AAABBB

Hi,

I am a Canadian Permanent Resident and working in US on H1B visa. I work in Seattle, WA which is about 2 hours drive from US-Canada border. My actual home is in Vancouver, British Columbia and I have rented an apartment in Seattle. This way, I work in US for 5 days and go back to Canada on weekends. Presently I am flying back and forth everytime and I never had any issues with the immigration authorities.

Now, I am planning to buy a car and thinking as it is more feasible just to drive across the border on weekends. My concern is where to buy my car, in US or in Canada. As I plan to live in Canada after I finish my job tenure, I am thinking it should be better if I buy a car in Canada but just wondering if that could cause any problems when I am driving across the border with Canadian license plates and stating that I work in US.

If I buy a car in US, then after the finish of my job tenure, I might have to go through import of US car in Canada. I am just confused which course of action should I take.

I am thinking my best bet would be buying a car in Canada. Please advice if there are any formalities I need to go through and if anyone in my situation had experienced any problems while crossing border.

Thanks,
AAABBB

Ingo Pakleppa - See Web Site For Email

On Fri, 17 Oct 2003 00:03:13 +0000, AAABBB wrote:


    > Hi,
    >
    > I am a Canadian Permanent Resident and working in US on H1B visa. I work
    > in Seattle, WA which is about 2 hours drive from US-Canada border. My
    > actual home is in Vancouver, British Columbia and I have rented an
    > apartment in Seattle. This way, I work in US for 5 days and go back to
    > Canada on weekends. Presently I am flying back and forth everytime and I
    > never had any issues with the immigration authorities.
    >
    > Now, I am planning to buy a car and thinking as it is more feasible just
    > to drive across the border on weekends. My concern is where to buy my
    > car, in US or in Canada. As I plan to live in Canada after I finish my
    > job tenure, I am thinking it should be better if I buy a car in Canada
    > but just wondering if that could cause any problems when I am driving
    > across the border with Canadian license plates and stating that I work
    > in US.

Tricky question. I think you have no choice but to buy the car in Canada.
I remember reading somewhere that it is illegal for Canadian citizens to
enter Canada driving a car with a non-Canadian license plate (the same
goes for US citizens, by the way). I don't know if this also applies to
Canadian permanent residents.

Do remember that this is basically just second-hand rumor, nothing more.

Importing a car for one week should usually not be a problem.

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S P Arif Sahari Wibowo

Ingo Pakleppa - see web site for email wrote:

    > Tricky question. I think you have no choice but to buy the car in Canada.
    > I remember reading somewhere that it is illegal for Canadian citizens to
    > enter Canada driving a car with a non-Canadian license plate (the same
    > goes for US citizens, by the way). I don't know if this also applies to
    > Canadian permanent residents.

I think it applies to Canadian PR as well. However, the law is not about
'entering' but about 'driving'. So it is illegal for Canadian (& PR) to
drive US car in Canada. So the custom / immigration officers at the border
will not stop the driver, but will warn him/her that police will catch
him/her and may impound the car. Obviously, this is not happen that often.
Actually, I'm yet to hear a real situation when this happened.

I agree with you that the best choice is to buy the car in Canada.

I ma wondering, though, if it applies to US citizen as well, how about
people with dual citizenship (US & Canada), what car they can drive legally
through the border?

--
Stephan Paul Arif Sahari Wibowo
_____ _____ _____ _____
/____ /____/ /____/ /____ [email protected]
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Rich Wales

Stephan Paul Arif Sahari Wibowo wrote:

> I am wondering, though, if it applies to US citizens as
> well, how about people with dual citizenship (US & Canada),
> what car can they drive legally through the border?

AFAIK, the restriction is based on residence, not citizenship.

A =resident= of Canada cannot, in general, drive a US-plated car
in Canada. This rule doesn't apply solely to Canadian citizens;
it also applies to non-citizen residents.

But a US resident =can= drive into and within Canada in a US-
plated vehicle, even if he/she has Canadian citizenship (e.g.,
a dual US/CDN citizen, or even a "green card" holder who is a
citizen only of Canada).

Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.

samdonalds

Buy your car in canada dude, and get a Canadian license plate - Trust me - you wont regret it. If you buy in US, you'll have to get it imported, federal, safety, province certified, pay 6% _+ 7% GST PST, plus 6% duty if the car is not manufactured in NA, and here is the worst part - every time you cross the border, the Customs/Imm ppl will give you a hard time saying if you live in canada, why are you driving a US plated car.