Temp import to USA - EPA approval letter
 

Hi all,

I picked up this issue in another thread and made some enquiries with the EPA. Essentially, you need a letter of approval from the EPA to allow you to temporarily import a vehicle in to the US. The process involves the filling out of a form (3520-1) at border customs when you enter the US, and to fully complete the form you must produce the EPA approval letter. Apparently this will take about 3 weeks to arrange.

I believe this is a fairly recent change in procedures of temp. importation.

I made some enquiries with the EPA. The reply is below.
Hope this is of use.


"You should apply for the exemption prior to reaching Customs. Attached is the list of information you will need to submit for applying for a Nonresident exemption"

And this was the contents of the attached:

Information needed to obtain Nonresident Temporary Importation
Approval Letter from EPA
Nonconforming motor vehicles may be temporarily imported into the U.S. by a
nonresident for personal use by the importer for a period not to exceed one year.
Only individual nonresidents may import a vehicle through a nonresident exemption.
The conditions of this temporary exemption are:
• Vehicle may not be sold or otherwise transferred to another party in the U.S.;
• Vehicle must be used solely for personal use by the importer and members of the
importer’s immediate family while in the U.S.;
• Exemption is voided if the vehicle is either used for commercial purposes, or used
principally by any person other than the importer (or spouse of the importer); and
• Vehicle must be exported after one year, or upon the nonresident departing the U.S.,
whichever comes first.
To obtain a Nonresident Temporary Importation Approval Letter from EPA;
please provide the following information in a letter that is signed by the
requestor/importer:
1. Your full name, current foreign address, phone number, Fax number, and email address
(if applicable)
2. Your U.S. address, phone number, Fax number, and email address (if applicable)
3. Vehicle year, make, model and Vehicle Identification Number
4. Proof of vehicle ownership (copy of current title or registration from country of origin of
the vehicle, Importer and owner needs to be the same).
5. Proof of nonresident status (copy of passport, visa, work permit, or other official
document).
6. A statement of the reason for the importation.
7. The duration of the importation.
8. A signed compliance Memorandum (this will be supplied by EPA once we have all of your
information). The exemption will not be issued until we receive a signed copy of the
memorandum issued by EPA.
Please mail, fax, or email this information to:
EPA Imports Line
Compliance & Innovative Strategies Division
Light Duty Vehicle Programs
2000 Traverwood Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
David C. Hurlin
Imports Group
Managed by URS Federal Services
Phone: (734) 214-4100
Fax: (734) 214-4676
Email: Imports@epa.gov

I'll be applying for one of those then!

EPA website -
Importing Vehicles and Engines | US EPA

Good info, thanks!

I wonder how this applies to Mexican or Canadian registered vehicles. Thousands of people cross the border daily in all types of vehicles. I have crossed from Mexico into the States on several occasions in both cars and on bikes and have never been asked for any documents! Does anybody know? Any Canadians been asked for anything?

www.garryhostel.com

I was told that this is a fairly new requirement, so I dont know. I guess that the rule applies no matter what country your vehicle is registered in as long as it isnt the US! In the real world though, there must be hundreds of vehicles passing through the borders each day, and I doubt they all have the EPA paperwork.

I suspect that you could get away with it depending on how phinnicky the customs officer is and whether they're in a good mood or not.

My feelings on it are that it's a pretty easy thing to arrange and there is no processing fee, so why not get it sorted in advance and avoid any potential issues?

This appears to have been the requirement since January this year - at least.

Late last year, a friend rode from Korea to London then flew the bike to Florida, hoping to become probably the first Korean to ride RTW.

At the time, James Cargo did not know of this requirement, nor did their Agent - in far away California (nearly as far from Florida as their depot in London!)
It took him about 4 weeks to get the bike released by which time he had run out of time and just rode it from one airfreight shed to another to fly it on to Soeul before returning himself.

His great ride came to a sad end, beaten by the paperwork of the "Land of the Free"


But hundreds of thousands vehicles must have crossed the land borders into USA since then. Thousands daily.
Anyone here?
Was an EPA letter required?
If not - why is it needed by non-road customs?

I asked this question of James Cargo about a week ago and received the following reply:



Sort of helpful, sortof not.

