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Exporting/Importing Vehicle - US to Canada ONLY!

awaitforitb

Newbie
Apr 5, 2018
4
0
Ah, I see, Checking if they would waive of duties if bringing car under settler (not mentioned in GTF list) <I apologize on digressing you from your original qs but appreciate your replies back>
Were you able to find an answer for this. I am in a similar situation.
 

exandin

Newbie
Jul 22, 2021
4
1
Hello all,

I have one question about exporting a co-owned car. Our car is owned by me and my husband, and I'm the only one who's going to export our car and crossing the border. (I'll be landing on a temporary worker, and he'll be departing to another country for work) We were gonna go together to the CBP office and export it, but it seems that after the export, you cannot stay in the US anymore. (He won't be able to cross the border because he's not American or Canadian, fully vaccinated though.) Does anyone know about any rule or policy on this co-ownership thing? I mean, can I just go the CBP office and export our car without him? I feel like I should bring some documents like a copy of his passport, his approval.
 

Alex54321

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2017
513
127
USA
Category........
FAM
App. Filed.......
20-10-2017
AOR Received.
01-12-2017
Hello all,

I have one question about exporting a co-owned car. Our car is owned by me and my husband, and I'm the only one who's going to export our car and crossing the border. (I'll be landing on a temporary worker, and he'll be departing to another country for work) We were gonna go together to the CBP office and export it, but it seems that after the export, you cannot stay in the US anymore. (He won't be able to cross the border because he's not American or Canadian, fully vaccinated though.) Does anyone know about any rule or policy on this co-ownership thing? I mean, can I just go the CBP office and export our car without him? I feel like I should bring some documents like a copy of his passport, his approval.
I (dual citizen) exported my wife's (PR) two cars twice after she landed. Both times the Title was on her name. I exported with my passport and with a Power of Attorney she gave me. First time was too easy, no questions asked, second time a few questions about her previous status in US and the officer took a look at the PofA document. Both times I was a "third" party exporting "somebody elses" car. They needed 72 hours notice, proper ITN number, a Title (to put stamp in) and a Passport ( in this case my passport, not the owner passport). At the end this is about the car , not about the owner. As far as import - Canadians did not need to see the owner as well.
 

exandin

Newbie
Jul 22, 2021
4
1
I (dual citizen) exported my wife's (PR) two cars twice after she landed. Both times the Title was on her name. I exported with my passport and with a Power of Attorney she gave me. First time was too easy, no questions asked, second time a few questions about her previous status in US and the officer took a look at the PofA document. Both times I was a "third" party exporting "somebody elses" car. They needed 72 hours notice, proper ITN number, a Title (to put stamp in) and a Passport ( in this case my passport, not the owner passport). At the end this is about the car , not about the owner. As far as import - Canadians did not need to see the owner as well.
Thanks, Alex for sharing! Yeah, I'm also thinking about bringing a power of attorney by a notary public. Hope it works. I'll put a reply here on how it went once I cross the border.
 

sboo16

Member
Jan 22, 2021
17
8
Hey guys,

For importing a car from the US to Canada, do the modifications have to be done before crossing the border?
Like the metric odometer for example - can it be changed after entering Canada before the inspection?

Thanks!
 

Alex54321

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2017
513
127
USA
Category........
FAM
App. Filed.......
20-10-2017
AOR Received.
01-12-2017
Hey guys,

For importing a car from the US to Canada, do the modifications have to be done before crossing the border?
Like the metric odometer for example - can it be changed after entering Canada before the inspection
Hey guys,

For importing a car from the US to Canada, do the modifications have to be done before crossing the border?
Like the metric odometer for example - can it be changed after entering Canada before the inspection?

Thanks!
After, in order to pass RIV inspection.
 
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22pkayw

Newbie
Aug 10, 2021
1
0
Hi all,

we have just bought a Washington state car and plan to import it to Canada next week but don’t want to do the USA export part, does Canada ask for an ITN or care about the US export part?
As we have no plans to ever return to the US, can we do this with no problems at the Canadian border (we are Canadians)?
 

Alex54321

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2017
513
127
USA
Category........
FAM
App. Filed.......
20-10-2017
AOR Received.
01-12-2017
Hi all,

we have just bought a Washington state car and plan to import it to Canada next week but don’t want to do the USA export part, does Canada ask for an ITN or care about the US export part?
As we have no plans to ever return to the US, can we do this with no problems at the Canadian border (we are Canadians)?
CBSA officers do not ask for ITN or about export. At least at the MI-Ontario border. In WA-BC could be different. Normally they care only about their business, which is import and duties.

Also I would not worry about entering US in the future in this vehicle (Canadian plated).

Last week I was in Michigan and stopped for something minor (while driving my wife's Canadian plated, imported from US car) and got a ticket. They did not care about my expired proof of insurance ( I forgot home the renewal) and told me that this is just a ticket and no any points or whatever ( for a foreign driver).
 
Last edited:
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Tony_Fashion

Newbie
Feb 18, 2021
5
1
Hi everybody. I'm a US citizen moving from Philadelphia, PA to Toronto, ON. My PR Travel Document is approved, so the next time I cross the border from the US into Canada I will land as a permanent resident. Ideally I want to cross via the land border in Buffalo and export my US vehicle from the Lewiston, NY CBP office, however they make it very clear that the office is only open M - F 8a - 4p.

If I cross the border with my car over the weekend when that office is closed and land in Canada as a Permanent Resident, is it possible for me to take my car and drive back down from Toronto to the Lewiston, NY office during the weekday to get all of my exportation documents stamped? Will I be turned away at the border if I try to cross with my car over the weekend?

I can email their office and ask but I wanted to see if anyone here has faced a similar situation, and if so what was the result? Thanks!
 

