Letter of compliance experience please

[dearheart 0]

Sweetgrass, MT. My husband says it's a fairly good sized port. We are coming from Saskatchewan.

[dearheart 0]

I was looking at the California DMV website and they had a calculator for people registering a vehicle that is from out of state. For my 2005 van it calculated $174 to register. I have no idea if this is steep or what. I've been a resident of Canada for 12 years now, maybe we won't be charged duty then. hmmm... I just love how simple all this is. My husband apologized for the trouble he is to get in to the States... and I am sorry that the US is so confusing. oh well, it's all worth it I guess.

[Krikit 1,164]

There's no duty payable when you are immigrating. And the registration fee sounds right.

[vnoe 0]

Yes, Sweetgrass MT. is a large port. I crossed at Portal, ND. I guess that would be your most direct route for where you are gonna be going to.

[Canadian/American 3]

I checked online at the Customs & Border Protection website and found this in the FAQ.

The importer must be able to demonstrate to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that the vehicle model is either a U.S. version or that it conforms to EPA and DOT requirements in order to obtain CBP clearance. Valid proof of ownership, which is an original certificate of title, or a certified copy of the original must be also be presented to CBP.

A U.S. version vehicle is manufactured with a label in the engine compartment that states, in the English language, the vehicle conforms to all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations. If this label is not present, the importer will have to obtain a letter from the manufacturer stating that the vehicle conforms to EPA standards.

To import a (compliant)vehicle, an entry must be filed with CBP. To do this, you should declare the vehicle to a CBP officer when it first arrives in the U.S.(assuming you are driving the car through a land border) At that time, you will also need to present a completed EPA Form 3520-1 and DOT form HS-7 and the manufacturer's letter if necessary. You will receive the entry summary document CBP Form 7501 from CBP. This form is needed to register the car in your state of residence.

The importer is required to pay 2.5% duty, which is assessed based on the purchase price or blue book value.

This almost sounds like we don't need that letter... argh!

Also, what is this 2.5% duty? Did anyone have to pay duty when you went through? We've owned the vehicle for 2 years now.

I did not have to pay duty, K-1 and K-2 Visas are allowed to bring their possesions over duty free.

I did not have my car to compliance though and it caused a lot of issues. They finally gave me the form with a disclaimer that I had to bring the car to compliance before it could be registered. I knew that but was not clear that had to be done before crossing the border.

I also did not have to give too much information regarding the reason other than a written statement. This was for Mazda and Toyota.

[MsZ 6]

We faxed our request to Mazda something like 2 months ago and haven't heard from them. Does anyone have experience getting compliance info out of Mazda? GMC was quick like a rabbit -- they charged us, but at least they were responsive.

[JillA 2]

We faxed our request to Mazda something like 2 months ago and haven't heard from them. Does anyone have experience getting compliance info out of Mazda? GMC was quick like a rabbit -- they charged us, but at least they were responsive.

Mazda got back to me in an e-mail same day... and I had my compliance letter 2 days letter (via e-mail).

intl.imports.exports@mazdausa.com

It comes from California (even for Canadian vehicles)

They send you back a form to complete (basic info like vin #, etc) then you e-mail it back, then you'll get your compliance letter!

[movingsoon2 0]

Recently in May, I faxed Chrysler for a compliance letter for my 1997 Neon. They mailed it back to me in a week. Then at the border I presented it to the guard and my car was let to go through. Just fax them what they told you to give them, I forget what, I know I made a few copies, but forget which ones now.