Car Lien & Importation Question

[zilchfox 296]

Hi guys,

Unrelated to topic,but an update.

So (good news), my fiance and I have looped in an immigration lawyer who's going to assist us with the K1 from start to finish. My fiance hired her for about $2K, and although the paperwork seems pretty easy, we don't want to miss anything and the lawyer is definitely going to help with peace of mind on this! Additionally, my employer is going to assist with transferring me to a store near where I'm going to be moving to once I have an SSN and I can legally work, so yay immediate job security!

Related to topic:

I have a car on a lien that I still owe $12K (CAD) on and I've been financing it since late 2010. With regular payments, it'll be paid off in 1 year, 11 months, but I'm 99% sure I would have already moved to the U.S. by then. While I KNEW my fiance back when I first purchased this car, we weren't actually together yet and I had absolutely no idea we would even get together and become a thing until about late 2011, as we were just great friends until then, thus I agreed to a 7-year financing period to keep my payments as low as possible (and back then, I was like "sure it's not like I'm going anywhere...right...?").

Problem: I can't afford $12K on the spot, and I already called my bank and they rejected allowing me to import the car during a lien. I tried asking my parents for some financial relief and that I'd pay them back over the course of the next year at double the payments I was making to Scotiabank, however no dice. We then did some research and it looks like it might be best to take out a US loan to pay off the car, and then just pay back the US loan. Now, with someone with no US credit, my fiance will help me co-sign for the loan (might as well just consolidate everything I owe up here in Canada) and then pay it all back down here. I need to move things down here, and I would like to keep my car until the day it dies. I don't have a lot of stuff (anything I want to move can easily fit in a 2010 Mazda 3 sedan, I won't need my furniture as my fiance already has the same furniture and then some), and it would be nice to not have to car shop almost immediately after moving. FYI I already have Mazda sending me the required paperwork for importing the car. Getting a US loan would also be beneficial as it will lock in the exchange rate of the crummy Canadian dollar price, potentially saving me 30% on my loan in case the Canadian dollar jumps back up.

Skip to Question: Can I just simply drive my car down, get the loan a few months later, and pay off the loan and import it later? If this is a possibility, what is my allotted time-frame to get this done? I'm aware I would be unable to register it for GA plates until it's been properly imported and would need to keep my Alberta plates on it until then. Would they stop me at the border if I told them my intent was to import it later? Or should I just sell the car, ship what I can (computer, etc.) and just fly down instead?

Edited February 21, 2016 by zilchfox

[kris&me 572]

Coming in on K 1 you will not be able to work for some time if you can find a job, and since a person needs a job here for a year to have a loan (most of the time to have the best interest rates), your gf would have to apply for the

You need to know the expense of bringing a car in

what can you sell it for there?

Is she willing to take out a loan for you?

then make a decision depending on what is best for you and your future marriage

good luck

[B-2-Z 37]

We actually ran into this problem. We bought our SUV about 2 years ago while we were both living in Halifax(also through Scotiabank). The border let us import it no problem ($9) but then when we arrived we weren't able to register it for the reasons you listed. I guess we were stupid, because it didn't even occur to us. We ended up getting a loan through a US bank under hubbys name, which his parents thankfully co-signed for, since he lived in Canada with me for 5 years prior. We ended up buying out the lien in USD, which saved us a lot of money.

Be warned though, Scotiabank was a NIGHTMARE to deal with. We paid it out in June but we didn't get paperwork until November that they received payment. This was with me calling every few weeks about it, too. We still haven't received the lien release papers from them though. We ended up buying a temporary 1 year ND permit and we were lucky enough to never be pulled over. We only got it registered in ND about 2 weeks ago, we had to drive to a bigger DMV that would understand the issues we were having, as we live in a tiny town.

If we were to do it again we'd sell the GD thing before we moved, buy something in cash OR buy something in the US.

Edited February 21, 2016 by B-2-Z

[zilchfox 296]

Coming in on K 1 you will not be able to work for some time if you can find a job, and since a person needs a job here for a year to have a loan (most of the time to have the best interest rates), your gf would have to apply for the

You need to know the expense of bringing a car in

what can you sell it for there?

Is she willing to take out a loan for you?

then make a decision depending on what is best for you and your future marriage

good luck

Interesting to know about the year-long probationary period before applying for a loan -- even if my fiance co-signed for me?

