Importing a Motor Vehicle To Canada (the be all end all)

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Could some folks who have done this post up their wait times on the RIV forms in the mail. I know it says up to 10 days but I'd like to get a realistic idea of how long I'm going to be waiting to ride the shiney new bike sitting in my garage.
 
400SM said:
Could some folks who have done this post up their wait times on the RIV forms in the mail. I know it says up to 10 days but I'd like to get a realistic idea of how long I'm going to be waiting to ride the shiney new bike sitting in my garage.
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The 10 days is a pretty realistic time frame.
I ended up having some minor but time consuming problems getting mine but all got sorted out in the end.

First I received a letter saying my VIN # was invalid .:confused2: Someone had confused a S for a 5. Had to fax them a copy of the title.
Then they said my Recall Clearance Letter from a Suzuki dealer in MI was unacceptable and I needed a letter straight from Headquarters in CA.:angry1: Got that faxed to me and faxed it to them. Finally called them and they emailed me the RIV form.
Once I had the RIV form in my hot little hand, I got the bike to Canadian Tire the next day at 8 am. Don't need an appointment I was told, first come first served. Didn't even need to take the bike off the trailer......the inspection took about 3 minutes, no exaggeration! Had already made an appointment to have the saftey done that afternoon and by 3 pm I had the plates and rode my bike home! :happy3:
Eventually, in the mail you get a Saftey Standards sticker for Canada to put on your bike. I got mine a couple weeks later.
 
Great Info. Thanks. One question "Present your vehicle along with original title docs to US Customs prior (72 hours) to entering Canada. www.customs.gov" does this mean you must leave the bike with the US customs for 72 Hours. How does that work?
 
suncoast said:
Great Info. Thanks. One question "Present your vehicle along with original title docs to US Customs prior (72 hours) to entering Canada. www.customs.gov" does this mean you must leave the bike with the US customs for 72 Hours. How does that work?
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Fax them the title. The "present your vehicle" part is a little misleading.
 
i put on my saftey standard sticker but took it off 2 days later becuase it was ready to fly off. i have a naked bike so the stiker was exposed to all the wind and rain. I stuck it back on the paper it came on, and just kept it in a folder with all the other paper work.
 
Hi all,
bought a new motorcycle from dealer through ebay.
no registration or title as it is new.

dealer fax me a Purchase Contract. Will this be as good as (Title & Registration) for US Custom & CBSA
 
monsoon_2 said:
Hi all,
bought a new motorcycle from dealer through ebay.
no registration or title as it is new.

dealer fax me a Purchase Contract. Will this be as good as (Title & Registration) for US Custom & CBSA
Click to expand...

Why don't you call the numbers listed and talk to US Customs and CBSA. I'd take their word over anyone elses on here, as they are the ones you'll be dealing with.
 
monsoon_2 said:
Hi all,
bought a new motorcycle from dealer through ebay.
no registration or title as it is new.

dealer fax me a Purchase Contract. Will this be as good as (Title & Registration) for US Custom & CBSA
Click to expand...

The dealer can provide you with a copy of the Certificate of Origin. This will do the trick.
 
NinjaNikki said:
Tired of all the post about this topic so here it is the be all end all... Hopefully this can be made a sticky.

What to do before you import?

- Make sure your vehicle is admissible and can be modified to meet Canadian requirements by checking Transport Canada’s List of Admissible Vehicles (this list includes passengers cars, trucks, vans, jeeps, chassis cabs, trailers, motorcycles, and snowmobiles less than 15 years old; off-road vehicles manufactured after May 1, 1988 and buses manufactured after Jan. 1, 1971. www.riv.ca (1-888-848-8240)

- Contact the original equipment manufacturer or authorized dealer of your vehicle to obtain a recall clearance letter (YOU MUST HAVE THIS DOCUMENT IN ORDER TO PASS THE FEDERAL INSPECTION)

- Make sure you have the required documentation: title documents, registration, sales receipts, statement of compliance label and manufacturer’s recall clearance letter.

