Can i import my car after I become a landed us immigrant?

[mumbles1416 10]

I cant seem to find these answers anywhere...

 

Can I Import my suv  duty free after I cross the border to become a permanent resident ?

 

I know I can take my car into the us without importing it. I know i can use my Canadian insurance for a few months in the us as well.   BUT... after a few months, can I drive to the border (does it have to be the same border I crossed originally) and import my car and it still be duty free? I just feel like I'm at a loss when I try and find the answers.  Someone please help me!

[NikLR 13,227]

You have 1 year to import your car.  

[mumbles1416 10]

5 hours ago, NikLR said:

You have 1 year to import your car.  

Do you know if it has to be the same border I crossed when I immigrate? Will it still be duty free?

[Tinman71 42]

It may not be duty free at all depends on where it was manufactured. 

[NikLR 13,227]

5 hours ago, mumbles1416 said:

Do you know if it has to be the same border I crossed when I immigrate? Will it still be duty free?

any POE.  Duty free is only if made in North America. 

[amicablebride 25]

On 8/21/2018 at 12:16 AM, mumbles1416 said:

I cant seem to find these answers anywhere...

 

Can I Import my suv  duty free after I cross the border to become a permanent resident ?

 

I know I can take my car into the us without importing it. I know i can use my Canadian insurance for a few months in the us as well.   BUT... after a few months, can I drive to the border (does it have to be the same border I crossed originally) and import my car and it still be duty free? I just feel like I'm at a loss when I try and find the answers.  Someone please help me!

 Don’t make the same mistake I did. I drove my car all the way here, which is like 1500 miles,  after US customs told me was fairly easy to import a car. I just had to find a US point of entry, there’s one right in New Haven which is fairly close to me. I needed some paperwork, which I printed, and I also got a letter of conformity from my car manufacturer. 

 

That’s when everything turned upside down. The manufacturer sent me a letter saying my car Did not conform to US safety code. Therefore it could not be imported.

 

I called a registered importer to find out if they knew why. She said the reason is probably because most Canadian cars do not have tire pressure monitors installed. They also cannot be modified.

 

The registered importer then told me that my car could not be imported into the United States.

 

Without being able to register it here, I didn’t feel comfortable insuring it so I had to buy a new car.  I heard you can get in pretty big trouble if you have a car in Connecticut for more than six months but you don’t register it in the state of Connecticut. And after spending hours in the DMV, I found out that I needed to import the car in order to register it.

 

 So I “gifted” my car to my mom so that we could insure it under her name. Then, this summer I drove my car all the way back home and was able to sell it there pretty fast. Thankfully.

 

 So... contact a registered importer BEFORE  bringing your car all the way here. And also if it does not have a tire pressure monitor, you won’t be able to import it. 

Edited August 23, 2018 by amicablebride

[amicablebride 25]

On 8/21/2018 at 2:05 PM, mumbles1416 said:

Do you know if it has to be the same border I crossed when I immigrate? Will it still be duty free?

It can be any point of entry and I don’t think there’s any fee.  It again, read my full post and do your homework or you’ll end up with a huge headache!! 😔 

[mumbles1416 10]

43 minutes ago, amicablebride said:

 Don’t make the same mistake I did. I drove my car all the way here, which is like 1500 miles,  after US customs told me was fairly easy to import a car. I just had to find a US point of entry, there’s one right in New Haven which is fairly close to me. I needed some paperwork, which I printed, and I also got a letter of conformity from my car manufacturer. 

 

That’s when everything turned upside down. The manufacturer sent me a letter saying my car Did not conform to US safety code. Therefore it could not be imported.

 

I called a registered importer to find out if they knew why. She said the reason is probably because most Canadian cars do not have tire pressure monitors installed. They also cannot be modified.

 

The registered importer then told me that my car could not be imported into the United States.

 

Without being able to register it here, I didn’t feel comfortable insuring it so I had to buy a new car.  I heard you can get in pretty big trouble if you have a car in Connecticut for more than six months but you don’t register it in the state of Connecticut. And after spending hours in the DMV, I found out that I needed to import the car in order to register it.

 

 So I “gifted” my car to my mom so that we could insure it under her name. Then, this summer I drove my car all the way back home and was able to sell it there pretty fast. Thankfully.

 

 So... contact a registered importer BEFORE  bringing your car all the way here. And also if it does not have a tire pressure monitor, you won’t be able to import it. 

Thanks for all the details:) 

 

I just got the letter of compliance and all is good except the speedometer which is in kms only ... we have the TPMS so that headache is not an issue.  Also after doing some  research about the value of our car, we would only have to pay about 300 in duty if anything at all.  We may have to pay a gas guzzler fee because our suv is a v8 but we will see.  All is looking good after I had a slight freak out.  I'm planning on calling the dmv in Minnesota as well to double check the requirements to register.  But... it is so crazy how little info there is.  When we imported my husbands car to canada it was not this difficult.  There was way more clear instructions on websites for doing so.  

 

Again, thanks for sharing your experience! Honestly , every bit of info helps with this massive puzzle and gives me and other readers more confidence in what we will experience.  

 

Cheers!