BRinging a car from Canada when moving to the US

[theone11 0]

Does anyone have any experience with bringing a car from Canada to the US? My fiancee will be bringing her 08 VW Gulf when she comes and wanted to know what needs to be done! ANy input appreciated!

[canadian_wife 1,827]

You'll probably want to post this in the Canada forum for better (and more) answers

Good luck

[theone11 0]

Does anyone have any experience with bringing a car from Canada to the US? My fiancee will be bringing her 08 VW Gulf when she comes and wanted to know what needs to be done! ANy input appreciated!

[sanyata 16]

You should do a search for a VW forum for some answers. I participate on a few car forums and from what I've read you shouldn't have any problems as long as it passes inspection requirements for your state. It's going from the States to Canada that requires some work which mainly consist of installing daytime running lights. So you should be good coming in to the states as the car will have more than the minimum requirements. Good Luck!

[JohnR! 5,495]

1339419709[/url]' post='5437215']

Does anyone have any experience with bringing a car from Canada to the US? My fiancee will be bringing her 08 VW Gulf when she comes and wanted to know what needs to be done! ANy input appreciated!

Most cars sold in North America meet the standards for both the US and Canada. One quick way to check is to look under the hood for a sticker indicating if the car meets these standards and if they apply to all 50 states.

If you live in California the car must meet emission requirements for California specifically.

[Rob & Monika 87]

I've started looking into this process, this is what I understand so far.

You need to fill out an EPA 3520-1. If you have a US EPA Emissions Control Label under the hood this part should be easy.

The other form is HS-7. You will need to contact the manufacturer asking for a letter indicating that your car is compliant with US laws and what features are not. We got about this far and Chrysler responded they needed proof of intent to immigrate before issuing the statement. I'm not sure if they will take an NOA or if they want to see a copy of the visa itself, and we haven't contacted them back yet.

California may have more paperwork if you are going there.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/218/related/1/~/importing-a-car-or-vehicle---obtaining-epa-form-3520-1-and-dot-form-hs-7

Edited June 11, 2012 by Rob & Monika

[Krikit 1,165]

You can also check the driver's side door for the sticker if it's not under the hood. Some are placed there. Here is a link to some threads about the topic:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/347629-moving-to-the-us-summary-list-canadian-immigration-guide/page__view__findpost__p__3008895

A lot of things depend upon where the car was manufactured. What happens when it's being registered here is State-specific so it would help to have that info in order to answer any questions you may have about that portion of the process.

Basically, she will need the compliance letter or the North American manufacturer sticker. She will need the registration and an estimated value of the vehicle. You can get that on the Kelley Blue Book site. Always estimate towards the low end in case she has to pay State taxes for the US registration. If she doesn't own the car, outright, you have a whole new set of issues.

When she does the POE she will need to let them know she is importing the vehicle so they can fill out the Customs form. Sometimes the officers forget to ask, or they don't know anything about it, so some of the members have had to import the vehicle after the fact.

[Inky 1,111]

I've started looking into this process, this is what I understand so far.

You need to fill out an EPA 3520-1. If you have a US EPA Emissions Control Label under the hood this part should be easy.

The other form is HS-7. You will need to contact the manufacturer asking for a letter indicating that your car is compliant with US laws and what features are not. We got about this far and Chrysler responded they needed proof of intent to immigrate before issuing the statement. I'm not sure if they will take an NOA or if they want to see a copy of the visa itself, and we haven't contacted them back yet.

California may have more paperwork if you are going there.

https://help.cbp.gov...d-dot-form-hs-7

Never filled out any of those forms.

Only got a compliance letter from the manufacturer and told the CBP I want to import my car. They did the paper work I handed them the letter they had me sign the paper work and that was all.

When I got state side I had my insurance started with my husbands and terminated my Canadian insurance on the car then drove over to the DMV and had them register my car, handed over the import papers filled out a small form payed for my plates and registration and that was all.

[KnJ 0]

I imported my car at the port in Boston months after I moved here. Never bothered with it at POE.

I moved here in November 2009, Imported the car in Feb 2010. Was never a problem.

Around the same time I imported the car I went to the DMV. I kind of missed my Ontario plates after that. Boston drivers were definitely less nice to me

Get the compliance letter, and the rest can be done at any point after, same as your other personal goods.

Any customs office can handle it -- so maybe it depends on where you live. Since I live right at a port it was easy.

Also since the car is older than ? years you don't pay any duty or anything.

K

(ymmv - your mileage may vary)

[rade2rising 205]

my aunt brought her car over from toronto to florida.

she just drove it right on over.

eventually she went to dmw office and got some plates for it.

nothing else needed to be done...

I heard its cheaper and less harassing to just have it shipped over.... check into it

[Peachey 10]

Yes, there is something she needs to do. She needs to get a letter of compliance from VW Canada. Usually to get a letter of compliance, you need to have the car completely paid off (if the loan is through VW). You can't just drive it over. When she crosses the border, she'll need to tell the person in secondary that she's also bringing her car. This will add extra time to the time spent at the border because there is more paperwork. Make sure she gets ALL the papers... they forgot one of my papers and I had to go to an entry point to get a paper they forgot to give me.

Once she's across, you'll have to go to your DMV (or whatever is designated as the place to get plates, I had to go to a Brimmer) and present all the papers along with her ownership. They will take her ownership. Make sure to tell them that it was brought over through immigration so that she doesn't have to pay taxes on it. Takes a couple weeks to get the plates (you'll also get a title for the car), then after you get the plates you have a certain amount of time to get it inspected and emission tested.

Source: I did it myself!

Edited June 12, 2012 by Peachey

[Peachey 10]

2 topics, can be merge?

[Krikit 1,165]

Duplicate threads have been merged.

my aunt brought her car over from toronto to florida.

she just drove it right on over.

eventually she went to dmw office and got some plates for it.

nothing else needed to be done...

I heard its cheaper and less harassing to just have it shipped over.... check into it

The above information is completely wrong.

[Gypsyangel 11]

Like others have said, you get the letter of compliance from the manufacturer and hand that over at the border and they do the forms and give them back to you. Very easy. The thing I wanted to point out is that when I POE'd, no one asked about my car. If I hadn't known that I needed to import my car, I would have just driven away. I had to ask about it and they sent me to a different building (at Peace Bridge) and from there it was easy.

Also, depending on which state you're moving to, the process may vary. In NJ, I had to get my green card before I could get my driver's licence (which ended up being six months after I moved). After I got my NJ driver's licence, then I could bring in the papers I received at the border and register my car and get NJ plates. In the meantime, I drove on my Ontario driver's licence with Ontario plates. Insurance was a pita until I got my NJ driver's licence.

Just wanted to point out that experiences vary by state.

[bsd058 296]

We have been having a fun time with importing our car. If there is a lien, you MUST have a letter from the lienholder that it's okay to permanently register the vehicle in the US. Otherwise you cannot import it. We're just going to end up selling it in Canada. She's moving down before me (she's a USC) and we'll just buy her a car with our saved up cash. This should give me a few months to sell our vehicle. It's just a nightmare situation. Oh well, things usually have a way of working themselves out. I just sent my I-130 in so I should have plenty of time to sell the vehicle by the time I leave.