If you love your car so much that you’re thinking about bringing it with you to the UK, you will be pleased to hear you can!

But what you need to do will depend on how long you want to stay in the UK and where you are coming from. If you are moving here permanently, the process is quite complicated.

Temporary visitor status

If you are planning to visit the UK for less than 6 months, and still have your normal home abroad, you can drive legally under temporary visitor status.

This allows you to use your car in the UK for 6 months in any 12 month period, without registering with British authorities, and you can drive using your original registration plates.

Visitor status is granted by HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) on entry to the UK. To qualify, you need to be fully insured to use the car in Britain, and the vehicle must be completely road-legal in the country where it originates from. You should contact HMRC to make sure this will apply to you before you travel to avoid any problems when you get to the UK.

If you are coming from the EU, HMRC may not check that you qualify for this when you arrive. But if you are coming from anywhere else, you will have to prove to them that you are eligible to drive in the UK and are only staying temporarily.

If it turns out that your stay in the UK lasts longer than you first thought, you can apply to have the 6-month period extended. To do so you need to contact your nearest HMRC Advice Centre and give the reason why you and your car need to stay in Britain.

However, if the extension is not granted, or you are refused temporary visitor status when you first arrive, you must register your car as an import as soon as possible (see below).

If your car has its steering wheel on the left, you will need to attach stickers to your car’s headlights to adjust their direction for use in the UK (because they will be currently set for driving on the right side of the road). These will be available to buy on the ferry which brings you and your car to the UK.

If you get stopped by police whilst driving, you must have proof that you are legally allowed to drive the car in the UK. So you should carry details of when the car entered the British Isles (a ferry receipt), and any certificate issued by HMRC when you arrived. You also need to show that the car is insured to drive in the UK and is taxed (if applicable) in its country of origin.

Importing your car to the UK permanently  

If you are coming to live in the UK for any more than six months, then you must register and tax your car in Britain as soon as possible after you arrive.

Unfortunately, if you are moving to Britain you don’t qualify for the rules that apply to visitors, so your car will not be legal to drive until it is registered here. This means you need to have it transported to your home in the UK from the port because, sadly, you can’t register your car before it is in the UK. In the meantime you can find out about long-term car rentals by visiting our “Find a…” section here.

Once you have got the car to your home in the UK, you must keep it off the road until the registration process is completed. You will, however, be allowed to drive the car to and from the necessary MOT tests or SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) tests. You can also drive to and from a garage for any repairs required as the results of these tests.

If your car is left-hand drive, you will need to have your headlights altered for use on the left in order to pass the MOT or SVA.

To register and tax your car, you must apply to your local DVLA office. The office will not deal with an application in person, so you have to post your application along with the relevant documents. If you do so correctly, the DVLA aims to deal with your request ‘by return of post’.

Within your application, you need to send the following things to the DVLA office. All of these documents can be obtained by ordering an import pack from the DVLA form-ordering service.

• A completed form V55/5 (read the notes that come with the form so that you don’t make any errors)

• Appropriate Identity Documentation confirming your name and address (see notes with V55/5 to confirm what types of ID you can use)
• A £55 registration fee (if applicable). Fee correct in spring 2008, check before you send it off!

• The required fee for the tax disc 

• A British insurance certificate

• The appropriate Revenue & Customs form (see fact sheet 1)

• Your foreign registration document and any other papers you have relating to the vehicle

• A current British MOT test certificate (if your car is more than 3 years old) 
• Evidence of type approval (see fact sheet 2)

You will receive these fact sheets in your import pack:

Fact sheet one   

This explains which Revenue & Customs forms you will need to fill in depending on your circumstances. This will be a C&E386/388, or a VAT414 if you are from inside the EU.

If you are unsure after reading the fact sheet, you can contact the HMRC Advice Service on 0845 010 9000 to check you have the correct form.

Fact sheet two

This gives details of how you prove that your vehicle is suitable for use in the UK under current laws. This is called evidence of type, and you only need this if your car is less than 10 years old.

Travelling from within the EU

If you are from the EU, you simply need to get an ECWVTA (Certificate of Conformity (CoC)). These can be obtained from your car manufacturer, but they will often charge you for this.

If you have been unable to obtain a Certificate of Conformity for a vehicle you are bringing from another EU country, it might be accepted into the UK under the mutual recognition procedure. Further advice on this can be obtained from the Vehicle Certificate Agency – Telephone 0117 952 4125.

Travelling from outside the EU

If you are bringing the car from a non-EU country, your car will need to be submitted for an SVA inspection. You can find out where your nearest testing station is visiting our “Find a…” section here.

By Matt Taylor

KEY WORDS

register your car

license your car

valid driving licence

number plate / registration number = metal or plastic plate on the front and back of a vehicle which shows the vehicle's registration number

complete / fill in a form

Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) test = a test to register your car in the UK

Ministry of Transport (MOT) test = an annual test which checks safety aspects of your car

Phrasal Verbs with Bring and Take

I was brought up in the country (raised)

Don't give up.  I'm sure you'll bring it off (succeed)

Cold winds always bring on her cough (cause to start)

The strike brought about a change of government (cause to happen)

I hope they don't bring back capital punishment (re-introduce)

They promised to bring down taxes, but have they? (lower)

Inflation will bring down the government (destroy, remove from power)

Ford are bringing out an interesting new model in the spring (introduce)

Keep at it and you'll bring him round to your point of view (persuade)

Doesn't he take after his father! (resemble)

I wish I could take back what I said to her (withdraw)

I find it very hard to take in his lectures (absorb, understand)

She was completely taken in by him (deceive)

Sales have really taken off now (start to improve)

The plane took off two hours late (left the ground)

She's very good at taking off her teacher (imitate)

We'll have to take on more staff if we're going to take on more work (employ; undertake)

She took to him at once (form an immediate liking for)

When did you take up golf? (start (a hobby))

GRAMMAR SPOT

Let's

Let's + verb expresses a suggestion:

Let's take the car to England, it'll be easier to get around

The full form is let us, but we normally use the short form let's.

We can use the tag shall we?:

Let's take the car, shall we?

The negative is let's not or don't let's:

Let's not wait buy a new car

Don't let's buy a new car