International Travel with Scanning Hardware

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ecasagrande
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International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by ecasagrande »

Our company recently purchased a FARO Focus S scanner. It was purchased in the US, and has only been used in the US so far. I will be travelling across the US-Canada land border with the scanner (by car), and was wondering if anyone knows what paperwork needs being done to have the equipment come across the border and not be considered a "purchase".

Here will be the timeline:
- I will travel to the US in the morning to go to work
- I will travel back home in Canada with the FARO scanner + accessories
- I will use the scanner for maybe a few days in Canada
- I will travel back to the US with all the equipment

So, if people are unaware of crossing a land border, the fact I am in the US for only ~8hrs means my allowance to bring stuff back across is effectively $200USD (bit of an honour system on that, it's largely irrelevant). The questions ALWAYS are "where do you live?", "where were you?", and (if leisure) "purchase anything?" or (if for work) "bringing anything back across with you?". Legally (thus, to ensure my Visa is not in jeopardy for omitting information) I have to declare the ~$40k equipment I have. COINCIDENTALLY, we just had our scanner repaired, so this further worries me that they'll pull me in and say "You obviously just bought this, you have to pay duty".

TL;DR: What paperwork do I need to have to bring expensive scanning equipment across the US-Canada border?
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by MajorDomo »

ecasagrande wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:49 pm Our company recently purchased a FARO Focus S scanner. It was purchased in the US, and has only been used in the US so far. I will be travelling across the US-Canada land border with the scanner (by car), and was wondering if anyone knows what paperwork needs being done to have the equipment come across the border and not be considered a "purchase".

Here will be the timeline:
- I will travel to the US in the morning to go to work
- I will travel back home in Canada with the FARO scanner + accessories
- I will use the scanner for maybe a few days in Canada
- I will travel back to the US with all the equipment

So, if people are unaware of crossing a land border, the fact I am in the US for only ~8hrs means my allowance to bring stuff back across is effectively $200USD (bit of an honour system on that, it's largely irrelevant). The questions ALWAYS are "where do you live?", "where were you?", and (if leisure) "purchase anything?" or (if for work) "bringing anything back across with you?". Legally (thus, to ensure my Visa is not in jeopardy for omitting information) I have to declare the ~$40k equipment I have. COINCIDENTALLY, we just had our scanner repaired, so this further worries me that they'll pull me in and say "You obviously just bought this, you have to pay duty".

TL;DR: What paperwork do I need to have to bring expensive scanning equipment across the US-Canada border?
ATA Carnet is the one.
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by WWilford »

I have brought my Faro to Europe, Asia, and Africa without a problem. Some US customs agents ask for proof of purchase paperwork and some do not when returning. The only place I have run into a problem is Canada where the customs agent asked me for a letter stating that the scanning is being done to support a manufacturing process and that there were no Canadian firms that could do the work. I suppose I could have caught someone on a bad day and they were just giving me a hard time, but I will be checking with Canadian customs before entering again.
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by Leandre Robitaille »

We avoid all issues at the border and rent a scanner in the other country. When crossing to the usa they could go along the line of ; why would you come do a job in the US? isn't someone in the US qualified to do the work. They could then refuse entry. Safest way to go with this is crossing as per usual and rent a scanner in the other country imo.
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by landmeterbeuckx »

One of the only advantages of the eu. Besides the euro
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by Peyman Bashiri »

ecasagrande wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:49 pm Our company recently purchased a FARO Focus S scanner. It was purchased in the US, and has only been used in the US so far. I will be travelling across the US-Canada land border with the scanner (by car), and was wondering if anyone knows what paperwork needs being done to have the equipment come across the border and not be considered a "purchase".

Here will be the timeline:
- I will travel to the US in the morning to go to work
- I will travel back home in Canada with the FARO scanner + accessories
- I will use the scanner for maybe a few days in Canada
- I will travel back to the US with all the equipment

So, if people are unaware of crossing a land border, the fact I am in the US for only ~8hrs means my allowance to bring stuff back across is effectively $200USD (bit of an honour system on that, it's largely irrelevant). The questions ALWAYS are "where do you live?", "where were you?", and (if leisure) "purchase anything?" or (if for work) "bringing anything back across with you?". Legally (thus, to ensure my Visa is not in jeopardy for omitting information) I have to declare the ~$40k equipment I have. COINCIDENTALLY, we just had our scanner repaired, so this further worries me that they'll pull me in and say "You obviously just bought this, you have to pay duty".

