If you’re reading this post, congratulations on your pending purchase :)

Here’s the process I just went through in November 2026. Be sure to read through the various threads on The Samba to get more background. Thought I’d give a 2026 update, as I just went through this process. Mine was from British Columbia to Washington State.

• Went to the Washington State license office to get a 3-day transit permit. This acts as a temporary registration while you transport it from Canada. It costs about $30 and you fill it out with a Sharpie when you need it. I kept it blank until after the purchase just in case I didn’t end up buying the Westy.
• I had the VIN from our pre-purchase discussions, so added it to my US liability insurance. One day of liability insurance is next to nothing, so I would just remove it again if I didn’t purchase it.
• Drove to Canada with cash in hand, EPA’s 3520 form and DOT’s HS-7 form filled out. These were simple forms given that the car is over 25 years old.
• Declared the cash at the border. This is more than just “declaring” - they then sent me inside to fill out some forms about where the money was going in Canada and what it was for.
• After agreeing to purchase the Westy, went with the seller to their insurance office to fill out the ICBC paperwork.
• This gave me 2 carbon copies of the IPV9T (“Transfer / Tax Form”) form, and the bottom slip from the previous owner’s registration paperwork.
• I had to purchase a 1-day transit pass + insurance for about $30 from ICBC so that I could drive it from there to the US border.
• Seller took the plates off.
• ICBC said they couldn’t officially remove the vehicle from the seller’s account until it had been registered in Washington, so the seller had to call back once that was complete.
• At the border (I went through the truck crossing, but don’t think it matters), mentioned I was importing the vehicle. They sent me inside for more paperwork.
• As of November 2026, was forced to pay tariffs + duty of about 15% of the car’s purchase price. Because the car is a classic (over 25 years old), I didn’t have to pay the full 25% tariffs currently being charged to newer motor vehicle imports, but there still is a “reciprocal tariff” you need to pay.
• This gives you CBP Form 7501 that proves you imported it correctly. You will need this to register the Westy.
• Went to license the car at a Washington State license agency, and they were about to charge me the 10% Use Tax on the CAD figure listed as the purchase price on the IPV9T. When I pushed back and pointed to the USD price in the import paperwork, they said they needed to see a Bill of Sale with the USD price written in along with the other pertinent information in the Washington State Bill of Sale. Fortunately, they accepted this electronically and I was able to get the seller to send me a copy over email that I could email to them.
• Unique to my situation, the seller in my case acted as a Power of Attorney for the original owner. Despite ICBC having seen the actual POA paperwork while completing that form, the license office wanted to see an electronic copy of that anyways. Fortunately, I was able to get that from the seller as well.
• The license agency took the CBP Form 7501, one copy of the IPV9T, the bottom slip from the seller’s previous registration, the printed POA form that I emailed them, and the printed Bill of Sale that I sent them. I made sure to take pictures of them all because I was paranoid I would need them in the future.
• The Washington State license agency initially was going to process this as a collector vehicle given its age. You’re not really supposed to do much with that kind of registration other than go to car shows so the risk just isn’t worth it. I got them to process it as a regular car.
• Paid my use tax, got my new plates, and now it’s legit!

That easy! :)