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theanswerisdance

"Selling" my Canadian car to my American fiancé/husband?

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Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Canada
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I am moving to California on a K-1 visa next month and want to import my car. I have the compliance letter and the emissions sticker under the hood, so do not anticipate problems there. However, I intend to return to Canada for approximately 4 months each year (not all at once, in separate trips) to take care of my mom who has a chronic illness. During my 4 months in Canada, I have a second vehicle here which I would drive and so I do need to keep my Canadian insurance for that.

I have read up on California's laws regarding registering the car within 10 days of "residency" or else you will be subject to fines/prosecution. However, I do not want to surrender my Canadian driver's license, because I don't want to give up my Canadian insurance on the second vehicle that I have here....so I'm assuming that means I can't get a California driver's license without surrendering the Canadian one, based on the experiences I've read here...

My question is: Once I have legally imported the car at POE with my K-1, can I legally give/sell the vehicle to my fiancé so that he can register it in his name, he can have the title transferred to California, it can get California plates and he can put it on his California insurance? Or, does the car have to be registered in a state first BEFORE it can be given/sold to him? My Canadian insurance company will not allow me to insure my second vehicle (that's staying here in Canada) without a valid Canadian driver's license, so I have to ensure that I keep my Canadian license at all costs.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!

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Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Canada
Timeline

Hey LORIEandPHIL,

Are you in California or another state? If California, what specific steps did you take to get your California DL? Did they ask for your previous DL at all? One post I read stated that you could avoid being asked to surrender your old license by starting at the bottom, getting a California Learner's and working your way up as though you are a brand-new driver, but I imagine that would skyrocket your insurance.

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You do not need to surrender your Canadian license. I have a UK, one as well as my new one from here.

In most Canadian provinces (if not all), you have to be a resident to keep a valid license.

theanswerisdance, what you want to do might not be legally possible; you should also look into medical insurance while you travel back to Canada (I know my American insurance is covering me everywhere in the world, yours might, or might not - and your province usually will drop your coverage when you become a legal resident in the USA).

ETA: I know my insurance company in Canada was insuring foreign drivers with valid licenses (maybe not from all countries, but 1000% sure for American, French and Swiss). You might want to ask an insurance broker/other company to insure your second/Canadian car.

Edited by Boston~Montreal
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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Canada
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I agree with the other poster that you cannot be using your driver's license in your province if you are not a resident... can your mother not have the car in her name instead and insure it? You'd be insured under your American insurance as well and should be fine as a driver in that regard... those are my thoughts in that matter anyway.

As for the car being transferred to your husband... why can't you just keep it in your name while it now lives in California? What difference does THAT particular piece make? You are going to wind up going through all of the work twice and California is particularly frustrating for title work.

Once you've imported the car YOU will need to title it and register it in California. Otherwise your fiance will technically be importing it so that will make it messy. You might be able to get that title first in your name and then immediately add his name to it. Many states allow joint ownership on the title.

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It's been awhile for me, and I can't quite remember, but seeing as I still have a Canadian licence in my possession, I'm going to assume that i didn't have to surrender it when i got my Cali licence. (You WILL have to take a road test btw). I agree that changing the ownership in Cal is a big hassle, and if your husband is the one officially importing it, it can be prohibitively expensive (so my husband tells me).

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