# It it possible to own and register a car in a foreign country? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748 "2020-01-21T16:04:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/21 "2020-01-22T01:08:59Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > It may also depend on the laws of your home state. I believe that in some states it may be actually illegal for a resident to own a car not registered in his home state. Of course, this could never arise if the car never enters that state. It can get confusing. In the early nineties, I went to Paris. I stayed there for close to two years. I brought a motorcycle with me. It had NY plates and registration, and I had an American license. Eventually the registration expired. I called the New York State DMV, and they had no problem sending me a new registration and license plate sticker, and the registration bore my Paris address. So they didn’t care that I was not resident in New York. Eventually, tired of the attention that the plate (and the bike - Harley-Davidsons were then few and far between in Europe, but that’s another story) attracted, I decided to register the bike in France. I learned that this would have been perfectly possible, except for the fact that I was an illegal alien. I had no valid ID to show the French DMV (whatever that’s called) where I lived and so on. But had I been in France legally, I would have been able to register the bike, no problem. So that’s what I know. Other nations, other situations, other rules, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/22 "2020-01-22T01:21:16Z")
I have probably owned a half-dozen cars here in Saudi Arabia. Presuming the OP is in the United State, quite a few of the cars on the highway there are probably owned by non-citizens. ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/23 "2020-01-22T04:01:23Z")
> [@ntcrawler](#): > > I’m thinking let’s suppose one likes to go to Mexico or Canada on a regular or semi-regular basis for vacation. Would it be possible to buy a register a car in either country, and have it sitting for you, insured in some parking lot or yard until your next return? With the owner not being a citizen or having residency status of either country? We lived in the UK for 15 years and the last 5 or 6 spent 4 months of the year in Canada. We spent a fortune on rental cars (went two years thinking my credit card covered the insurance for the whole time only to discover it was only good for 41 days…oops). We tried to buy a car last year and were told that registering a car would be no problem but getting insurance without a Nova Scotia driver’s licence would be next to impossible and a UK insurance company would not insure a car owned outside the UK. I could have technically applied for a NS drivers licence but if I wanted to keep my UK one, would have to sit the test…not so sure I’d pass!..plus follow all the restrictions of a learner…seems harsh at my age! By the time we found all this out summer was over and we shelved it for another year. Not sure it there is a work around on the insurance. also…we found a company that would store the car and pick you up at the airport when you fly in. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/24 "2020-01-22T05:47:12Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I would expect that you need to own property first as the car has to be registered to a person and a location. In Spain it wouldn’t have to be your property, though, or even your home. You can register it at a hotel, a lawyer’s address or a gestor’s address (a gestor is basically an errands boy with an office). So long as Tráfico knows where to send your tickets and the local City Hall where to get your taxes from, they’re happy. I doubt it’s got to be your property in any countries, actually. Even in those which require an address associated with you personally, it can be your parent’s property or a rental. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/25 "2020-01-22T13:14:54Z")
> [@ntcrawler](#): > > I’m thinking let’s suppose one likes to go to Mexico or Canada on a regular or semi-regular basis for vacation. Would it be possible to buy a register a car in either country, and have it sitting for you, insured in some parking lot or yard until your next return? With the owner not being a citizen or having residency status of either country? I think you have to distinguish between “having a residence” and “having residency status”. For example, a Canadian citizen can visit the US for up to six months in a twelve month period. Florida ( and some other states that people retire to ) don’t consider a person a resident of the state for motor vehicle purposes until they have been there for six continuous months ( or get a job, register to vote, enroll kids in school) so snowbirds from Canada or other states typically aren’t considered residents and don’t have to switch their licenses and cars. I’ve known plenty of people who kept one car in Florida and one in NY - but the thing is, they all owned a second home in Florida that they returned to year after year. I’m not sure if they could have done this without a part-time, permanent \* Florida address, but I don’t see why a visiting NYer would be able to do it but not a visiting Canadian. - Living in NY and having a second home in Florida is different from taking frequent vacations to the same place , and just because a state may allow a non-resident with a second home to register a vehicle doesn’t mean they’ll do the same for someone who rents a parking space. I actually looked at a Florida registration application and it specifically asks for the owner’s street address in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![ntcrawler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/26 "2020-01-22T20:11:52Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > - Living in NY and having a second home in Florida is different from taking frequent vacations to the same place , and just because a state may allow a non-resident with a second home to register a vehicle doesn’t mean they’ll do the same for someone who rents a parking space. I actually looked at a Florida registration application and it specifically asks for the owner’s street address in Florida. This is interesting! I too have been looking at the Florida process for registering vehicles and getting a driver’s license. I believe for Canadians they are allowed to keep their Canadian Driver’s License and have a Florida one at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/27 "2020-01-23T19:28:22Z")
In Mexico, it’s actually easier to keep your US plates on the car. Once in the country, they don’t expire any longer. You’ll have to keep the border sticker up to date, though, and Mexican insurance is recommended. I’ve done this several times over the years. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/28 "2020-01-24T12:45:17Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Economically it is hard to see how this is going to be worth it unless you also have long term housing in that country. You should be able to rent a car on a longer basis instead of just daily and you don’t need to rent from the high priced well known international rental firms (Hertz, Avis…). Well, you can buy a pretty decent used car for the price of a few weeks rental, even if it is cheap. But as you say, finding somewhere to park it becomes an issue, then the cost of maintenance, inspections, insurance, yadda yadda. Bear\_nenno is right though, it becomes very much a case of what the specifics are. For instance we found ourselves in a situation where we owned property, had a perfectly acceptable drivers licence from another EU country, had the cash, but actually registering the car to us without a valid personal ID number became a bit of a headache, although one we managed to solve. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/29 "2020-01-24T14:27:10Z")
Many foreigners own cars in South Korea. Typically, they are expat contractors or military personnel. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/30 "2020-01-24T14:47:04Z")
Are there are countries which forbids foreign residents from owning cars? I’d be surprised if there were. The real question concerns ownership of cars by nonresident foreigners. Japan is an example. Obviously foreign residents can own cars. Nonresidents have the problem of registering the car without a parking space and I don’t know if it’s possible or not. My scooter is registered to me in Taiwan, (our car is in my wife’s name) but I know plenty of foreigners who have cars. I don’t know the legalities concerning visitors. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748/31 "2020-01-25T20:12:59Z")
I assume the cryptic OP question means ‘is it possible to own and register a car in a foreign country without becoming a legal resident (on a tourist visa, etc)?’ I also doubt there are many if any countries that prohibit foreign legal residents from owning and driving cars. On the contrary, besides being able to do that, you’d generally expect to eventually be required to do it. For example if citizen of an EU country you generally can reside in another EU country with no special paperwork, but you eventually have to shift your car’s registration to the country where the car is actually driven and kept. But for tourists, I’ve actually seen that question asked by potential long term foreign tourists to the US: can they save on rental car fees amounting to a significant % of a new rental car’s value by simply buying a used car when they arrive in the US and selling it when they leave? The answer seems to be this is possible in some US states and with some car insurance companies, but not others. I’d also expect this to be possible for EU citizens going to other EU countries, but probably not possible between some other pairs of countries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-it-possible-to-own-and-register-a-car-in-a-foreign-country/846748.md?page=1)