Canadian student driving to US with California License

Hi Everyone,

I have been trying to find an answer to my complicated situation. I have made countless calls to ICBC/Autoplan/DMV/LAPD/American border to at least try to get a helpful answer, but they all just keep giving me different answers.. or none at all.

I am a Canadian citizen studying in Los Angeles. I have two more years left in my program and plan on returning to LA with my car (Canadian), but the problem is that I have a California license. ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) told me that since I'm in LA for more than 51% of the time, that I need to give up my Canadian license.. so that's gone now.

When I called ICBC the 2nd time, they told me to register and pay out of province insurance.

My questions are:
- Is it possible that Canadian insurance will not cover me if anything happens, because I'm not holding a Canadian license?
- Furthermore, is it legal to drive an out-of-state vehicle with an in-state driver's license, for an extended period of time (2 years)?
- Would insuring the car through American insurance be safer, or should I stick to Canadian

Answers from:
ICBC: Told me to buy out of province insurance but call DMV to make sure of rules and rgulation
Autoplan: They will sell me out of province insurance, but warned me it will be a big hassle to deal with any issues (accidents, tickets, etc)
DMV: Mixed answer. Told me that I don't have to register the car unless I'm over 24. Told me not to buy American insurance. Said that it's totally fine to drive into the US in my situation
LAPD: unclear
American Border crossing: I can drive the car through, but I must prove that I will bring the car back by showing my I-20. I am not allowed to register or sell the car.

I know there are very similar topics on this forum . Thank you everyone.

Not sure if you got the answers you where looking for but it seems like you haven't been provided with very good informaiton.

I have been going through this process myself and I had to basically import the vehicle into the US because of the California requirements.

1. If you become a California resident you must apply for a local license with-in 10 days. (you meet this requirement if you sign a lease or register for any school class)
2. If you bring a car into California as a resident from out of state to avoid penalites and all other kinds of interesting things that can happen, you must report the vehicle and register it in California with-in 20 days.
3. Above and beyond this, it must meet BOTH emissions and safety requirements of California and these are higher than almost anywhere else in the country. If the vehicle is purchased less than a year ago, you will have to pay 8% or so used sales tax, it must have at least 7,500 miles (12,000km).
4. The only way I could certify my vehicle was actually safe, was by contacting GM Canada, whom requested a $101 fee to send me a certification letter, which in turn, I had to provide to US Border patrol so I could import the car into the country.

I don't see any exceptions to these rules, they may sound confusing, but if your vehicle doesn't meet the standards here it will be permanently barred from California if they deem you as a resident (which I believe as an F1 student you are considered a resident).

Hopefully that helps and yes it sounds pretty full-on don't it! Trust me, it's like you are being penalized for trying to have a life, I just spent $4,000 trading in a 2010 car for another 2010 car just to meet safety requirements and school here is already expensive enough, on top of that I hve to pay 8% or so on the market value when I register the vehicle...

Going to DMV tomorrow in person so if I find out anything different than what I posted I will try to add to this

- J

PS I got the right number for GM Canada from DMV

Oh wow! Thank You for your reply I really appreciate it.

I guess the easiest thing I can possibly do, is to just purchase a car down there

I hope everything goes smoothly with your process!

What I am confused about, is that there are other canadian students that attend my school and they have had their canadian plated car in California for over a year. I feel like they found a secret loop hole or something

I am glad I'm not alone in this

Oh wow! Thank You for your reply I really appreciate it.

I guess the easiest thing I can possibly do, is to just purchase a car down there

I hope everything goes smoothly with your process!

What I am confused about, is that there are other canadian students that attend my school and they have had their canadian plated car in California for over a year. I feel like they found a secret loop hole or something

I am glad I'm not alone in this