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     <title>USA on Chris Bracken</title>
     <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/tags/usa/</link>
     <description>Recent content in USA on Chris Bracken</description>
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     <managingEditor>chris@bracken.jp (Chris Bracken)</managingEditor>
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     <item>
       <title>Moving to the US: Importing a Canadian Vehicle</title>
       <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <author>chris@bracken.jp (Chris Bracken)</author>
       <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</guid>
       <description>&lt;p&gt;A big difference between the last time I moved to the US and this time is that
 this time, I&amp;rsquo;ve got a lot more stuff. One of those things is a Nissan Rogue
 that&amp;rsquo;s been quietly living its life in Canada. Faced with the prospect of
 selling the car and buying a new one, I chose instead to import the one I know
 and love.  Here is my story.  But be forewarned, it is not for the faint of
 heart.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2011-05-10-futile.jpg&#34;
     alt=&#34;Scrawny kid vs sumo wrestler&#34;&gt;
 &lt;/figure&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;To import a vehicle to the US from Canada, you need to undertake a series of
 quests. These are detailed on the &lt;a href=&#34;http://stnw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/&#34;&gt;NHTSA website&lt;/a&gt; under the heading
 &lt;em&gt;Vehicle Importation Guidelines (Canadian)&lt;/em&gt;. As of May 2011, you need the
 following items in increasing order of difficulty:&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[easy]&lt;/strong&gt; The following information about your car:&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;ol&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;VIN&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Make/Model/Year&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Month/Year of manufacture&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Registration &amp;amp; ownership information&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ol&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[easy]&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&#34;http://www.epa.gov/oms/imports/&#34;&gt;EPA Form 3520-1&lt;/a&gt;. You will likely be importing your
 vehicle under &lt;em&gt;code EE: identical in all material respects to a US certified
 version&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[easy]&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&#34;http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/&#34;&gt;NHTSA Form HS-7&lt;/a&gt;. You will most likely be importing your
 vehicle under box 2B, for vehicles that complied with Canadian CMVSA
 regulations at their time of manufacture and where the manufacturer attests
 that, with a few exceptions, it meets US regulations; see final item.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[medium]&lt;/strong&gt; A letter on the manufacturer&amp;rsquo;s letterhead from the Canadian
 distributor, stating that there are no open recalls or service campaigns on the
 vehicle. I&amp;rsquo;m not sure if this is required, but Nissan Canada thought it would
 be.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[hard]&lt;/strong&gt; A letter from the vehicle’s original manufacturer, on
 the manufacturer’s letterhead identifying the vehicle by vehicle identification
 number (VIN) and stating that the vehicle conforms to all applicable FMVSS
 &amp;ldquo;except for the labeling requirements of Standards Nos. 101 &lt;em&gt;Controls and
 Displays&lt;/em&gt; and 110 &lt;em&gt;Tire Selection and Rims&lt;/em&gt; or 120 &lt;em&gt;Tire Selection and Rims for
 Motor Vehicles other than Passenger Cars&lt;/em&gt;, and/or the specifications of
 Standard No. 108 &lt;em&gt;Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment&lt;/em&gt;,
 relating to daytime running lamps.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Items 1-3 are left as an exercise to the reader. I will focus here on items 4
 and 5 to save you the 14 hours of accumulated hold time and multiple phone
 calls. Prepare yourself friend, for here begins a journey of hurt and
 frustration, but you will prevail.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Let&amp;rsquo;s start with item 4. I gave &lt;a href=&#34;http://www.nissan.ca/common/footer/en/contact.html&#34;&gt;Nissan Canada&lt;/a&gt; a ring at
 1-800-387-0122 and managed to make it through the phone navigation system to a
 human operator. I told them I was importing a Canadian Nissan into the States
 and needed a &lt;em&gt;Letter of Compliance&lt;/em&gt;. After a bit of digging, they stated that
 such letters are only provided by &lt;em&gt;Nissan North America,&lt;/em&gt; but they would
 instead mail out two other letters on Nissan letterhead:&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;ol&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;A letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle has no pending recalls or
 service campaigns on it.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;In place of a &lt;em&gt;Certificate of Origin&lt;/em&gt; (which Nissan Canada does not
 provide), a letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle was manufactured for
 sale in the Canadian market and complied with all safety and emission
 regulations at the time of manufacture.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ol&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;We&amp;rsquo;re almost there, but your next and final mission is also the most
 challenging: the &lt;em&gt;Letter of Compliance&lt;/em&gt;. Call &lt;a href=&#34;http://www.nissanusa.com/apps/contactus&#34;&gt;Nissan North
 America&lt;/a&gt; Consumer Affairs Department at 1-800-647-7261. Navigate
 through the phone system to an operator - get their name and extension. They
 may ask for your VIN only to find it&amp;rsquo;s not in their system. Canadian VINs are
 not in their system. Some operators thought they were, others were sure they
 weren&amp;rsquo;t. They&amp;rsquo;re not. Many operators tried and failed to find it. Ask them to
 open a file, give them the vehicle information and your info and get the file
 number. Use this number whenever you call.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Here are the five steps to success:&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;ol&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Tell the operator that you&amp;rsquo;re importing a Canadian Nissan vehicle to the US
 and that you need a &lt;em&gt;Letter of Compliance&lt;/em&gt; stating the VIN and that the
 vehicle was built to conform to Canadian and United States EPA emissions
 standards and all US Federal motor vehicle standards except for daytime
 running light brightness. There is a very good chance they&amp;rsquo;ve never heard of
 this. Get them to talk to their supervisor, and their supervisor. Anyone.
 Someone will know.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;They will tell you that the vehicle needs to have its daytime running lights
 disabled before they will issue the letter of compliance. All the government
 rules seem to specifically exclude the daytime running lights, and the
 letter they issue even states that the vehicle doesn&amp;rsquo;t meet that standard,
 but for whatever reason they want a copy of a work statement showing the
 work was done. Remember to get the operator&amp;rsquo;s name and extension and the
 fax number for the work statement before you hang up.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Get the daytime running lights disabled. It&amp;rsquo;s a setting change in the
 on-board computer; your local dealer will do this in under 30 mins for $50
 or so. &lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;Fax your the work statement and put your name, return fax number and a
 request for the &lt;em&gt;Letter of Compliance&lt;/em&gt; on the cover sheet. Phone Nissan
 North America Consumer Affairs back. The phone navigation system will give
 you hope that you can input an extension directly, only to find it only
 accepts 5-digit extensions but your rep has a 6-digit extension. You&amp;rsquo;ll end
 up back in the queue. Ask whoever you get to put you through to your
 previous rep, by extension. When you get through, say that you sent the fax
 and request the letter. Ask them to phone you back when they&amp;rsquo;ve faxed it.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;You&amp;rsquo;ll get the fax eventually - &lt;em&gt;check the information!&lt;/em&gt; On my letter, the
 year, model and VIN were all incorrect, though they got my name right. If
 it&amp;rsquo;s incorrect, try again.&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ol&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;You now have everything you need to import your Nissan to the States. Good
 luck my friends, I don&amp;rsquo;t envy you, but know that I am with you and that victory
 will someday be yours too.&lt;/p&gt;
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     <item>
       <title>New York, NY, USA</title>
       <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <author>chris@bracken.jp (Chris Bracken)</author>
       <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</guid>
       <description>&lt;p&gt;Flew out to New York for interviews with Tokyo via videoconference on the 9th
 and 10th. More details later, but I’ll post pictures now.&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>
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