Moving car to California from Ontario

[winnie_lai@yahoo.com]

I'm going to California to work on a TN visa, and my new company will ship my car to California for me. I do have a house in Canada (I think I can consider this as my permanent residence - house will be close March 2009) and therefore, I will be paying tax in Canada since I will have 'residential ties' to Canada. I've been reading various forum topics here and it appears my car relocation may not be a straight forward process, I was wondering if anyone can answer my questions below:

1. Do I have to apply for California drivers license? (I already have full G license in Ontario)
2. Do i have to register my car in California? Looks like i have to pay ~$200 to do this.
3. Can I keep my plates and sticker from Canada, or do I need to obtain new one in Califonia? My sticker from Canada is still good for another 11 months!
4. Do I have to do the emission and safety test in Califonia? I already did one here in Canada when I bought out my lease. If yes, do I do that before going to the license bureau or after?
5. As for the car shipment, I am going to get the US compliance letter from my manufacturer, and fill in form HS-7 and EPA form. Is there anything else I need to ensure I get? DMV told me to ensure to get a paper that states custom clearance, anyone know what that form is called?

Thanks in advance!

Winnie

[Steven]

1) No, because you have residential ties to Canada and you're in a non-immigrant category, therefore you do not meet the definition of "resident" in California law;
2) Under US import laws you have to formally import your car if you keep it there for more than a year. Obviously if you do that it makes it hard to keep it registered in Canada, so at that point you would have to swap the title for a California one and register it there. So that will make insurance difficult too;
3) Yes, until you register it in California;
4) You have to comply with Ontario law until you get a California title, then you comply with Californian law;
5) You only need to do all that if you're formally importing it. If you formally import it you will need to change the title and register it. It's VERY important when you get the CBP clearance to take it to the DMV otherwise they may require you to pay State sales tax on the vehicle. This is not required on personal effects. You can do it unaccompanied using CBP Form 3299, but you'll have to go to the POE to get all the paperwork cleared.

You get a conditional clearance until the EPA test is done then you go to the local CBP office to get it cleared. Once it's cleared you can go to the DMV and get a new title and get it registered.

I'm not sure if you can get away with formally importing it and keeping it registered in Ontario, I suspect not, not for any length of time certainly.

[kelapstick]

If your return your plates to Ontario you should get a pro-rated refund for the time left on your Ontario sticker

[winnie_lai@yahoo.com]

Thank you Steven and kelapstick.
Since I will be formally shipping the car to US with a shipper (they already asked me to fill in HS7 and Form 3520, they will be shipping my personal belongings as well altogether), I guess I will have to transfer my title and registeration to California, and take kelapstick's advise to mail the plate back and get refund for my sticker.
Other questions:
1. Do you know if I will have to pay duty on my Toyota Corolla 2007? CBP website states that "most" canadian made vehicles are duty-free, and indicates non-residents importing cars for personal use do not have to pay duty for upto 1 year. But I see alot of threads in this forum of people who experience having to pay duty or having CBP chasing them after 1 year to pay duty. Is there a list somewhere to find out what type of Canadian made vehicles are duty-free?
2. It is good to hear that I do not have to apply for California license. But funny enough, I called DMV twice and twice they told me I have to do the theory and road test even when I tell them I'm on TN Visa. Is there a different way to convince them I don't need to get a california license?
3. About the EPA test, my shipper already told me to fill in form 3520 which is a EPA form, and in the underhood of my car, there is already a label saying it conforms to EPA for US and Canada. Is that ok then?

Thanks again!

[Steven]

There is no duty, personal effects are exempt. Says so quite clearly on the CBP website although they do make it vague in the vehicle import bit. If you end up paying duty or sales tax then you've probably made a mistake somewhere.

What they're talking about in the section you're reading is NAFTA, i.e. if you import a car made in Canada it's duty-free, but that is not relevant in this situation because the car is yours already.

You can apply for a DL in California on TN-1 but you don't have to. A lot of people do because it helps to have local ID but if you maintain residential ties to Ontario you're a resident there, so you don't have to have a California DL. From a legal standpoint establishing residential ties in the US can make your tax situation complicated, plus it might foul up "non-immigrant intent" when you renew TN-1 status.

Not sure about the EPA test, you'd have to talk to the EPA and CBP. I had a car that had at a point in the past been imported into the US and I imported it into the US again and it had to be tested. Whether it actually needed to be tested I don't know.