Moving by land

[MariahK 16]

I'm trying to figure out what/ how many items I can bring with me when I move to the states. For some context, I am k1 Canadian, moving to the states (Michigan). My Fiancé's parents and him are planning to come pick me up when I get my passport/visa back. My issue is that my mom refuses to let me keep anything at her place so I would have nowhere to store items. I really only have clothes, a couple of shoes, bathroom care, makeup/perfume, a couple nicknacks, camera gear, two computers (desktop/laptop), large printer, two-ish boxes of books, a couple of purses.. and a few teddy bears lol.. I have a desk and a side table that I would like to bring, but I'm worried I won't be able to. 

 

From what I read, you have to make an inventory of household items (desk, side table) and price them... But I don't understand if you have to list and price every single piece of clothing and personal items (make up, perfume, etc..) 

 

Any information would be helpful! 

[Loren Y 2,755]

You can make a general inventory list covering the big items, you don't have to list every shade of lipstick unless you have nothing better to do with your time. I have never heard of any so called limits on how much you can bring ( But I don't suggest a 53' tractor trailer) from what it sounds like you only have a truck bed full of items, so no big deal. Check the CBP website for a list of any items that must be declared ( Firearms/ ammunition, etc.) and make sure you mention those and have them available for inspection. They understand you are moving your whole life to be with your fiancee, so they are pretty reasonable to let you bring your life with you especially on a K1 visa where you wont be traveling back for about 6 months. Sounds like you will be fine... But those teddy bears may be suspicious.... LOL, just kidding.

Edited October 21, 2018 by Loren Y

[MariahK 16]

3 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

You can make a general inventory list covering the big items, you don't have to list every shade of lipstick unless you have nothing better to do with you time. I have never heard of any so called limits on how much you can bring ( But I don't suggest a 53' tractor trailer) from what it sounds like you only have a truck bed full of items, so no big deal. Check the CBP website for a list of any items that must be declared ( Firearms/ ammunition, etc.) and make sure you mention those and have them available for inspection. They understand you are moving your whole life to be with your fiancee, so they are pretty reasonable to let you bring your life with you especially on a K1 visa where you wont be traveling back for about 6 months. Sounds like you will be fine... But those teddy bears may be suspicious.... LOL, just kidding.

LOL! Yeah I think I will only have about a truck bed full, and maybe fill the backseat lol! Thank you for the information! I tried googling it, but it's all just general information it makes it confusing. 

[Loren Y 2,755]

Just now, MariahK said:

LOL! Yeah I think I will only have about a truck bed full, and maybe fill the backseat lol! Thank you for the information! I tried googling it, but it's all just general information it makes it confusing. 

I know you don't see too much information available, but I binge watched about 4 seasons of US Boarder Patrol series and got to see all types of people crossing the border ( Mostly from Canada) on all types of visas including K1, and even if not coming on a K1 some people brought a bunch of stuff. The ones that had the truckload of stuff and were trying to get in on a Visiting/ Tourist Visa had issues because it looked like they were moving permanently and not going to return, but you don't have that issue as you have the correct Visa to be bringing a bunch of stuff with you.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

we did it the other way moving a daughter to Brantford 2 hours west of Toronto

took our small motorcyle trailer full of furniture she boought here

no one checked it at the niagara falls location but we handed them a small list of items in the trailer

since Canada was now legalized pot i would think they could be checking for that now to make sure none is coming in here / maybe not

 

[MariahK 16]

12 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

we did it the other way moving a daughter to Brantford 2 hours west of Toronto

took our small motorcyle trailer full of furniture she boought here

no one checked it at the niagara falls location but we handed them a small list of items in the trailer

since Canada was now legalized pot i would think they could be checking for that now to make sure none is coming in here / maybe not

 

Yeah that would make sense, I don't smoke it anyways so no worries there lol! Thanks for your answer! 

[NikLR 13,227]

I took a uhaul full of furniture etc.  You can move all your things at once.  Just make a general list.

Example:

Box 1 - books

Box 2 - clothes

Etc...