TL;DR: What paperwork do I need to have to bring expensive scanning equipment across the US-Canada border?
Since both US and Canada is part of NAFTA, there shouldn't be any problem. You can show a copy of your contract to CB officer. I did the same thing when I took my gear to US. Also If you need a hand I can assist. We are based in Vancouver,BC and ready to mobilize anywhere.
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by Dave Andrews »

ecasagrande wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:49 pm Our company recently purchased a FARO Focus S scanner. It was purchased in the US, and has only been used in the US so far. I will be travelling across the US-Canada land border with the scanner (by car), and was wondering if anyone knows what paperwork needs being done to have the equipment come across the border and not be considered a "purchase".

Here will be the timeline:
- I will travel to the US in the morning to go to work
- I will travel back home in Canada with the FARO scanner + accessories
- I will use the scanner for maybe a few days in Canada
- I will travel back to the US with all the equipment

So, if people are unaware of crossing a land border, the fact I am in the US for only ~8hrs means my allowance to bring stuff back across is effectively $200USD (bit of an honour system on that, it's largely irrelevant). The questions ALWAYS are "where do you live?", "where were you?", and (if leisure) "purchase anything?" or (if for work) "bringing anything back across with you?". Legally (thus, to ensure my Visa is not in jeopardy for omitting information) I have to declare the ~$40k equipment I have. COINCIDENTALLY, we just had our scanner repaired, so this further worries me that they'll pull me in and say "You obviously just bought this, you have to pay duty".

TL;DR: What paperwork do I need to have to bring expensive scanning equipment across the US-Canada border?
Get in contact with Canadian/US customs. There are forms that you will need to fill out that details the cost of the equipment and S/N. You will have to stop at the border where the paperwork and equipment will get checked both ways. The paperwork is simply to make sure you are coming into the US with the same equipment you are leaving the US. It can be a little bit of a run around, but fairly straight forward. This prevents paying sales tax or duties. I have done it several times.

I have never had any customs ask why I am doing the work and not someone from the country.
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ecasagrande
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by ecasagrande »

Leandre Robitaille wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 7:04 pm We avoid all issues at the border and rent a scanner in the other country. When crossing to the usa they could go along the line of ; why would you come do a job in the US? isn't someone in the US qualified to do the work. They could then refuse entry. Safest way to go with this is crossing as per usual and rent a scanner in the other country imo.
I guess your experience with renting a scanner from FARO is much better than ours was. Well, scanner, and a tracker. To say I never want to deal with renting equipment from them again is the understatement of the year.
ecasagrande
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Re: International Travel with Scanning Hardware

Post by ecasagrande »

Peyman Bashiri wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 7:40 pm Since both US and Canada is part of NAFTA, there shouldn't be any problem. You can show a copy of your contract to CB officer. I did the same thing when I took my gear to US. Also If you need a hand I can assist. We are based in Vancouver,BC and ready to mobilize anywhere.
Peyman
Yeah, NAFTA is really just a loose concept on a day-to-day basis (I cross daily). Border officers don't really have to adhere to the rules, at least in the short term.

Going from the US to Canada, as expected I was called in. I had the contract for the work, the equipment purchase information, and mentioned that I needed to get an ATA Carnet. They were going to turn me back, and said I was lucky I mentioned I thought the ATA Carnet was something I got at the border, because they could have potentially seized our equipment.

The three solutions offered were:
0. ATA Carnet. They take some time to get, and during covid, the local office to apply for one has arbitrary hours (officially t-th, but 3 weeks and nobody ever showed up during those times).
2. Pay duties, then file to get them reimbursed (I was warned by the officers that this process is addled with issues, and getting the cash back would take months likely). Unfortunately, it would have been my responsibility to also deal with getting that reimbursement.
3. Have the officer stamp the receipt with his name and badge #, so when I come back, they can call him if needs be.

I took option 3. Sure enough, on my way back, I was called in and spent 2 hours explaining why this unofficial solution was used. Cross border is a blast.
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