- Find out about any additional provincial or territorial requirements, such as safety inspections and emissions tests.

- Arrange for insurance.

- Present your vehicle along with original title docs to US Customs prior (72 hours) to entering Canada. www.customs.gov

- If you are importing a trailer you may call RIV to have your VIN number verified ahead of time.

What to do at the border?

- produce your title documents, registration and sales receipts.

- Complete Vehicle Import Form- Form 1 which will be provided by CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency formally Customs) this form must be kept with vehicle until it is licensed.

- CBSA will check vehicle against Transport Canada’s list of admissible vehicles they will also verify the public VIN #’s and manufacturer’s statement of compliance label to ensure a match.

- CBSA will facilitate the payment of your nonrefundable RIV fee of $182 in all provinces except Quebec where it is $197.

- Payment for the RIV fee may be made directly to CBSA with major credit cards CBSA DOES NOT ACCEPT CASH OR CHEQUES FOR THE RIV FEE.

What to do after the vehicle enters Canada?

- Within 10 days, you should receive a letter from RIV with your inspection docs (form 2) which details what must be done to bring your vehicle into compliance.

- It is your responsibility to complete the necessary mods within 45 days (they can be preformed by the garage of your choice)

- Make sure you keep receipts of all your modification work

- The RIV has contracted Canadian Tire to perform their federal inspections.

- When you pass the inspection they inspection center will stamp your form 1 and you will have to present this paper work to the licensing authority

- If the vehicle fails the inspection within the 45 days it will have to be exported.

Common Modifications?

Motorcycles
- recall clearance letter
- U.S statement of compliance (S.O.C Label) at the border
- The RIV will mail a Canadian statement of compliance label to you after passing the federal inspection
- Valid alpha-numeric 17-digit VIN
- Metric speedometer and odometer labels (provided by inspection centre)
- All lights on

Restricted-Use Motorcycles

- Recall clearance letter
- Off-road statement label
- Reflectors

Numbers you’ll need?

Registrar of Imported Vehicles
1-888-848-8240
www.riv.ca
info@riv.ca

Canada Border Service Agency
1-800-461-9999 (English)
1-800-959-2036 (French)
www.cbsa.gc.ca

Transport Canada
1-800-333-0371
(613) 998-4831 (fax)
www.tc.gc.ca

United States Customs
www.customs.gov
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Wht do you do if a vehicle you want to import is not on the list? Is it admisable or non-admisable? i would ike to bring an MV Augusta up but it is not listed under the motorcycle section? Any help would be appreciated.
 
A friend of mine just bought a brand new M109R from the US. There was a little red tap to go through but by the time he was riding it down the street here he had saved several thousand dollars. And the only drawback, if he ever needs warranty work, he'll need to take it to a dealer in Bufffalo.
 
Hello all,
I am a US Citizen with the intention of importing a car into Canada for my fiance(Canadian Citizen) who lives in Brantford, ON...The car will not be sold to her but given as a gift...Other than the requiremets for exporting a vehicle from the States into Canada will this idea fly?...I currently have a vehicle in Canada registered, licensed and insured in my name, with my current US address that was issued a temporary Visa while I was employed in Canada and now needs to return to the States..My plans were to export my vehicle to Canada, leaving the car as a gift to my fiance, and drive the vehicle currently registered in Canada back to the States...Does anyone see potential problems with this plan?
Thanks for any help in this matter!!...
 
2 steps 1. import car in your name 2. gift it you should be ok you/she may have to pay the tax on the value of the car. I know you can have a car transfered 2x with in the family for no taxes look in to it.
 
lil red bird said:
2 steps 1. import car in your name 2. gift it you should be ok you/she may have to pay the tax on the value of the car. I know you can have a car transfered 2x with in the family for no taxes look in to it.
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Thanks for that bit of information...!!!
 
Brand new bike

I'm trying to import a brand new bike. I called the Lewiston contact for importing motor vehicles and I was told that I wouldn't need to fax anything beforehand to the US-side of the crossing (because the bike is brand new and has never been registered). Does anyone have any input on this?

