NZ Warning: long customs delays
 

Hi,

Just to let anybody know who is thinking of shipping their bike(s) to NZ: customs took one week to process the nightmarish paperwork, almost beating the record set by Indian customs in 1988. Meanwhile, AirNZ Cargo charged us storage. We even hired a customs agent, thinking it would go quicker.

On a bright note, AirNZ voluntarily halved their storage fees when I told them what happened and we bargained the agent down. Then customs forgot to charge us tax on one of the bikes... You win some and you loose some...

What caused the hold-up Peter? That's prety unsual, most travelers we meet comment on how good NZ Customs were.

Regards

Nigel in Christchurch

"This is our busy time of the year. Make an appointment later in the week." I have imported a bike and a box of bits myself years ago, when there was still a customs office in Rotorua and it was a breeze. That, of course, has long been rationalised away. I have since heard rumblings from other people about similar delays.

As customs say on their web site: don't put belongings into your vehicle. Specifically, don't put anything unused in it, as this will require a mountain of paperwork. Clothing, etc. is ok, but you have to provide a detailed list on arrival. Difficult, if you can't look inside your box to make the list...

How long are you going to be in NZ Peter?

Cheers

KEITH



.

Hi Peter!

You did a propper import for the bikes? Or just temporaery import on a carnet?

Hope it's not always that bad. We're going to send our bikes next year same time...

Werner

Su just got another 3-month permit, so deadline is 13/4. We will head for the SI soon. We still haven't decided whether we will stay in NZ or return to Thailand to live. It's cold here.

Neither: my bike is imported permanently under resident's concession. Su's bike seems in limbo, as we have no paperwork for it, only temp. reg. From what I understand we should have paid about 400$ in tax for a temp import, but customs seems to have forgotten to process it. :rolleyes2: We will have to permanently register it at some point. I think a carnet may speed up the process a little, but it seems that it was the other contents of our boxes that caused most of the grief.

It will warm-up, just a bit, over the next 2-3 months Peter .. but I'm sure you're already very well aware of this.

I'd love to meet-up for a coffee or beer and chat about SE Asia - Thailand in particular. I will be in and around Auckland /Northland region for 10 days from Sun-28 Feb. If you're likely to be in the area at that time, then please do not hesitate to send me a PM or e-mail (keithooper@yahoo.co.uk) - maybe we can arrange something?

Cheers

KEITH


.