Follow up to James cargo quote in the above post:

From reading the manual on the EPA website, the EPA section on form 3520-1 is NOT a waiver in the sense that it can just be ignored. It is a section that must be fiilled in (for temporary import of a foreign vehicle you insert an 'O' in this section of the form AND include a copy of the EPA letter).

It's all on the EPA website. For the purpose of clarity, the purpose of my enquiry to the EPA was to confirm that this procedure applies to overland customs entry as well as air/port terminal customs offices. Apparently it does!

As others have requested, I'd love to hear of people that have recently crossed the border without an EPA letter..for no other reason than to see the system being beaten:cool4:

EPA Letter
 

Utter b*ll*cks. (Sorry Moderators!)

They shipped the Korean's bike from London to Florida in January.

They knew all about Joon's eventual problems and resulting failed RTW due to lack of EPA letter.

They discussed it with both him and me at the time.
I sent them copies of documents Joon was given and obtained.
We spoke about it at their display stand at the HU Ace day in February.
We even mentioned him when I was at their offices 3 weeks ago!

Now, 6 months later, to say they have had not had any problem is blatently and knowingly incorrect. :nono:

These people should get paid for their skills, expertise and knowledge - not bullshit.

EPA Website suggests it is needed

Overview of Vehicle Import Requirements | Importing Vehicles and Engines | US EPA

I'll be applying for mine later this week, even though I reckon we will not be asked as we are landing in Toronto and the crossing and East side boarder into the US, and if last time round is anything to go on they will take 1 look at our visa and wave us through :-)

Well I decided to play safe and send my application in for the EPA approval. The info supplied by garmei was extremely helpful as there is no-where that I could find where this information is spelt out on the EPA site, it only says to apply for a letter but not this level of detail about how to do so.

As I only have a few weeks before departure I am crossing my fingers that I receive my letter in time.

James Cargo have sent me an email advising me that the EPA approval letter seems to be required now since the problem with the Anchorage customer. So maybe they will be clearer for other customers now and help them avoid problems.

Clearing US customs
 

Hi Tony
That is such a shame for your friend, I must have cleared customs at a similar time to him (early December), I didn't have the EPA letter and had a useless and inexperienced shipping agent (long story), but still cleared everything fine with no questions about a letter. Possibly a difference because Thelma arrived by boat? It took less than a day to clear Customs at Long Beach.
Also contrary to what the EPA states, it is still possible to exit the country whilst leaving the bike in the US, I went down to Guatemala at one point and also flew home whilst leaving Thelma in LA.
Good luck to everyone else, and maybe I'll meet some of you on the road to Labrador.

epa
 

Hi we are shipping our bike to La on 1st Aug 2010 and have just read about your korean friends ordeal. We arrive in LA on 24th Aug same day as the bike what do we need to clear customs eg epa form and how do we obtain it thanks Gareth

bahh seems like new twist on a old law that will do nothing but make some treehugger happy and giving some useless bureaucrat at the EPA a job. There has been import laws on the books for years. most places allow cars and bikes on the road that do not meet with the EPA emission standards or saftey or some such. Importing them for someone in the USA is almost imposable. This twist is now being used on temporary importing cars trucks and bikes. But there is a work around and here is the form it seems. http://www.epa.gov/oms/imports/forms/3520-1.pdf

In the end it seems as this "law" is bent all the time. 50 miles north of me it must happen 1,000's of time a day. There not importing there cars gust passing threw.

Details are covered in another thread:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...nchorage-51292

Just sent off the request for mine and my wife's bikes, 2 separate requests so they don't get arsey over one person asking for multiple.

Then it occurred to me.

This is harder than working ! I think I need a holiday :-)

Cleared my bike through US Customs yesterday. EPA definitely req'd.
 

I cleared my bike through New York port customs yesterday. The customs office is 5 miles from the port right beside Newark Penn Station.

The whole procedure took less then 20 minutes & the first thing the customs officer asked for was the EPA exemption. He looked disappointed when I said I had it.

He wanted;

EPA exemption coupled with the 'EPA Form 3520-1' which he stamped 3 times & signed.

Shipping docs (which I printed from an email, I didn't go to the docks to get the originals) that he stamped & signed.

A 'DECLARATION' form that he gave me to fill out (address details, VIN etc.) that he again stamped.

A copy of my title to the bike (my log book from home) & to see my passport.