Also, if the above was bogus advice, what should I fax to customs? The bike will not be in my name until I go down there to pick it up, and I don't want to make another trip just for signing papers (I also don't want to pay in full before I show up there).
 
Re: Brand new bike

D-3vil said:
I'm trying to import a brand new bike. I called the Lewiston contact for importing motor vehicles and I was told that I wouldn't need to fax anything beforehand to the US-side of the crossing (because the bike is brand new and has never been registered). Does anyone have any input on this?

Also, if the above was bogus advice, what should I fax to customs? The bike will not be in my name until I go down there to pick it up, and I don't want to make another trip just for signing papers (I also don't want to pay in full before I show up there).
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It's called a Certificate of Origin. The dealer should be able to provide you with a copy.
 
OK, I just went through the entire importation process. All that's left to do is to show up at the MTO tomorrow to get the plates. I ended up importing a brand new SV650 with ABS. Total savings were around 15% (not to mention you can't find one right now in Ontario anyway). I brought my bike in through the Queenston - Lewiston bridge.

Along the way, I found out a few things, the importation process is easier for brand new motorcycles that have never been registered.

I'll start off with the beginning:
(1) There is no need to notify the US side of the border 72hrs in advance of the exportation process. I verified this by calling the contact in charge of importing a motor vehicle here. When crossing back, i only had to stop at the Canadian side.
(2) The recall letter can be from any dealer (it will have to be a US dealer, as Canadian dealers will likely not have the bike in the system), and from what I was told, a "Vehicle History Inquiry" printout will do. In my case, however, I ended up requesting a recall clearance letter from Suzuki of America. They were very nice to deal with, and their turnaround time was around 1 week (for sending the form through fax).
(3) Once I got the recall clearance letter, I showed up at RIV in person (their office is located in Etobicoke) and got the inspection form right away.
(4) With that inspection form, I went to Canadian Tire and got the federal inspection carried out. Don't forget to also certify the bike while you're there, otherwise you won't be able to get it plated (I ended up going back). They charge around $50 to certify the bike.
(5) With the stamped form from Canadian Tire, I went to the MTO office and got the ownership (unplated).
(6) With that ownership, I then proceeded to get the bike insured (must have an Ontario title before you can insure the bike).
(7) With insurance slip and safety certification in hand, the bike can then be plated (will hopefully do this tomorrow).

Yes, it was a lot of legwork (I did steps 3-6 today, and it took me the best part of 7 hours -- hunting for an available trailer to rent is also somewhere in there). Would I do it again? Definitely. I'm pretty confident that things will go much smoother next time around.

So, key points to remember: no need to notify the US side of customs of the export of a new, untitled bike (feel free to verify this for yourself); also, you don't have to wait for RIV to mail you the forms (if you're in the GTA), you can just show up at their office and pick it up (assuming you have all the necessary paperwork).

An interesting tidbit aside, throughout this thread I kept seeing the Livingston name being brought up, as someone who can act as an import broker. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that RIV is run, under contract from the government, by none other than Livingston themselves!

Anyway, if I've missed anything, don't hesitate to ask for more details.
 
you do not have to have an ontario tittle before you get insurance.
I am not sure of all the details, but when you import the bike, the VIN gets entered into the DMV system. It may take a couple of days not sure. But if your insruance company looks up the VIn and it comes back as valid, you can get insurance.
I got insruance before i went to the DMV and registed my Ducati that i brought back from the US

Also the only difference between what you did for a new bike, and what i did for a used bike was fax a copy of the tittle to US cutoms 72 hour sin advance

Enjoy the new bike:D
 
I am in the process of importing a brand new car and it appears from your experience that new bikes are a bit different...do you not need a stamp from US customs on the cert of origin in order to get the form completed by Canada Customs?

You do not need a safety on a brand new vehicle...check MTO website...many canadian tire stores and MTO offices are insistent that you need safety as well as emissions on a new car, but I have a printout from the MTO website stating that you do not..see the section under "vehicles registered out of province"

I hope to import a new Kawasaki this winter..thanks for the info
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