With that said, I'm aware that there will be a period of time that I'll be without a job, and my current employment up in Canada will have me as an indefinite "Leave of Absence" from the moment I move down until I'm legally able to work in the US, which then they will transfer me and re-activate my employment in the U.S.

Expense of a car bringing it in? Sorry, I don't understand. Are you talking about importation costs? Already got rough estimates for how much it's going to cost (car made in Japan) and I'm okay with it.

The car may be worth slightly less than what I owe left on it as per the KBB.

If my fiance is willing to co-sign the loan for me, he may be willing to just outright take out a loan, too. Seeing as we're going to be living together for the rest of our lives and sharing a joint bank account, I wouldn't see it being an issue.

[B-2-Z 37]

Oh also adding, we own a jeep which is why it was only a $9 import fee. When we registered it we had to get it assessed and pay 5% tax on the value.

[zilchfox 296]

We actually ran into this problem. We bought our SUV about 2 years ago while we were both living in Halifax(also through Scotiabank). The border let us import it no problem ($9) but then when we arrived we weren't able to register it for the reasons you listed. I guess we were stupid, because it didn't even occur to us. We ended up getting a loan through a US bank under hubbys name, which his parents thankfully co-signed for, since he lived in Canada with me for 5 years prior. We ended up buying out the lien in USD, which saved us a lot of money.

Be warned though, Scotiabank was a NIGHTMARE to deal with. We paid it out in June but we didn't get paperwork until November that they received payment. This was with me calling every few weeks about it, too. We still haven't received the lien release papers from them though. We ended up buying a temporary 1 year ND permit and we were lucky enough to never be pulled over. We only got it registered in ND about 2 weeks ago, we had to drive to a bigger DMV that would understand the issues we were having, as we live in a tiny town.

If we were to do it again we'd sell the GD thing before we moved, buy something in cash OR buy something in the US.

Posted Today, 05:39 PM

Oh also adding, we own a jeep which is why it was only a $9 import fee. When we registered it we had to get it assessed and pay 5% tax on the value.

Yeah I think it's going be roughly around $400 to import my car, based on a calculation site I found a few days ago.

So given your experience, it might be best I sell the car and re-buy in the US to avoid the importing headache. x_x;;

[B-2-Z 37]

Yeah I think it's going be roughly around $400 to import my car, based on a calculation site I found a few days ago.

So given your experience, it might be best I sell the car and re-buy in the US to avoid the importing headache. x_x;;

How far along in the process of your K1 are you?

You might be better off to sell it back to the dealership, use the money you were going to put on car payments and import fees towards one in cash, or one in the US. It doesn't sound like you have that many belongings to move down.

To answer your original question, non-residents have up to a year to import it, but I think that you'd have to drive back to the border to get it imported. . Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Here's the link; http://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car scroll down to "free entry." Also, your Canadian insurance likely won't cover it in the US.

[zilchfox 296]

How far along in the process of your K1 are you?

You might be better off to sell it back to the dealership, use the money you were going to put on car payments and import fees towards one in cash, or one in the US. It doesn't sound like you have that many belongings to move down.

To answer your original question, non-residents have up to a year to import it, but I think that you'd have to drive back to the border to get it imported. . Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Here's the link; http://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importing-car scroll down to "free entry." Also, your Canadian insurance likely won't cover it in the US.

1. Literally just filled it out! We're fresh, but we're literally going to be filing the I-129F this week, with assistance from our lawyer. When filed, that'll be day 1.

2. I had NO idea you can sell a car back to the dealership! Even if I wasn't gonna buy a car from them? I know I did a test-drive for fun on a newer car and they said they'd give me $8K for it last time (which won't pay off the loan, sadly) so I'm not sure if I could do that hehe.

3. A year? That's pretty nice of them, but hopefully I wouldn't need to drive back to the border!

4. According to my pink slip on my insurance, it says "Applicable within Canada and the United States of America". Maybe I am covered after all?

Edited February 21, 2016 by zilchfox

[B-2-Z 37]

1. Literally just filled it out! We're fresh, but we're literally going to be filing the I-129F this week, with assistance from our lawyer. When filed, that'll be day 1.

2. I had NO idea you can sell a car back to the dealership! Even if I wasn't gonna buy a car from them? I know I did a test-drive for fun on a newer car and they said they'd give me $8K for it last time (which won't pay off the loan, sadly) so I'm not sure if I could do that hehe.

3. A year? That's pretty nice of them, but hopefully I wouldn't need to drive back to the border!

4. According to my pink slip on my insurance, it says "Applicable within Canada and the United States of America". Maybe I am covered after all?

