stayinng in U.S. for more than 6 months

[M00N1]

I apologize if I am not in the correct forum. I was wanting to know if any Canadians could help me here.. we have friends that are full timers in their 5th wheel and want to leave for the U.S. early this year and will be in the U.S. for more than the six months. Does anyone have any help in what is involved for the u.s. government, but they don't know where to beging to collect all the information required Does anyone know of a site to check into for all this information.

any help would be appreciated.

[OntMont]

Here is a website with a wealth of related information for travelling both ways across the border.
http://www.rvliving.net/TraveltoUSA-....htm#CANADIANS

If you explore all of this site, you will find all kinds of bits of useful information, but some of it is dated, and some of it takes some hunting down. Hope this helps.

Bottom line seems to be that 6 months is the usual limit for visitors to any country, after that, in the US, the IRS starts get interested in your financial affairs. You might also check the Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA) and Canadan Association of Retired Persons (CARP) websites, links are provided on the above site.

[Bill and Ann]

John is right about the IRS getting interested in your affairs. The CSA advises any Cdn. who is in the US for 180 days (I think, it may be 165) to file a "Closer Connection Form" to prove you have a closer connection the Can. than the USA. The IRS want a piece of your CDN. income.
We file the form every year. If you can't find the info which John mentioned sent me a PM as I have copies.

[M00N1]

thanks for the advice. We are heading down for 4 months this year, so I guess we better get on the ball and get some forms filled out for that. Better to be safe than sorry.

[Bill and Ann]

MOON1: You don't have to file for a couple of years. The timeframe for the closer connection is over 3 yrs. There is a formula to figure out the number of days. Read the article John mentioned in CSA. Just make sure you have medical coverage. Medipac has the best rates if you need to purchase out of country insurance.
www.medipac.com

[OntMont]

Bill,

We have been using Blue Cross travel insurance, but I am not impressed by their service. We also looked into Medipac, but are concerned because they do not seem to provide any coverage for the return of a pet. Have you considered that? (Blue Cross, for example, provide $500 towards the return of a pet.)

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

OntMont

Will the Med service offered by GoodSam (bout $100 American), cover return of your pet to Canada?? Is this a service that you have or is it not available to our Canadian friends??

The Med service covers things like getting your rig home, your spouse home, you to the hospital, etc. It is not meant to be medical insurance that covers the stitches in your noggin. It will cover us for getting the yorks home.

Carol

[M00N1]

this will be our 4th year going south, the first 6 weeks and the last two 3 months each and this one coming 4 months. I think we better not forget to complete this thing.

[OntMont]

Hi Carol,

Good Sam do have a Canadian version of their travel insurance package, and it does have coverage for the return of a pet, but only up to $300 vs $500 for Ontario Blue Cross. All of the packages we have reviewed include the return of vehicles and travelling companions as well as for a relative to fly down to help.

Trouble with insurance is that you don't really find out how it truly performs until you have to use it.

[OntMont]

quote:Originally posted by OntMont

Here is a website with a wealth of related information for travelling both ways across the border.
http://www.rvliving.net/TraveltoUSA-....htm#CANADIANS

Just by coincidence, I received notice of an update to this site. I will copy it below, but I would suppose that the link I provided will now show the updated info. (It is not much changed andyway.)

BRIEF UPDATE current as of 04 October 06
I called the US Border today and THERE ARE NO CHANGES FOR RVERS - including food.


NO SPECIAL FORMS are required and although it is still advisable to have a passport, having one is still NOT LAW OR a hard and fast rule - AS OF YET!
Rules continue to change.


UPDATED PHONE CONTACTS FOR INFO as of Oct 2006 --

Canada Info - who to contact -1 800 OCANADA.
Canada Tourism/Customs - 1 204 983 3500
US Customs 1 877 CUSTOMS in USA only
Info as to Food Dep't of US Customs - 1-810 985 6126 (New Phone #)
If voice info comes on try pressing ' O' for agent.


The restriction of NO BEEF still stands - heading into the U.S.A. - ALL other meat including chicken and eggs is allowed. Hard cheese is OK - soft cheeses may be questioned. NO food is prohibited coming into Canada at this point,


PET food may still be questioned because of the ingredients referred to as 'by-products'. So it is not wise to stock up on a winter supply.


NOTE: I was told that - 'UNOPENED' packages or cans of Pet Food clearly marked 'MADE IN USA' will probably be OK & NOT be confiscated.


As usual, FRESH PRODUCE, especially CITRUS may not be allowed and/or may be confiscated.


RULES CHANGE BY THE DAY SO....

As a result we always travel with NO meat of ANY kind in our freezer. Our first stop in the USA is to a grocery store. We do have some USA canned food and some American packaged frozen meals for emergencies.


IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION IT IS WISE TO MAKE A CALL TO THE NUMBERS ABOVE and maybe to the border you plan to cross at.


FOR INFO: While gathering this info I was having problems finding the NEW phone #'s so I called 411 and asked for the Cdn Customs office at the bridge we are going to cross at. I asked the Cdn agent for the US phone number of the office across the border. He also gave me general US Customs phone numbers. It took calls to about 4 numbers but I eventually got what I wanted,
FYI The same would work in reverse - for visitors and residents returning to Canada next spring.

[Bill and Ann]

Thanks for the update John. We usually purchase some USA pet food, (dry) in a plastic container, before coming home so we take the same with us when we travel. Never had a problem yet.