[MariahK 16]

3 hours ago, NikLR said:

I took a uhaul full of furniture etc.  You can move all your things at once.  Just make a general list.

Example:

Box 1 - books

Box 2 - clothes

Etc...

Thats perfect, thank you!

[Loren Y 2,755]

As a note, if you are renting a uhaul or similar vehicle a lot of rental companies don't let you cross international boarders with their vehicles. Just make sure you are covered that way I think you just have to let them know. I caught a little flak when I had a rental from Detroit and went into Windsor for the day. Coming back CBP was knocking on the door panels and did a pretty exhaustive search of the vehicle. I guess a lot of people rent cars to smuggle stuff back across the boarder. Not being a criminal myself, that never crossed my mind, but it made sense.

[NikLR 13,227]

4 hours ago, Loren Y said:

As a note, if you are renting a uhaul or similar vehicle a lot of rental companies don't let you cross international boarders with their vehicles. Just make sure you are covered that way I think you just have to let them know. I caught a little flak when I had a rental from Detroit and went into Windsor for the day. Coming back CBP was knocking on the door panels and did a pretty exhaustive search of the vehicle. I guess a lot of people rent cars to smuggle stuff back across the boarder. Not being a criminal myself, that never crossed my mind, but it made sense.

Uhauls are not an issue. Rental cars however are. 

[MariahK 16]

3 hours ago, NikLR said:

Uhauls are not an issue. Rental cars however are. 

Thats good to know! Should be no worries though, my fiancé is coming to get me with his brother and truck lol 

[pajobra 1,395]

My sister and brother in law drove me down almost a year ago now with all my boxes in the back seat with me and my cat and the truck full. I did make an itemized sheet but they never even looked at it. Nor did they look at my cat. I mentioned her and they said yeah that is fine long as you make sure she has the shots she needs for Colorado. The only reason we were 2 hours at the border was because I went through the 24 hour port at the Peace Garden and they hadn't done a k-1 visa in years and had to call to find out how. LOL

[MariahK 16]

16 hours ago, pajobra said:

My sister and brother in law drove me down almost a year ago now with all my boxes in the back seat with me and my cat and the truck full. I did make an itemized sheet but they never even looked at it. Nor did they look at my cat. I mentioned her and they said yeah that is fine long as you make sure she has the shots she needs for Colorado. The only reason we were 2 hours at the border was because I went through the 24 hour port at the Peace Garden and they hadn't done a k-1 visa in years and had to call to find out how. LOL

Oh wow,  two hours lol! We're going through Sault Ste. Marie, in Ontario.. I know they've done at least one k1 visa lol! I'm going to make a vague list of items just incase. Did you have to pay a fee to enter? 

[NikLR 13,227]

No fee. 

[Ben & Katy 168]

I did the land move from one country to the next recently.  It wasn't Canada to US it was Mexico to US.  I had no problem moving our stuff from Nogales,Mexico to Tucson,USA.  I bought a storage unit in Tucson and slowly moved things I didn't need on each trip I made to Tucson.  Homeland security did not bat an eye or ask for a list.  The challenges I had with moving from one side to the other is that Uhaul doesn't allow their trucks into Mexico at all.  So it posed a challenge to move a dresser, king sized bed, twin bed, couch and grill.  I got very lucky that I had a co-worker with a big pickup that was willing to cross into Mexico to help me out with the big stuff.  Ironically that day that we took all the heavy stuff into Tucson we ended up entering the lane where one of the agents was his workout buddy LOL  So that stuff all passed through easily.  I honestly think that its the brand new stuff that homeland security would want duties paid if at all.   By the time my spouse had her interview in Ciudad Juarez our rental property in Nogales,Mexico was 100% empty and turned into the landlord.  We actually ended up couch surfing in Tucson after the interview at Juarez because they issued her visa the same day which caused us to be in the USA way earlier than expected.  The week prior to the interview we had taken some of her clothes an hour south of Nogales to her folks house because we were preparing for her to wait 2 weeks in DHL for the visa to arrive so plans got changed for the better.   So anyways its not as bad as it looks going from one country to the next by land.