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Yeah....I've been considering moving to the US myself (as a Canadian Citizen on a TN Visa...possibly H1B eventually), and the car would be like....95% drivable down there (weather-wise) as opposed to 50-60% here, so it would be super nice to take, but....I'm not sure how plausible it is to take it. Unfortunately I'm a Canadian Citizen, so this may not help you very much, but it might give you a few more ideas.
Note: I do not condone illegally bringing a car into the US, as it will actually make it harder in the future for people to bring the cars in legally.
There seem to be a couple options, but.....there are drawbacks to each:
Remaining a Canadian Resident
- Keep Alberta Plates on the Car, Keep Alberta Insurance on the Car, Keep an Alberta Address of residency.
Things I'm not sure about:
- How often do you have to return to Canada to keep your residence status, and how long do you have to be back for?
Drawbacks:
- Canada requires you to pay "top-up" income tax on income made outside the province/country. I believe someone figured this out and it's something like 15-20% additional tax I'd have to pay to Canada to remain a resident.
- Insurance claims would be difficult, very difficult...if they need an appraisal of damage done or the like.
- Would have to tell my insurance company the car will be out of the Country for most of it's use and that could require additional premiums.
Bring the vehicle in under my Visa
- Basically there is a clause when getting a visa to work/enter the United States...you can bring a vehicle in for 1-year, when it may otherwise be illegal to be brought in.
- There are many limitations....you cannot sell the vehicle, it still has to pass air-care if the state has it, etc.....and I'm not sure if RHD vehicles are included.
Drawbacks:
- No longer than 365 days, if the vehicle remains after this time...I'm not sure what they do....but it is seized. You are probably either forced to export it (towing it, as it's not drivable at this point), or they will crush it. I'm guessing.
One key point to this.....this is a perfectly legal way of doing it, and at the moment is the top one on my list for this reason. It unfortunately is limited to a year, so I'd have to sell the car after that (back in Canada), or store it in Canada indefinitely.....or switch to some sort of racing importation type thing, and tow it to the track when I wanted to use it.
Get the Vehicle State "Legalized"
- Basically you bring the car in, find someone to insure it, register it, and plate it. This is not really legal, as it is not a Federally Legal car....but...some people have apparently referred to it as "a legal gray area". Apparently it can work, but the state you're going to needs to accept state legal cars on the road, without them being federally legal.
Plus there are some huge problems with this: you could be asked at any time to export the car within 60 days, or it will be seized and crushed (I believe someone with an R33 "kit car" just received this letter sometime this summer).
Feasibly though, I'd be _super worried_ about my car. If something did happen to it, depending on how you insured it, etc, it may not be covered because you "described the vehicle wrong" or whatever....and I've heard from a friend who was recently in an accident in the states, that the insurance companies are extremely fiendish, and will do _whatever_ they can, to get out of paying for stuff. His car accident was pretty bad though, and left him with some back problems (i.e. very expensive), so it could just be his situation that they don't want to fork out the money for.
To be honest.....I'm thinking I'll just store the car somewhere with some sort of storage insurance on it, and when I come back to Canada it will be waiting for me. Or if I can bring it in as a vehicle on my visa, then I'll bring it in for a year, then store it.
This post does kind of border on some legal gray area stuff, so mods, if you feel it is not acceptable, I can fix it / edit it.....I'd prefer it if you didn't delete it, as it took a while to type, but I'll understand if you need to. Alternatively just the third section could be removed
Note: I do not condone illegally bringing a car into the US, as it will actually make it harder in the future for people to bring the cars in legally.
There seem to be a couple options, but.....there are drawbacks to each:
Remaining a Canadian Resident
- Keep Alberta Plates on the Car, Keep Alberta Insurance on the Car, Keep an Alberta Address of residency.
Things I'm not sure about:
- How often do you have to return to Canada to keep your residence status, and how long do you have to be back for?
Drawbacks:
- Canada requires you to pay "top-up" income tax on income made outside the province/country. I believe someone figured this out and it's something like 15-20% additional tax I'd have to pay to Canada to remain a resident.
- Insurance claims would be difficult, very difficult...if they need an appraisal of damage done or the like.
- Would have to tell my insurance company the car will be out of the Country for most of it's use and that could require additional premiums.
Bring the vehicle in under my Visa
- Basically there is a clause when getting a visa to work/enter the United States...you can bring a vehicle in for 1-year, when it may otherwise be illegal to be brought in.
- There are many limitations....you cannot sell the vehicle, it still has to pass air-care if the state has it, etc.....and I'm not sure if RHD vehicles are included.
Drawbacks:
- No longer than 365 days, if the vehicle remains after this time...I'm not sure what they do....but it is seized. You are probably either forced to export it (towing it, as it's not drivable at this point), or they will crush it. I'm guessing.
One key point to this.....this is a perfectly legal way of doing it, and at the moment is the top one on my list for this reason. It unfortunately is limited to a year, so I'd have to sell the car after that (back in Canada), or store it in Canada indefinitely.....or switch to some sort of racing importation type thing, and tow it to the track when I wanted to use it.
Get the Vehicle State "Legalized"
- Basically you bring the car in, find someone to insure it, register it, and plate it. This is not really legal, as it is not a Federally Legal car....but...some people have apparently referred to it as "a legal gray area". Apparently it can work, but the state you're going to needs to accept state legal cars on the road, without them being federally legal.
Plus there are some huge problems with this: you could be asked at any time to export the car within 60 days, or it will be seized and crushed (I believe someone with an R33 "kit car" just received this letter sometime this summer).
Feasibly though, I'd be _super worried_ about my car. If something did happen to it, depending on how you insured it, etc, it may not be covered because you "described the vehicle wrong" or whatever....and I've heard from a friend who was recently in an accident in the states, that the insurance companies are extremely fiendish, and will do _whatever_ they can, to get out of paying for stuff. His car accident was pretty bad though, and left him with some back problems (i.e. very expensive), so it could just be his situation that they don't want to fork out the money for.
To be honest.....I'm thinking I'll just store the car somewhere with some sort of storage insurance on it, and when I come back to Canada it will be waiting for me. Or if I can bring it in as a vehicle on my visa, then I'll bring it in for a year, then store it.
This post does kind of border on some legal gray area stuff, so mods, if you feel it is not acceptable, I can fix it / edit it.....I'd prefer it if you didn't delete it, as it took a while to type, but I'll understand if you need to. Alternatively just the third section could be removed
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