Moving down to Detroit

[dududuckling]

Hi guys,

 

I applied for college in the States and got accepted. I'm moving down to Detroit in September. Prior to this, I've been in Canada as an international student and own a Canadian pathy. I've been thinking of ways of bringing it over to the States for personal use. I have read stuff on NHTSA.gov and am aware of the HS-7 declaration form. With respect to my immigration status, I'll be in the US as an international student and will be as a tourist in Canada. Here are my questions

 

As a non-resident, can I bring the vehicle over to the States and have it registered as an American vehicle (aka importation)? Or will it be much better to have it registered as a Canadian vehicle and use it in the States? Based on what I've read, since I'm a non-immigrant in the States, I can bring in the Canadian pathy for personal use and have to bring it out of the States in less than a year.

 

At the border crossing, do I have to hand in the HS-7 form each time I pass the US custom (into the US)? And what happens when I go over to the Canadian side (into Canada)?

 

Is it possible to get an agency to import the vehicle and settle the paperwork for me?

 

I have very little experience in this matter. My time is running short as orientation starts on September 1st and I've yet to apply for US study permit (although I've got the i-20 form). If u have any experience/ knowledge in this matter, I really appreciate ur input! I don't wanna have to end up selling the pathy away because its been a great vehicle for the past three years and there have been so much done to it.

 

Thank you once again! I really really appreciate it! Have a great day,

 

Andrew

[GrimGreg]

Where is your "perminant" address going to be? If you are going back to Canada after you finish school, just maintain an address to keep the Pathy registered at up there. If you are staying in the states after school, then go through all the hastle to import and register the vehicle here. No need to rush things either, Windsor is just across the bridge if you had to go across the border for anything.

[nismothunder]

Detroit...ROCK CITY!!...

[Precise1]

Dowser has a bit of info on this as he imported a pathy to Canada recently. Give him a PM...

 

B

[dududuckling]

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'm not sure where I'm gonna be after I graduate, I might either be working in the States or Canada or go back to Asia. That's still three more years to go. I'm still gathering information and reading up on stuff, so there'll be no surprises when I go across the US/Canadian customs. For now, I intend to keep the vehicle registered as Canadian and return the vehicle to Canada once a year as required in the declaration form. I have Canadian relatives who live in Burlington, Ontario. I intend to use their address for permanent residence of the vehicle.

[Dowser]

Since you're not going to be a Permanent Resident in the USA, I would keep it ad a Canadian Vehicle. You can still license it thru your insurance company without issue. My sister worked in North Carolina for a year and kept her Vehicle registered as a Canadian vehicle. Not sure of the total length of time you will be there but that Year thing you read about works like this. If you make NO trips into Canada in that time. So if you head over the border home for visits and what not, the time basically restarts itself. In my opinion, if you're planning on returning fairly regularly, holidays and such for visits, then I wouldn't bother Importing it. Now one of the perks is that whenever you come over the boarder to visit your family and such, you don't have to pay duty on Duty Free stuff cause you've been in the states for longer then the afternoon, sooooooo Lots and lots of Alcohol purchase is a nice start to the seasonal holidays.

 

May want to keep your eyes open too for other things you want to Buy for your pathy and everything else for that matter, while out there. Buying them at a cheaper value, and not having to pay for duty every time you come back over the boarder to visit, You can drop them off at home and no ones the wiser. Nice way to get a lot of stuff cheaper.