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Old 09-22-2021, 10:22 PM   #1
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Any issues importing a raised-roof skoolie to Alaska?

Hello everyone. I want to build a skoolie here in Canada where I live, and then bring it with me to Alaska next year. I will have to register it in AK and change my driver's license, so I need to import it both federally and into the state. I also plan on doing a roof raise to make room for all that insulation. Will I have any legal problems? And who is insuring raised-roof buses in AK, what does it cost?

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Old 09-22-2021, 10:31 PM   #2
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Check out the insurance threads. The insurance carriers are not wanting to play with body and frame mods, roof raises, wood stoves, coal stoves, roof decks and rear decks. You will just have to call them and ask telling them the state you are going to. Do your due diligence before you build it.
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Old 09-22-2021, 10:41 PM   #3
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Indeed, I'm still looking through the threads. It seems that any given company might insure in one state but not another. Very little information on AK to be found though.
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Old 09-22-2021, 10:43 PM   #4
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It's easier to find good information on covid.
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Old 09-22-2021, 10:44 PM   #5
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Are the USA DOT DOE regs even complied with in the first place?

Might need to buy in the US
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Old 09-22-2021, 10:47 PM   #6
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I think that Canada uses US DOT and US Federal emission standards on heavy vehicles.
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Old 09-22-2021, 11:05 PM   #7
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You'd want to be certain, import it into the US as standard before sinking thousands into conversion.
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Old 09-22-2021, 11:07 PM   #8
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I'm pretty sure we either have the same equipment regs here, or maybe some minor differences that are cheap to fix. Emissions are definitely the same. Heavy trucks get sold across the border all the time. The roof raise is what I'd be concerned about though.
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Old 09-22-2021, 11:08 PM   #9
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You'd want to be certain, import it into the US as standard before sinking thousands into conversion.

I thought of that, but how would I do it with no US address?


Also: I don't know if I can do that while keeping it registered in Canada at the same time. We have a rule that Canadians can't keep a US-registered vehicle here.
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Old 09-22-2021, 11:15 PM   #10
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I thought of that, but how would I do it with no US address?
An address is easy

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f9/a-place-for-my-head-a-place-for-my-mail-and-a-place-for-my-bus-33738.html#post413912

What do you get, six months at a time?

Probably cheaper to buy one here
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Old 09-22-2021, 11:49 PM   #11
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That still seems pretty difficult to set up for me. I don't know anybody in the US and I can't cross the border myself until I receive my I-20 sometime next year.
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Old 09-22-2021, 11:52 PM   #12
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If you buy it in the US can you take it back to Canada?
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Old 09-23-2021, 12:04 AM   #13
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If you buy it in the US can you take it back to Canada?

We have a rule that Canadian residents can't keep a US-registered vehicle in the country for more than 30 days in a row. I'm not sure how I'd be able to deal with that.
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Old 09-23-2021, 12:55 AM   #14
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Whoops I seem to have run into a much bigger problem: I can't exchange my driver's license because it's illegal for any state to issue a CDL to an alien. If I have to keep my Canadian CDL then I have no reason to register my bus in AK. So the question is moot.


What I was trying to do here was attend the University of Alaska and establish state residency so I wouldn't be stuck paying international tuition. But it looks like they offer in-state tuition to Yukon residents which is easy for me to do, I just need to figure out who will insure it there.
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Old 10-04-2021, 01:05 AM   #15
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