There were a couple of questions re; occupation, purpose of trip & he also asked if I had insurance but wasn't fussed about seeing the documents.

So the part I was anxious about was relatively straight forward & the 'easy part' of getting my bike out of the docks is proving a pain in the backside.

The Dept. of Agriculture need to inspect every ship prior to it unloading & they have a backlog so although the ship arrived on Tuesday they still haven't been allowed to unload all the Rolls Royces, Bentley's, Range Rovers, Mini Coopers, Jaguars & my bike. Could be next week as they don't work weekends.

Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue...

Good luck with the EPA's & Customs gents.

What was the time lag from requesting the EPA to being contacted by them ?

Its frustrating that they do not acknowledge receipt of the email :-(

@ Smudger
 

Hey Smudger,

New York aint such a bad place, take a look around, have a few beers, see a few sites.... patience is a virtue....patience is a virtue....:biggrin3:

Glad to hear you're underway (kind of) and keep us posted.

See you out there

Well, having followed the usefull advice on this thread I applied for my EPA approval last week including in my application all of the info mentioned on the op. I had it returned to me on monday to sign which I did and emailed it straight back and I have recieved my EPA Exemption letter today which was a nice suprise, in all it has taken 4-5 working days which I think is pretty good... now I need to print off form 3520-1 and I should be sorted for import!

Im glad I came accross this thread as I had never heard of needing the EPA exemption before.:thumbup1:

Chris

I love it when a plan comes together:thumbup1:

+1

Applied Thursday, got the letter to sign today, sent it back and now have my EPA Exemption.

Unfortunately, not for my wife's bike yet , which I sent stuff off for at the same time :-(

When I queried he said he had not recieved it ... and then 30 mins later found it (as I sent him the date/time stamp detail) lets see how fast he turns that around :-)

reality warp
 

I thought I would add my experience to this thread since it wa very helpful to me when planning for bringing my bike into the US.

James Cargo had originally advised me that the EPA letter was not required, then later on changed their advice to say that it was, since they had heard of more and more people being asked for it. They also reminded me about getting the ESTA requirement done for my own entry.
The pack of documents they supplied when I delivered my bike to them was very detailed and was extremely helpful when it came to the point of doing the dirty work of extracting the bike from the clutches of the bureaucrats at the airport.

However, pretty much all the documents I had with me proved useless! I had elected to do the processing myself at New York and followed the instructions about going to the airfreight office first (in my case Continental Airlines Cargo) to pick up the official Airway bill documents. Then I went to the Customs building not far away where the customs officer was apparently ignorant of the official way to process my paperwork. He asked for the airway bill, and my passport, gave me _another_ form to fill in, which was headed Unaccompanied Luggage, did a bit of computer fiddling, and then that was that. No EPA letter, no HS7, nothing.:laugh:

Just goes to show, you can do all the research you like, but on the day it all depends on the person at the counter on the day.

NOTE. Just in case,I should remind people to ring the airfreight office BEFORE you go out there to confirm that your bike is there and waiting. Don't do what I did which was to believe the airway bill emailed to me from James Cargo with the date and time of arrival. I spent a boring and fruitless 6 hours waiting in the hot office only to eventually be told that the bike wouldnt arrive on the truck from Newark until 10pm. So it cost me another night in a hotel and a day wasted before I finally got it.

But JC did a good job of packing the bike, and the Continental Cargo office ladies at JFK were very friendly and helpful. Kudos to Colleen, the forklift driver, for helping me free my bike from the wrappings. She was a dab hand at the crowbar and hammer.:mchappy:

Very useful thread - this would have majorly tripped us up.

I just emailed the EPA guy mentioned in the first post and got a very quick and helpful response.


Does anyone know if there is a separate DoT letter which is required and, if so, how you go about getting it?

Cheers

NO. A separate US DoT/ NHTSA letter is NOT required.

A very useful thread. Thanks for all the input. Just one question.
Is all the communication done by email or is here some point where a signed document has to be posted?

Thanks for this post.

Does this letter from the EPA have a use-by date or a validity period?

Since the last posts in this thread are rather old, anyone know if the information (mail adress etc.) in the first post are still valid? Anyone requested the EPA letter recently? Thanks!

In addition to my other question, does anyone know if there is similar requirements when entering Canada with the bike?