Alex54321

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2017
513
127
USA
Category........
FAM
App. Filed.......
20-10-2017
AOR Received.
01-12-2017
Hi everybody. I'm a US citizen moving from Philadelphia, PA to Toronto, ON. My PR Travel Document is approved, so the next time I cross the border from the US into Canada I will land as a permanent resident. Ideally I want to cross via the land border in Buffalo and export my US vehicle from the Lewiston, NY CBP office, however they make it very clear that the office is only open M - F 8a - 4p.

If I cross the border with my car over the weekend when that office is closed and land in Canada as a Permanent Resident, is it possible for me to take my car and drive back down from Toronto to the Lewiston, NY office during the weekday to get all of my exportation documents stamped? Will I be turned away at the border if I try to cross with my car over the weekend?

I can email their office and ask but I wanted to see if anyone here has faced a similar situation, and if so what was the result? Thanks!
This is COVID related question, I mean to cross the border back and forth. Since you are US citizen I do not see a problem for you driving to US and do your export procedure. As far as going back to Canada as PR - you will be allowed driving back according the current Canadian rules with possible self-quarantine for 14 days. Again, crossing the border has nothing to do with your export/import business.
 

Tony_Fashion

Newbie
Feb 18, 2021
5
1
Thanks for your reply. My main concern in this case is not so much the COVID regulations to cross the border, but more of what will happen when I attempt to land in Canada and obtain my PR with my vehicle on a Saturday if I'm not able to get the proper export paperwork from the US. Would CBSA still let me through and allow me to complete the export process for my vehicle at a later date?
 

Alex54321

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2017
513
127
USA
Category........
FAM
App. Filed.......
20-10-2017
AOR Received.
01-12-2017
Thanks for your reply. My main concern in this case is not so much the COVID regulations to cross the border, but more of what will happen when I attempt to land in Canada and obtain my PR with my vehicle on a Saturday if I'm not able to get the proper export paperwork from the US. Would CBSA still let me through and allow me to complete the export process for my vehicle at a later date?
I mentioned this situation on other treads. The CBSA probably will offer you to do a formal import (Form 1) regardless of export during your landing procedure. The export is US thing, the import is Canadian thing. I did this. Imported first and drove to US later ( in a few days) to do the export. As you know there is no exit visa and Canadians will not prohibit you to drive to US, you just drive - that's it. On the way back to Canada I explained CBSA officer why I still drive US plated/insured car back to Canada ( "imported" a few days ago). They just reminded me that I have 45 days to do RIV process after the import. All this was at Detroit-Windsor border. And by the way I drove back and forth ( as dual citizen) my spouse's car (PR) and did export/import without her.
 

Tony_Fashion

Newbie
Feb 18, 2021
5
1
I mentioned this situation on other treads. The CBSA probably will offer you to do a formal import (Form 1) regardless of export during your landing procedure. The export is US thing, the import is Canadian thing. I did this. Imported first and drove to US later ( in a few days) to do the export. As you know there is no exit visa and Canadians will not prohibit you to drive to US, you just drive - that's it. On the way back to Canada I explained CBSA officer why I still drive US plated/insured car back to Canada ( "imported" a few days ago). They just reminded me that I have 45 days to do RIV process after the import. All this was at Detroit-Windsor border. And by the way I drove back and forth ( as dual citizen) my spouse's car (PR) and did export/import without her.
That's very helpful, thanks. Did you have any issues with the US export office when you went back since you had already imported it into Canada?
 

Alex54321

Hero Member
Jul 28, 2017
513
127
USA
Category........
FAM
App. Filed.......
20-10-2017
AOR Received.
01-12-2017
That's very helpful, thanks. Did you have any issues with the US export office when you went back since you had already imported it into Canada?
No, they (CBP) have no idea about Canadian import. The reality was that I did not bring with me power of attorney for my wife's car to US export office (after proper 72 hours notice and with ITN number). They rejected my export process and I proceded back to Canada (since we already lived in Canada with our still US plated/insured car) and did import with my wife's paperwork (so, it was import a few months after landing).

Two days later I drove again ( with Power of Attorney) from Canada to the same US export office and did the export. They did not mentioned 72 hours notice, just took my documents and stamped the Title. So, I drove again back to Canada, now with exported car. That's where CBSA officer suggested me to finish RIV inspection in 45 days.
 

Mthornt

Hero Member
Dec 28, 2015
817
207
Canada
Hi everybody. I'm a US citizen moving from Philadelphia, PA to Toronto, ON. My PR Travel Document is approved, so the next time I cross the border from the US into Canada I will land as a permanent resident. Ideally I want to cross via the land border in Buffalo and export my US vehicle from the Lewiston, NY CBP office, however they make it very clear that the office is only open M - F 8a - 4p.

If I cross the border with my car over the weekend when that office is closed and land in Canada as a Permanent Resident, is it possible for me to take my car and drive back down from Toronto to the Lewiston, NY office during the weekday to get all of my exportation documents stamped? Will I be turned away at the border if I try to cross with my car over the weekend?

I can email their office and ask but I wanted to see if anyone here has faced a similar situation, and if so what was the result? Thanks!

Yup I did this. Actually I was living in Canada for about a month, and was driving back and forth daily for work. I ran into a bit of trouble once they realized I hadn't imported and registered my car in Canada, which is when I finally got those things done. I also didn't have my title in the car at the time which created an extra headache, but luckily got someone from CBP who understood. Your plan should go smoothly (except for potential COVID issues) since you're only planning to make the trip up, and then going back to the border to import the car.

I also like Alex, wasn't told about the 72 hour situation before I arrived to try to do it. All in all, it ended up not being a major issue, I followed the instructions, imported the car and got it registered. I should have done it earlier but you live and you learn.