Yep you can sell the car back to any dealership, or sell it via kijiji, etc. You don't need to buy something, just tell them you're leaving the country. They give you a lower price on a trade in, because it takes tax off the value of the new purchase price. I'd do a little more research to see how you can import it closer to the year mark. I'd also call your insurance, we were insured through TD which it said the same thing, but when I spoke with them on the phone that's more of a if you're vacationing situation. Ours had a 30 day limit that it'd have to be back in Canada to stay insured. It seems so foolish...It's only the US -.-"

Good luck filing!

[zilchfox 296]

Ooh, that makes sense! I should see how much they're willing to take my car in if I were to just simply sell it to them. I know they want my car, quite badly actually, because every time I bring it in for service the manager always pokes me saying that they want my car and that I can have a new one.

And the insurance thing makes sense for sure. Ugh! Decisions, haha.

[dmck 80]

Dump the attorney you don't need them

[dmck 80]

Good news on the loan front, your Cad/usd exchange rate will favor you two if you pull a Loan in the states

[morgan.croft 210]

I was in this same situation. I elected to sell my vehicle. Luckily, the dealer offered just enough to pay it off. You will likely get more from a private sale vs. dealer, so I would only recommend dealer if you are out of time to sell.

[amicablebride 25]

This is probably very wrong, but the US border let me bring in my car with no import fees... didn't even mention it.

I came in as a visitor with my car, told them I had my K1 visa approved but wasn't planning on using it for another few months. The officer said ok, checked to make sure I had enough money to sustain myself for a few months, and let me on in. I drive a 2008 chevy and it's paid off. The value maybe like $4000 if that.

I might need to drive it back to Canada and then re-enter with it if I want it here legally (and to register it or sell it). I'm not sure. I didn't even know we had to import a car if we already owned it.

[lkerky 25]

Hi guys,

Unrelated to topic,but an update.

So (good news), my fiance and I have looped in an immigration lawyer who's going to assist us with the K1 from start to finish. My fiance hired her for about $2K, and although the paperwork seems pretty easy, we don't want to miss anything and the lawyer is definitely going to help with peace of mind on this! Additionally, my employer is going to assist with transferring me to a store near where I'm going to be moving to once I have an SSN and I can legally work, so yay immediate job security!

Related to topic:

I have a car on a lien that I still owe $12K (CAD) on and I've been financing it since late 2010. With regular payments, it'll be paid off in 1 year, 11 months, but I'm 99% sure I would have already moved to the U.S. by then. While I KNEW my fiance back when I first purchased this car, we weren't actually together yet and I had absolutely no idea we would even get together and become a thing until about late 2011, as we were just great friends until then, thus I agreed to a 7-year financing period to keep my payments as low as possible (and back then, I was like "sure it's not like I'm going anywhere...right...?").

Problem: I can't afford $12K on the spot, and I already called my bank and they rejected allowing me to import the car during a lien. I tried asking my parents for some financial relief and that I'd pay them back over the course of the next year at double the payments I was making to Scotiabank, however no dice. We then did some research and it looks like it might be best to take out a US loan to pay off the car, and then just pay back the US loan. Now, with someone with no US credit, my fiance will help me co-sign for the loan (might as well just consolidate everything I owe up here in Canada) and then pay it all back down here. I need to move things down here, and I would like to keep my car until the day it dies. I don't have a lot of stuff (anything I want to move can easily fit in a 2010 Mazda 3 sedan, I won't need my furniture as my fiance already has the same furniture and then some), and it would be nice to not have to car shop almost immediately after moving. FYI I already have Mazda sending me the required paperwork for importing the car. Getting a US loan would also be beneficial as it will lock in the exchange rate of the crummy Canadian dollar price, potentially saving me 30% on my loan in case the Canadian dollar jumps back up.

Skip to Question: Can I just simply drive my car down, get the loan a few months later, and pay off the loan and import it later? If this is a possibility, what is my allotted time-frame to get this done? I'm aware I would be unable to register it for GA plates until it's been properly imported and would need to keep my Alberta plates on it until then. Would they stop me at the border if I told them my intent was to import it later? Or should I just sell the car, ship what I can (computer, etc.) and just fly down instead?

I am not sure if this is an option with your bank. I bank with RBC and I paid off my car loan with my credit line through RBC. I still have the credit line and make payments each month. That way technically the car is yours and you are free to import.