I live in Boston MA with a TD visa. I don't want to buy a car in USA. Can I drive my Canadian car (car registered in Canada) here? How long can I drive it? How about car insurance? Any detailed information about this?
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1You might want to ask this on Expatriates instead. That site is more closely oriented towards practical questions such as this one.– phoogCommented Feb 25, 2020 at 17:49
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2 Answers
When you started living in Massachussetts, you are required to register your car in Massachussetts. Residency means "living there", and isn't about citizenship / permanent residence. There is no provision at all for delaying the change of registration: here is how to transfer the registration. You can't use Canadian insurance, so you will also have to get Massachussetts liability insurance (and collision, if you want it). Pretending that you are "just a tourist passing through" will not work and is easily disprovable. Your Canadian insurance agent will confirm that you have to switch to a Massachussetts policy when you move to Massachussetts, because you are not covered by Canadian insurance when you reside in Massachussetts.
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1Not only that but if the OP's insurance company finds out they are living in a different country with the car, they may deny any claim, so the OP may effectively be uninsured. Commented Feb 25, 2020 at 13:46
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I know there are strict and often burdensome requirements to import a car manufactured for the US market in Canada, and to import a car made for the Mexican market in the US. I'm not sure about Canadian cars in the US, but it seems likely. There's also the question of import duty. None of this implies that anything in this answer is incorrect, if course, but there may be quite a lot of paperwork and money involved in registering the car in Massachusetts.– phoogCommented Feb 25, 2020 at 17:53
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Typically you must register a car by law if you live there at least 30 days, although enforcement is slight is your Canadian registration is current. One reason to comply is the insurance requirement as this answer notes. Commented Feb 26, 2020 at 1:30
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue has a web page about your domicile. Among other things, they say it's impossible to have one domicile for general living purposes, but a different domicile for tax purposes. Which I take to mean that their advice about what your domicile is for taxes also applies to general living purposes.
The answer seems to be "it depends". Apparently your spouse or parent moved to Massachusetts as a nonimmigrant visa for skilled Canadian or Mexican workers. Since it is a nonimmigrant visa, it would appear you don't intend to stay in the US permanently (although plans sometimes change). So maybe Massachusetts isn't your domicile.
A person who keeps a home in Canada, goes there a few times a month, and has a definite plan to return to that home after working in Mass. a while is apt to have Canada as the domicile.
A person who disposed of the former home in Canada, only visits Canada a few times a year, goes to different places on each visit, and has no idea where he/she will live when the period of work in Mass. is over, is apt to have Mass. as the domicile.
