SUV- Buy or Rent?

[Lifemagician]

If, for some reason, she won't get the visa, we will have to plan our trip a bit differently- spending some time in Mexico or Canada in the middle.

If you are restricted to three months, you will not be able to spend time in Canada or Meixico in the middle, or at the end. You will have to spend it there before you visit the US. The conditions of entry to the US are that you have a ticket to leave the North American continent no later than 90 days after entering the US. If your visa allows 180 days, then it applies to that in the same manner.

This greatly complicates the very thought of purchasing a vehicle. It will be much more difficult to sell a car bought in either Mexico or Canada, in the US

Lifey

[Navto]

A warning, if your friend is traveling on a German passport, then going to Canada or Mexico in the middle is not going to work. The 90 days allowed by the VWP basically includes all time spent in North America - the clock does not restart simply by crossing the border. You would actually have to leave North America to get a new 90 days.

I can't tell you exactly the process in those states, and that's exactly why purchasing a car is so challenging as a non-resident. The biggest issue is vehicle registration - so basically you need to look at the DMV websites of each state you are considering as a starting point for your trip, because each state's rules will be different (The reason I mentioned Washington State is because other RTA Forum visitors have had success there). Insurance is the other thing that is a challenge without a US drivers license, but that item seems somewhat easier to overcome with some work and research, that can be done in advance.

Wow, that's very good to know! So if we want to make this trip more than 90 days long, my partner will have to get a tourist visa for a longer time. I really hope this works out, because only a 90 day trip is really not what we had in mind.

So, if she does get that visa- we still have to decide whether to buy or rent. So, buying in California is not a good option then. I'll Check the DMV websites of the other possible states and see if I can find some useful information there.