Moving your stuff

[J&C2527 6]

Does anyone know if you are able to move your stuff from Canada to the US while the visa is pending?

[Ortolan 381]

Sure, you can have your stuff moved. But not you, you've got to wait

[NovaSprings 89]

If you are using a moving company (like I did), they will not even schedule your move until they have a copy of your activated visa.  

 

You are allowed to move personal goods duty-free up to one year after you activate your visa.  The moving company wants the paperwork to make sure that they are not charged duties at the boarder.

 

I assume the same is true if you are personally moving your things.  No approved visa would mean duties.

Edited March 3, 2017 by NovaSprings
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[ricnally 258]

10 hours ago, NovaSprings said:

If you are using a moving company (like I did), they will not even schedule your move until they have a copy of your activated visa.  

 

You are allowed to move personal goods duty-free up to one year after you activate your visa.  The moving company wants the paperwork to make sure that they are not charged duties at the boarder.

 

I assume the same is true if you are personally moving your things.  No approved visa would mean duties.

I think it's ten years after, not one.

[namchou 8]

Well my experience is a bit different, I tried to move some of my heavy furniture (empty tool chest,scuba tank, and few chairs etc) from BC to WA as my fiancee had a storage unit in WA and it made sense to get all our stuff at the same location. At the POE they ask questions and even if I am still working for the military and have strong tie to Canada they denied me entry to the US due to my immigration application. They were nice and everything, but decided not to let me in. At that point I was nervous that it would affect my case, but so far so good, interview on April 26th.

 

So OP if you decide to try it by driving yourself, I would bring a lot of proof that you have really strong tie to Canada, I would be prepared to pay duty, and I would also be prepared to be denied entry. I would try if possible the other way around, if possible have your USC drive across with some of your things, but I don't know the regulation for that, so looking at the CBP website might be a good idea.

 

 

 

[Limey 551]

Further to other answers here, there may be tax/duty issues too.

 

When I moved my stuff from the UK to USA I had to fill in a lot of forms with details about my visa etc (to show that I was emigrating permanently) and this meant the items got through customers without me having to pay import duties etc. I could have shipped the stuff in advance, but I wouldn't have had the paperwork to avoid import duties, so it would have been rather more expensive that it already was. Not sure if the same applies to Canada.