Bringing a Canadian Car into the US on an F1 Visa

I am a Canadian on an F1 visa studying for my PhD in Michigan. I drove my car down with me from Ontario. It is still plated in Ontario and insured there. I am getting conflicting information as to whether I need to in fact import the car as a student or not. I believe technically on an F1 Visa I am a non-resident [it's a non-immigration visa]. Meaning I pay taxes in Canada and still have my permanent residency there. If I import the car I may in fact be jeopardizing my F1 status (as this qualifies as taking "affirmative steps" to establish permanent residency). Do I need then to register the car with the state?
My Canadian insurance company refuses to cover me beyond 6 months down here, but American companies won't cover me unless I import the car. I think my Canadian company is in the wrong, right?
Help!
Thanks!

The reason you will not import your car, is because students are never considered to live somewhere simply becuase the go to school there, Cdns included.

You will remain Cdn resident. You have to keep a Cdn adress. However, you need to check with Ontario DMV and your insuarnce company if they will keep you licensed and insured under your particular circumstances.

If not you will need to import the car and plate/register and insure where you are. This will not change your F1 status.

I have a very similar situation

I plan on attending school in Georgia for university as I have family there.

I want to drive my car down there. Iv searched other topics and Google but I have not found a clear answer

I know that as a student I will not have to import my car and I can use my Ontario plates and drivers license while im in the US
But I cant seem to find a Canadian insurance company that will allow one to stay in the states for longer than 6-8 months without having to drive all the way back here.

if anyone has an suggestions for us it would be VERY appreciated.

Thank You

State Farm will insure you for both Canada and the US. I have been told that Allstate will as well but I'm not sure on that one

While I am not exactly the same as you(TN Visa, I work in MI), I have had my Canadian plated car down here for 2.5 years. I am not sure how your situation will work since I am not sure if you have US Social Security Number and if you can get a local driver's license(I have both Ontario and Michigan license), or if that is a necessity to insure your car in US. I have insured my Cdn car with Progressive in US with its Ontario plate(they go by VIN, not plate). And thats how I get by the last 2 years(US insurance is also a lot cheaper). Most Canadian insurance will not cover if you are in US.

I did however have to get my MI plate this year, as I received a letter from Ontario Ministry of Transportation that I need to renew my plate this year, and that I need a Ontario Car Insurance for that to happen. So I went through the import process with CBP in US, got my car imported, went to MI Sec of State, and now I have a MI plate.

The Import process is fairly straight forward as you need to show your ownership, and something to prove that your car is compliant with all US DOT standards. Your car OEM(either the US side or Canadian side) will usually issue this if you ask(just contact them and provide the VIN), provided that your car is fairly new. In my case with a 98 Camry, I went on both Toyota US and Canada website and just sent them a general inquiry. US side got back to me within a day and say they don't handle this. And then the Canadian side referred me to the people who handle this, asked for the relevant information, and after I e-mail them the paperwork they send me the letter within a week or so. Bring that with your ownership paper and your VISA and at the border tell them you want to import the car they should be able to handle it...

Edit:

As an addendum, about insuring your car in US(even with Cdn Plate). I did it through Progressive online, and at the end of the process they basically asked for VIN, ownership, license(I used my US one), and your insurance history in Canada to prove your driving record, maybe something else(nothing crazy as I recalled, not sure if VISA was aksed), e-mailed or faxed them to Progressive and it was simple and once I paid they send me the proof of insurance within a week or so.

2 of my other friends working in MI also did the exact same way to insure their Canadian car.

MI and almost all other states require its residents -- and a person working and living in state is a resident (not a student) -- within 30 days or so of arrival. Also, most provinces will not consider your plates and DL valid if you do not update your address within xx days of move -- and move outside province would not be anacceptable address.

As to insurance, sure one can buy insurance, however all policies have stipulations that would drop coverage if the car is not properly registered and plated at the time of an incident, which would be the case if you were living in a state and driving with out-of-state plates after the grace period.

In short, anyone from Canada going down on TN should import, plate and register their car and get local DL withing about a month, or they risk coverage, regardless of where they buy their insuarnce.

While thats true, the inquiry we got with Progressive was that their insurance was pending on the driver and the vehicle, not where it was registered. Hence they never once asked for your plate or registration, just the VIN.

While the law requires the 30 days to get local plate, it has never once been an issue with the local police, border or anything that matters....while it may not be the "right" practice, it certainly was not a problem.

Though if I had known that it was relatively painfree to actually import the car, I would've done it much earlier...

There are probably so many ON plates running around MI that they aren't even noticed. Farther south would be a different story. Besides, why flaunt the law when -- like you said -- it;s easily obeyed.

However, since you did not have to make a claim during this period, you cannot be sure that they would not have denied, much like they would if you let your DL expire.

They are more interested in collecting your money, rather than making sure that all your paperwork is in order, because they can always deny you when the time comes.

Hi all,

I'm in the same boat as the op. I moved down to Virginia in august 2010 for school, and took my Ontario plated car with me. However, my plates expired in Jan 2011, and I got a letter from the Ontario dmv informing me that I cant renew since my ontario insurance was cancelled (I cancelled it before i left). I'm Insured in the us with progressive.

I would import my car, but it sounds like I'll have to get some forms from border patrol, and I'm not planning on being there anytime soon. I went to the Ontario dmv today, and thru said that i also need to get an emissions test done before i can renew. Again, not planning on bringing my car back anytime soon ...

What are my options here ? I've already been driving on expired tags for two months now, and am anxious to get the issue resolved.

Thanks in advance.