Driving Canadian (Ontario) License Plated car in USA ?

Hello,

I am a Canadian citizen and recently moved to USA and got my Permanent Residence. I have a car financed in Canada. I am planning to bring my car with me in Kentucky, USA. Financial company wants me to pay in full before I can register my car in USA. Kentucky law states same that the car must be paid in full in Canada before registering in KY, USA, which is not an option for me. I still owe around $ 20 K

I already have KY, USA drivers license and have contacted insurance company. Insurance company can give me insurance, they don't care where is the vehicle registered.

I am not planning to live here permanently, maybe 1 or 2 years.

IS IT SAFE TO DRIVE CAR WITH CANADIAN REGISTRATION, US DRIVERS LICENSE AND INSURANCE ?

If not then what are my options ? Because Canadian Insurance don't cover for living in US, but do cover for visit.

Thanks.
FA

Impossible to say because it depends on the insurance company really. Also it depends on what State law says, if you actually reside in Kentucky then you need the car to have a Kentucky title and registration.

Your real problem is tax, because an Ontario registration is a residential tie for Canadian income tax purposes, and under US law if you have permanent residency your tax home automatically becomes the US. This makes you subject to dual taxation and there's no way around it if you're a green card holder.

I know it's difficult, but the best bet in this situation is to see if you can get a bank loan and pay off the car financing so you get the title transferred to Kentucky, then you pay back the bank loan.

Don't know about Kentucky, but Illinois law requires you change your plates to Illinois plates within 6 months of residing in the state.

changing plates is one thing but what about having to pay the duty. I've been driving my canadian car in Michigan for 3 years and now in Florida for one and will do so until my car dies.

There is no duty, the vehicle is part of your personal effects. Anyone who tells you there is duty is wrong, been many people on here who've said they've been asked to pay duty, there isn't any provided you've had the car for at least a year prior to moving to the US. Even if you've had the car for less than a year and CBP decide to be sticklers about enforcing the rules, if the car was manufactured in North America it's exempt from duty under NAFTA.

Quote HTSUSA 9804.00.35 vehicle imported as personal effects if the CBP say otherwise.

My hubsand is coming to canada to work for some time a year or two. We are US citzens. Our tags will expire in March 2009. As well as his Drivers lincenses. Do we change all that there? We will be there for quite some time. We live in Kentucky.

If your husband will be living in Canada, then he will have to get a Canadian driver's license and plates/tags for his car. If he will still be living in Kentucky, and will be commuting to Canada (quite the commute though!) then he should just renew his Kentucky license and tags.

He will be living there. (tooooo looong of a commute yes). Now where will he go to change all this? Is there a number ? How long do you have when you get there?

Check the Ministry of Transport website for the province you'll be moving to.

Check www.riv.ca which explains how to import a vehicle into Canada. It's more complicated than doing it the other way around as Canada has tougher vehicle safety laws than the US.

Essentially if you're going to be here less than a year, you don't need to do anything, just take the car back when you leave and renew the registration through the mail.

If you're going to be here more than a year it needs to be formally imported, which requires getting a clearance letter from the manufacturer, you must have the title, you must make an appointment with CBP 48 hours prior to the export to present the paperwork and it must be a type of vehicle which can be lawfully imported into Canada. CBSA will give you a conditional approval and then you have to go to Canadian Tire to have the headlights altered to Canadian specs, then go to the local CBSA office to get the import completed. Once that is done, you can apply for change of title with the DMV and get new tags.

To avoid duty you need to import it as personal effects, use CBSA Form B4.