Moving back to US - border crossing by car question

I'm a US citizen currently living in Canada (Montreal) but will be moving
back in a few weeks as a permanent US resident. I plan on driving my car
across the border (1000 Island,) but have never done so before, so I thought
I'd ask for any things to prepare for. I have a current US passport, and the
car was purchased in the US; although, the title is Canadian now. The car
will have a few personal items inside, and all my other stuff is coming by
freight. Anyone have experiences to share or tips, what custom forms, etc.?

thanks
David


*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

David Clemons wrote:
I'm a US citizen currently living in Canada (Montreal) but will be moving
back in a few weeks as a permanent US resident. I plan on driving my car
across the border (1000 Island,) but have never done so before, so I thought
I'd ask for any things to prepare for. I have a current US passport, and the
car was purchased in the US; although, the title is Canadian now. The car
will have a few personal items inside, and all my other stuff is coming by
freight. Anyone have experiences to share or tips, what custom forms, etc.?


I don't see any problems. But if the patrol dogs start to bark, run
like hell.


thanks
David


*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

"PeterL" wrote in message
ups.com...

I don't see any problems. But if the patrol dogs start to bark, run
like hell.


Ha! Thanks Peter. The mover sent me a sheet that said I'd need to fill out a
couple forms (EPA, & Highway Safety form) and then there's that little
declaration of goods form that I've filled out on plane flights. It all
seemed like overkill to me, but I wanted to know what to expect.

-David


*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

In , David Clemons wrote:

Ha! Thanks Peter. The mover sent me a sheet that said I'd need to fill out a
couple forms (EPA, & Highway Safety form) and then there's that little
declaration of goods form that I've filled out on plane flights. It all
seemed like overkill to me, but I wanted to know what to expect.

To avoid surprises, you might want to review the Customs & Border Protection
literature on the topic of moving (back) to the US.

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/...ctt/moving.doc


--
Herbie J.
Famous Curator

On Mon, 6 Mar 2006 15:51:50 -0500, "David Clemons"
wrote:

I'm a US citizen currently living in Canada (Montreal) but will be moving
back in a few weeks as a permanent US resident. I plan on driving my car
across the border (1000 Island,) but have never done so before, so I thought
I'd ask for any things to prepare for. I have a current US passport, and the
car was purchased in the US; although, the title is Canadian now. The car
will have a few personal items inside, and all my other stuff is coming by
freight. Anyone have experiences to share or tips, what custom forms, etc.?

We helped my daughter and son-in-law move from Connecticut to Indiana
a few years ago, with a planned three-day stopover at my other
daughter's house in Michigan while they waited for their moving van to
deliver the furniture to Indiana. The shortest route from Connecticut
to Michigan was through Canada, so we crossed the border twice. We
were driving two cars and both were loaded with suitcases, boxes of
important papers, things too fragile to trust to the movers, .... and
three large plants, which we had forgotten might be a problem.

Another thing we didn't think of until we were in line to cross into
Canada was that my husband and I, in one car had Italian driver's
licenses and were driving a car registered to my daughter. We called
her on her cell phone and asked her to tell the officer that the old
grey car a few cars back was hers and that the two foreigners driving
it had her permission to do so. However, we didn't get the same
officer. In any event, he accepted our explanation and waved us
through.

The plant problem didn't occur to us at all until we crossed back into
the US and the officer asked, "Is that a live plant I see?" He waved
us over to the Dept. of Agriculture office near the crossing and I had
a feeling we were going to have to ditch the plants, one of which had
great sentimental value to my son-in-law. However, when I explained to
the people in the office that our plants had been put in the car in
Connecticut and had never left the car since then, nor had any contact
with Canadian soil, they gave us a certificate which allowed the
plants to enter.

There was absolutely no problem with customs, and I wouldn't expect
any unless you were travelling with new goods. I have moved
internationally four other times aside from this recent cross-border
experience and have never had to answer questions about personal and
household effects I was bringing with me. Once I was hand-carrying a
large piece of Chinese calligraphy made by one of my daughters and had
to convince Italian customs that it wasn't a valuable piece of Chinese
antiquity. My daughter was rather flattered.
--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

Thanks for sharing the story Barbara. I'm hoping for a smooth crossing, but
will be as prepared as I can be. No plants in my case.

-David


"B Vaughan" wrote in message
news
... We helped my daughter and son-in-law move from Connecticut to Indiana
a few years ago, with a planned three-day stopover at my other
daughter's house in Michigan while they waited for their moving van to
deliver the furniture to Indiana. The shortest route from Connecticut
to Michigan was through Canada, so we crossed the border twice. We
were driving two cars and both were loaded with suitcases, boxes of
important papers, things too fragile to trust to the movers, .... and
three large plants, which we had forgotten might be a problem.

Another thing we didn't think of until we were in line to cross into
Canada was that my husband and I, in one car had Italian driver's
licenses and were driving a car registered to my daughter. We called
her on her cell phone and asked her to tell the officer that the old
grey car a few cars back was hers and that the two foreigners driving
it had her permission to do so. However, we didn't get the same
officer. In any event, he accepted our explanation and waved us
through.

The plant problem didn't occur to us at all until we crossed back into
the US and the officer asked, "Is that a live plant I see?" He waved
us over to the Dept. of Agriculture office near the crossing and I had
a feeling we were going to have to ditch the plants, one of which had
great sentimental value to my son-in-law. However, when I explained to
the people in the office that our plants had been put in the car in
Connecticut and had never left the car since then, nor had any contact
with Canadian soil, they gave us a certificate which allowed the
plants to enter.

There was absolutely no problem with customs, and I wouldn't expect
any unless you were travelling with new goods. I have moved
internationally four other times aside from this recent cross-border
experience and have never had to answer questions about personal and
household effects I was bringing with me. Once I was hand-carrying a
large piece of Chinese calligraphy made by one of my daughters and had
to convince Italian customs that it wasn't a valuable piece of Chinese
antiquity. My daughter was rather flattered.
--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero
dot it.


*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***