Edit: Think I found the answer... :) https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehicl...itors-1334.htm

To whom it may concern - all details are still valid!

If the vehicle in question was originally sold in Canada (in other words, if it complies with Canadian emission standards), then it is exempt from this US EPA requirement.

On the EPA form (the 3520-1 form), there are boxes to check at the bottom of the form if it is a Canadian vehicle that complies with Canadian safety and emission standards.

Michael

EPA approval obligations- departing USA overland
 

We are about to fly our bikes from Bogota to Miami. From there, we will ride around the US/Alaska and Canada, until it gets too cold, before going south to Mexico and Central America.

We applied for our EPA clearance letter 2 weeks ago - not yet received. One of the EPA conditions on entry to the US is that "the Vehicle must be exported after one year, or upon the nonresident departing the U.S., whichever comes first." Sanction for non-compliance is a fine of up to $45k and/or confiscation. We may need to fly briefly to Europe for family reasons are keen to remove this sanction possibility for obvious reasons.

Does anyone know whether by riding across the Canadian border, we are treated as "departing the US" for EPA purposes? The reason I ask is that, if you enter the US under an ESTA giving you 90 days, US Immigration doesn't stop the 90 day clock if you cross into Canada/Mexico. Prevents visa runs I guess.

Sorry - convoluted question.
Thanks for reading.

No, they don't count that. They like you to leave the continent.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Not the continent, just North America. A run to Belize would reset the clock for example.

For the visa, yes, but not the EPA. They like to see proof of exit. In 2011 I sent them the ferry receipt from France to England. That seemed to satisfy them :-)

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Fair enough.

EPA approval obligations - departing USA overland
 

Thanks for the replies - much appreciated.

I am aware of the immigration rules around ESTA's and contiguous countries. We have B1-B2 visas so not concerned about either my wife or I from an immigration perspective.

My question is about the bikes not the riders. What do we need to do with them to satisfy the EPA requirement for them "to leave the USA"? Will Canada/Mexico suffice or do we need to go to Belize/Guatemala? If it's the latter, we would not fly to the US. We would ride from Panama and enter the US overland from Mexico (when illogically the same EPA rules are not applied).

Our plan is to go to Canada/Alaska from Miami. At worst interpretation, the EPA rules could effectively "imprison" us in North America until we reach Guatamala/Belize. Not an attractive proposition if you need to fly home unexpectedly!

Changes
 

Hi!

This is Rossi from Germany.

Are there any changes depending on this EPA forms.

We will cross the border from Mexiko to USA on our own bikes next year and I`m not shure if we have to apply this forms before we start our journey...

Best, Rossi

It's EXTREMELY UNLIKELY you will be asked for the EPA permit coming from Mexico - BUT I would go ahead and get it anyway as it's FREE and COULD save a lot of hassle if you get a border control guy on a bad day.
Better safe and well documented than sorry.

Thanks
 

Thanks a lot for this information Grant Johnson - So I will try to fill in the form ;-)

Best, Rossi

Today I heard from the EPA Exemption, are there any forms online? I haven't found any on the EPA Site or should I just write a brief letter with my project to imports@epa.gov. They probably have a lot to do now after the Shutdown. Have 5 months to have everything together. I've also read something about the 7500 miles on the ODOmeter, you do not need this EPA exemption, or is it just for US citizens?

On the following page you can find some informations in german language and how to get in contact with EPA

https://www.aroundpanamericana.de/motorrad/dokumente/

Best & Grüße,

Rossi

Outstanding!!!

Thx a lot Rossi, already wrote a mail to the EPA yesterday, perfect.

I just entered the USA from Mexico, didn’t need the EPA (although I had it).

the EPA exemption is basically just for the TIP (temporary import paper).
But you only need the TIP when shipping/flying the bike to the USA, but not when coming in on the landborder.

I just learned this, as they didn’t give me a TIP at the border. so I went to the customs office in San Diego and they confirmed, it’s only needed when shipping.

I just logged my initial enquiry / application for temporary import exemption into the USA.

I will keep everyone updated how it goes and time line from application to receiving a letter of exemption.

Mike

Great info
Have purchased bikes in Canada ,but we’re on kiwi licences,and travelling north late July before turning all the way south chasing the weather .was aware of letter but not timeframe so will get onto it today
Cheers Nick