Importing a vehicle temporarily.

[stephandmuz 0]

My fiance and I have decided that he will import his vehicle into the states when the time comes. The process seems not to complex and if I amunderstanding it correctly, he will only have to fill out 1 form which is the HS-7 form.

My concern is this....

The vehicle must be exported withing one year from the date of entry. Will we literally have to drive his vehicle out of the U.S back into Canada? The vehicle is old and may not even last a full year. Who knows. lol

We thought that we could just have it junked after we saved up enough for a down payment on a new car/truck.

Has anyone ever imported a vehicle temp?

Thanks

Steph

For Nonresidents of the U.S. importing a vehicle for no more than one year: [/font]

As a general rule all motor vehicles imported into the United States that are less than 25 years old must comply with Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS), or be brought into compliance with the FMVSS by a Registered Importer. However, temporary importations (up to one year) by Nonresidents of the United States are exempt from this requirement and do not have to be modified to conform to the FMVSS.

Nonresidents of the United States may import a vehicle registered in another country for personal use for a period not to exceed one year (for imports of longer than one year, see below). The vehicle cannot be sold and it must be exported within one year from the date of entry. A form HS-7 (available at ports of entry or in PDF format from NHSTA) must be completed and presented to U.S. Customs. Your passport number and country of issue are required on the HS-7 form. Use Box 5 on HS-7 form.

[Emancipation 2]

I did this a while back (2000) and the form that they used for us and our temporary import is named TEMPORARY IMPORTATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE then it states [Reverse CF-4455]. I don't know if they still do this but the rules on this form were that I had 3 months to either export or send to the POE proof of documented entry. You don't have to go back to the POE this sheet states, just mail the POE the proof. They told us at the border (and you could call and ask about this) that if we could junk the car before the 3 months were up but that we were not allowed to sell it to the junk yard - there must be no money transferring hands- and that we needed to fax a copy of the transaction from the junkyard stating the car's VIN number and that it was going to be scraped and that no money exchanged hands in the transactions.

Now on this form it does state " I further understand that if I attempt to sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle in the US within one year of the date of this importation, the vehicle must be in conformity with all US emission control and safety standards prior to its being offered for sale" - but in our case we just junked the vehicle, faxed off the proof and this compliance letter was satisfied.

Hope that helps!

Edited November 27, 2007 by Emancipation