Importing a Car

I did a search and found some conflicting information.

- I have my L1-A Visa (it got processed last month)
- We have sold our house in Canada and will be moving (my family and I) in early August
- My family hasn't had their L2 Visa Processed yet

We were planning on driving down as part of our move and getting them processed at all at once; then I remembered the car!

The car is a Toyota Sienna Mini Van (2004). What are the exact steps I need to take to import this? Who do I need to call?

I am sure this has been covered already but I can't seem to find any definative information.

thanks

Call Toyota Canada, and get a letter of compliance. You'll need that in order to import it. Then the US border will give you some info to take to the DMV so that you can register and license it in the state where you'll be living.

Do a search on "importing a car personal goods" at the CBP website for more detailed info.

Read this: http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/new ... ngacar.doc

The main point (not terribly clear in that document) is that there is NO DUTY on the import of the car (if you've owned it for a year) and it's important you get that clearance form from the CBP otherwise the State you are moving to might try and charge you sales tax when you transfer the title.

Even if it's brand new, cars can be imported duty-free if they were manufactured in a NAFTA country, although you may have to pay sales tax in that case.

I don't recall getting a compliance letter when I imported my car into the US (but it was a long time ago), but I did have to get the EPA check done at some shady garage in a dodgy part of town. IIRC, I just had an inspection done of the vehicle and the garage said it met DOT and EPA standards, then I think I went back to the port and Customs signed off on it.

Bit of advice in that CBP document worth noting - if the vehicle is unaccompanied, do not under any circumstances leave anything of value in the vehicle. They will take it out when the vehicle arrives, and I guarantee you that you will never see it again.

Going thru the same process of going back home , after completing a Project on TN visa. found this site has good stuff on exporting a car, check this wiki site carburner dot com .

I just moved to Houston from Calgary, and went through just what you're looking at. I'm not sure what state you're moving to, but here's what I had to do:

1) Had to import the car (it didn't happen at the border - the folks there told me I didn't need to import it, but I found out later that in Texas I need to import the car in order to get my TX driver's license). I simply went to the CBP office in Houston with that letter from the manufacturer mentioned in another post, and in 5 minutes or so, I had the H-7 form I needed. Totally painless.

2) Once that was done, had to get the car insured (my Canadian insurance would not have covered me moving to the US). This was about an hour on the phone with the company I chose, but I didn't do any shopping (I'll do that when I have more time). Fairly painless.

3) Then I had to get the car inspected. In the specific county we'll live in, I needed two inspections - first, at a garage, which was a mechanical and emissions check, and then at local law enforcement, at which they mostly just checked that manufacturer's letter and the H-7. Both of these were pretty easy - finding the garage took about 5 minutes on an internet search, and then it cost me $15. Finding law enforcement took a bit more - some of the police services I talked to didn't know what I was looking for. I wound up at the county sheriff - I just talked to the detective ahead of time, to make sure he was going to be at his office.

4) Last was the registration. I went to the county tax office for that, and they needed all of the forms and paperwork you get from the above steps, as well as proof of title. This is your current registration, and it has to be original - I carry a photocopy in my wallet, and that would not have been acceptable. Fortunately, I had a file with me that had the original pink slip in it. This took a while, but was fairly painless. The only thing I ran into here was that, since my wife has not yet moved, and both of our names are on the title, they would not transfer title to Texas. I'm not sure it matters, but we'll likely transfer it if we wind up staying for a long time. I got a "non-transferable" registration, which seems to mean that if I want to sell my car, I need to use my Alberta pink slip to transfer title. This cost a fair bit - about $190. There was the annual registration fee, a new Texas resident fee, and other smaller fees.

My last step (required in Texas) that I'll be doing this week is to get a Texas driver's license. I can't yet tell you how painful that will be.

One caution I have, that almost gave me trouble, is that the various requirements come from several different levels of government. In particular, talk to the county tax office for the specific county you'll be living in. I'm in temporary housing in one county, and we've bought a house in a different county (but have not yet moved), and the garage inspection I had done (in the county I live in now) could have been unusable. Fortunately, they knew that the requirements in my current county are the same as my future one, but that may not always be true. What I would recommend (that I didn't do), since you're already in-country, is call the appropriate county tax office (for where you plan to live, if you're moving when you're family arrives) and ask them what you need. I didn't hear about the law enforcement inspection anywhere until I did that (caught me by surprise!)

Sorry about the novel - hope it helps.

It's that CBP form that's most critical, if you don't have it they can assess sales tax, there may be local sales tax in addition to State sales tax, but the local sales tax people will presumably use the same exemptions as the State people.

When they told me how much tax there would be I nearly had a heart attack until I showed them the US Customs form and was told I was exempt!

[quote]

I got my letter today. I guess I need to find my original registration.

thanks for all your help.

My project has finished. I have planned to go back to canada and find work there.

I stayed five months here in Wisocnsin and got my driving licesnse converted to Wisocnsin from Ontario. and Bought a car back in march this year.

Now my question to folks here is, Can I take the car as personal belonging back or do I have to Pay GST+PST, and If I have to pay GST PST what value I will have to declare.
It is titled in my name.

Technically yes you do as you haven't had it long enough for it to qualify as personal effects (six months), however that depends on how closely the CBSA officer checks. If it was made in a NAFTA country the duty is 0% anyway.

If it's personal effects, there is no GST either. However Ontario has a weird law that applies PST to used cars so you might have to pay PST, not sure.

I am a Canadian on a TN visa. I purchased but still owe on my Canadian registered vehicle.
Can i import into the US?