Can you cross the Canadian border with expired license plate tabs?

Question

will I have any problems? I realized my tab stickers are expired by a month and dont have time before my Canada trip to renew them. Is this something they check?

Answer 1

You cannot legally cross the road with expired tags.  The border crossing is a federal port, I doubt they will care about the province or state laws regarding expired plates, but  you never know.  If you are stopped for any reason while driving with expired plates, you are in deep trouble.  It will not matter what country you are in you will be in trouble.  I would advise you to take 15 minutes out of a busy schedule and get your plates renewed.

Answer 2

Getting into Canada won't be a problem, as it is out of their jurisdiction.  Now, getting back to the US,  an alert guard may notice that and you will get a fine.

Answer 3

Technically it is illegal; however, you have like a 99% chance of them not even looking or seeing that its expired- and you'll more than likely get across the border. But if you have extremely bad luck and a smart boarder security guard- they might notice! GOOD LUCK! lol

Answer 4

If you are driving in the States with time expired license plates, you are driving there illegally - you may never get to the border if they catch you and I take it you have heard about Murphy's Law? If anything can go wrong, it will! Furthermore,  if you come up here with outdated plates, we can arrest you and deport you. Where did you get such a nutty idea? It's like being in a gun fight without having a gun! Get them updated or changed and do not mess with your own life like that.

Answer 5

The answer to all your questions is: Maybe.

You may make it into Canada OK but have trouble on your return trip.

Answer 6

I would not try it.  SInce 9/11 they scrutinze everything.  Make sure you have a passport with you. too. this is now required where as you used to be able to get thru with just photo ID and a birth certificate.

Answer 7

You might run into a problem.  If not on your way into Canada then maybe on your return back America.

They run your license plate number through a system to record how long your vehicle stays in Canada.  I'm not sure if it would alert them to expired plates.

Best bet is to renew your plates.  You could get a fine just driving in your state with expired plates.

Answer 8

This MAY cause a problem.  I would get them fixed just in case.  It will definately look suspicious to a border guard.  That being said, most guards, on either side of the border, don't really care that much.  But you might end up with one giant pr*ck who just wants to stop you anyways.  This may result in a) being denied entry or even being denied re-entry back into the USA or b) a HUGE fine, and the pain of having to be pulled over and wait an hour inside the customs building.