Importing Registering car from Quebec or elsewhere in Canada to Florida

[e200 0]

Good morning,

 

      I have just entered the US near montreal/Champlain POE, as an new immigrant. I got my i-551 visa stamp/endorsement everything was very fast and smooth in the border crossing. Except that I have my own/everyday usage car, which I was driving, I did ask the border agent if he could process the car since I was importing it. He told me the cargo at that place was closed at that moment so, he could not do it in there. He told me to just go to any airport talk to an immigration agent and they would do it for me. 

      Now basically I have to places to do it, New Jersey or Florida, since I have relatives living in both place and I could easily stay and move to those 2 places. Now, since Jersey is nearer the border I came to NJ and started to try to take care of the car importation, yet, things here are not smooth at all. First of all, the immigration agents at the EWR airport had no clue on what to do, regarding my car, they were kind of nice, yet lost, after more than 1 hour they came up with another address to go in a port near the docks, for me to go there since that was the place where customs handled the car export so they should know about it. 

      Then, I went there to the port, it was again, hard to find, one place sending to another yet to another kind of situation, at the end they ended up giving me a form CBP-7512 for goods importation and told me to fill it up and send it with all the documents I might have to the email address they had given me(email from cbp.dhs.gov) and wait for a reply which could take days, so I have done it a week ago and no reply whatsoever. 

      Now I am wondering if somebody has done a car importation not at the border crossing but either in NJ or in FL who could tell me exactly which steps they followed, documents they did present, and which town they did it, that could really help me.

 

     thank you so very much,

 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by e200

[SteveInBostonI130 3,434]

You need to verify the car meets US safety and emissions standards, by filling out EPA form 3520-1 and DOT form HS-7.

 

Your best bet is to call the Champlain office:  518-298-8311.  They should be able to provide detailed information.

 

A couple years ago I called that office or the Buffalo office (I forgot which one) about how to purchase a campervan in Canada and bring it to the US.  They gave me the info I needed, but I ended up not purchasing it.