years n just retuurning to canada....so i kindly requested to speak to a supervisor.....she relunctantly transfered me....the supervisor was very polite. This is what he told me.....1) when renting a car ask for plates with Canadian plates instead of Us plates. 2)make sure have all the right paperwork..3) it is fine to use my Us license as long as it is valid.......i then called Hertz who says it is possible to get a car wth a Canadian plates....thanx Leon n Links for ur info...God bless
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When I landed I landed in US Rental car with US plates. I had US Driving license. Only difference is I returned to US after landing before moving permanently.
When I moved I came in my car which i was importing. There was a driver license issuer's strike and I could not get Canadian License and thus Canadian Insurance. So I used US plates for 90 days until the strike was over. I called the registration department and confirmed that is okay.
But it is good to know that when you move and land at the same time if a rental car is used it should have a Canadian plate.
When I moved I came in my car which i was importing. There was a driver license issuer's strike and I could not get Canadian License and thus Canadian Insurance. So I used US plates for 90 days until the strike was over. I called the registration department and confirmed that is okay.
But it is good to know that when you move and land at the same time if a rental car is used it should have a Canadian plate.
I remember somebody on this forum who wanted to land in Canada and then go back to the US and was driving his own car with US plates and the place where he tried to enter forbid him to enter Canada with the car. They said you must either import it or leave it in the US. In my opinion, they were totally wrong and completely overinterpreting the law but you can get people like that sometimes. A PR who is residing in Canada can not drive a car with US plates in Canada but a PR who resides in the US should be allowed to same as any other visitor from the US would be allowed to.
This is the correct interpretation of the law, but don't expect every CBSA officer to understand it. Maybe Mr. Cohen can use his contacts at CBSA and ask them to send out a bulletin to front line officers????Leon said:I remember somebody on this forum who wanted to land in Canada and then go back to the US and was driving his own car with US plates and the place where he tried to enter forbid him to enter Canada with the car. They said you must either import it or leave it in the US. In my opinion, they were totally wrong and completely overinterpreting the law but you can get people like that sometimes. A PR who is residing in Canada can not drive a car with US plates in Canada but a PR who resides in the US should be allowed to same as any other visitor from the US would be allowed to.
links18,links18 said:This issue comes up all the time. Having PR status is not the same as being a resident of Canada. If you are a resident of the U.S., you can drive a U.S. plated car in Canada regardless if you have PR status in Canada. However CBSA is woefully untrained on this issue and some officers do not understand the difference making for a possibly bad experience at the border. If you end up having problems, I would politely ask to speak to a supervisor. CBSA needs to send out a bulletin to its officers on this issue, because it is creating a lot of unnecessary angst for people.
Is this issue of US and Canada number plates only during the actual move or during landing as well? I am due to complete my landing this coming Friday and I am doing that by driving across from Buffalo in a rental car with US number plates (Hertz said they won't give you a Canadian number plates unless you are dropping the car off in Canada). In my case, I will be coming back to the US after a week. I plan to complete my landing, apply for SIN and then get back.
Your inputs are highly appreciated.
Regards,
nag1d