Driving to Canada after initial landing from the States

[joonpark78]

Hello

I have initially landed in Toronto last July, 2006. I reside in the States currently and am planning on going back to Toronto again next week by car. I plan to drive through the Buffalo boarder. My quesstion is;

1. I am not importing my car from the States to Canada this time when I travel to Canda next week. I will visit and come back to the States. I plan to import the car and other items later when I permanently move back again. Will the immigration officer give me a hard time traveling with my car and come back to the States? If I am driving the car that I said I would bring later in the list that I have provided to the officer, then does that mean that I need to go through the import process when I drive it next week although I don't intend to import it until later next year?

Please help if someone is familiar with this area! Thank you a lot!

 

[ajain09]

Yes, border crossing with US registered car is a problem. From my experience, I am sharing this.
I had become a canadian PR around 9 months back (Feb-08) but I have not moved completely to Canada as I am on work in US. Lately I crossed the US/Canada border with US registed car, I was told since I had become Canadian PR morethan 8 months ago, it is illegal to drive a foreign registered car owned by me in Canada for a period of morethan 60 days. I was compelled to start the importing process like Form -1 and Fees for importing etc. I refused to do that, as I need the car in united states for my business reasons also once the car becomes a canadian car (i,e Imported to canada) you will have similar issues with US Customs and DMV (USA). It will become a nightmare of importing/reimporting car between canada & US.
The rules pertaining to this scenario is highly ambiguos and it is purely under the discretion of Canada Border services agency. Unfortunately, I am not trying to evade the system or rules, I am prepared to import the car once I am completely ready to move but till that point, canadian government should relax or make things clear on this type of scenrios. It gives a unpleasant and bad experience to a potential immigrant who lived in states for many years and gives a feeling that Canadian Immigration is all about money making business for Govt of Canada.

 

[PMM]

hi

Yes, border crossing with US registered car is a problem. From my experience, I am sharing this.
I had become a canadian PR around 9 months back (Feb-08) but I have not moved completely to Canada as I am on work in US. Lately I crossed the US/Canada border with US registed car, I was told since I had become Canadian PR morethan 8 months ago, it is illegal to drive a foreign registered car owned by me in Canada for a period of morethan 60 days. I was compelled to start the importing process like Form -1 and Fees for importing etc. I refused to do that, as I need the car in united states for my business reasons also once the car becomes a canadian car (i,e Imported to canada) you will have similar issues with US Customs and DMV (USA). It will become a nightmare of importing/reimporting car between canada & US.
The rules pertaining to this scenario is highly ambiguos and it is purely under the discretion of Canada Border services agency. Unfortunately, I am not trying to evade the system or rules, I am prepared to import the car once I am completely ready to move but till that point, canadian government should relax or make things clear on this type of scenrios. It gives a unpleasant and bad experience to a potential immigrant who lived in states for many years and gives a feeling that Canadian Immigration is all about money making business for Govt of Canada.

It is quite clear on the CBSA web site, Canadian PRs and Citizens can not drive US registered vehicles in Canada, except point to point, ie from the border to their home and then from their home to the border.

PMM

 

[links18]

hi

Yes, border crossing with US registered car is a problem. From my experience, I am sharing this.
I had become a canadian PR around 9 months back (Feb-08) but I have not moved completely to Canada as I am on work in US. Lately I crossed the US/Canada border with US registed car, I was told since I had become Canadian PR morethan 8 months ago, it is illegal to drive a foreign registered car owned by me in Canada for a period of morethan 60 days. I was compelled to start the importing process like Form -1 and Fees for importing etc. I refused to do that, as I need the car in united states for my business reasons also once the car becomes a canadian car (i,e Imported to canada) you will have similar issues with US Customs and DMV (USA). It will become a nightmare of importing/reimporting car between canada & US.
The rules pertaining to this scenario is highly ambiguos and it is purely under the discretion of Canada Border services agency. Unfortunately, I am not trying to evade the system or rules, I am prepared to import the car once I am completely ready to move but till that point, canadian government should relax or make things clear on this type of scenrios. It gives a unpleasant and bad experience to a potential immigrant who lived in states for many years and gives a feeling that Canadian Immigration is all about money making business for Govt of Canada.

It is quite clear on the CBSA web site, Canadian PRs and Citizens can not drive US registered vehicles in Canada, except point to point, ie from the border to their home and then from their home to the border.

PMM

I don't think this is correct and it hasn't been my experience (see reply in other thread). What about Canadian citizens who live in the US and who want to drive their US plated cars into Canada to take their kids on a tour of their homeland? They may be Canadian citizens, but they are residents of the United States, so they can drive their US plated cars into Canada as long as they are planning on returning to the US. The same should go for "permanent residents" as they have "all the same rights as Canadian citizens, except the right to vote in federal elections." The legal status that is determinate here is "residency" i.e. where you live not citizenship or permanent resident status. Of course, as I stated in the other thread, do not expect all CBSA officers to have an intricate understanding of this distinction. Although it has been my experience that CBSA officers, when encountering a situation they are unfamiliar with, will seek consensus from colleagues and they usually get it right.