It took me such a long time to figure all this out…reading countless websites and trawling through hundreds of Horizons Unlimited threads and also other forums. Now that I’ve done it, I thought I would write it down for two reasons 1. So if I ever need to do this again I will have it written down 2. Share it with all of you!

Over 2018 and 2019 I imported my 2003 Suzuki DR650SE (purchased and registered in Australia), into the UK both temporarily and then permanently.
I did all of this while the UK was still in the EU so things will probably change slightly in the next year or so.

Temporary Admission
Anyone from outside the EU (that is permitted to enter the UK as a visitor) can bring a vehicle with them temporarily to the UK. See this website. Basically, the rules are it must be registered and taxed where you brought it from and can only stay for a maximum of six months (cumulative) before you must export it from the EU.

https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicle...porary-imports

As far as I can tell, you must have insurance that is valid in the UK before you can legally ride your bike. If your insurance back home will pay out for anything that happens in the UK, then you’re fine. If not, then you need to get Compulsory Third Party Liability insurance before you arrive.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance...hout-insurance

Getting insurance in the UK for a non-UK vehicle isn’t easy. The only way I found to do it was to get an EU Green Card which is valid in the UK. I couldn’t find anywhere in the UK that sells Green Cards.

Mototouring - GreenCard insurance for non european vehicles

This Italian company takes your details and money and goes to an insurance office in Italy and gets the insurance for you, scans the Green Card (which is actually pink?) and emails it to you. They can also post the original if you want it. You must carry the green card with you to produce to police if pulled over.

In 2018, I flew from Toronto, Canada on a West Jet flight with my bike in the cargo hold and arrived at Gatwick Airport. The transport process is an entirely different story which I won’t completely go over here but long story short, I used an agent to organise the whole thing and it went very smoothly at the UK end. At Customs I went through the ‘nothing to declare’ line but I did ask a Customs Agent about what I should do and he didn’t know what the process was but said that Customs may inspect it at the freight terminal. I got a taxi from the passenger terminal to the freight terminal following the instructions given to me by the agent and waited for the bike to be unloaded. It arrived 30 mins later and all I needed to do to clear it was complete a form C110 and submit it to Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue Service (HMRC).
I did this at my agent’s office over the phone to someone… (they asked me questions and filled the form in for me) from memory it was someone in the shipping company. It is possible to do it online and then have it printed ready for when you arrive. I did pay I think a £75 fee but I think that was for the shipping company for going through this process with me.

I would recommend having this form printed and ready for when you arrive and you may be able to avoid any fees. The shipping company emailed this to HMRC on my behalf. I had to chase down the shipping company later that day to request they forward me a copy of the form they sent on my behalf. The guy on the phone didn’t understand my accent clearly because he spelt my name and email address incorrectly and also a number of other details were incorrect on the form. Because he stuffed up my email address, I knew I would then have to re-submit the form to HMRC to ensure that I received any replies.

If I could do this again, I would have this form both digitally and printed ready when I arrive to provide to anyone if requested but then email it myself to the email address.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...r-vehicle-c110
https://public-online.hmrc.gov.uk/lc...plate=C110.xdp
citex.temporaryadmissionsteam@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

As far as I’m aware, Customs/Quarantine didn’t inspect my bike at all. I believe the shipping company contacted Customs over the phone at some point to clear the bike, which is when they told me to fill in the C110 form.
You are supposed to carry the completed copy of the C110 form with you while you are riding in the UK in case you are pulled over by the police.
HMRC did acknowledge receipt of the form but didn’t respond for about a week. When they eventually do respond it’s in the form of a letter basically confirming that you have been granted temporary admission relief. The letter that they sent me (by email) needed to be printed and carried with me so I could produce it to police when requested.

As soon as I arrived, I enquired about the rules regarding leaving the bike in the UK while I went back home to Australia and whether my temporary admission relief would continue to tick over while I was out of the country. I rang HMRC and they confirmed that yes, you can leave your bike unattended in the UK and then return at a later date and continue your travels e.g. I flew back to Australia for Christmas. While you are out of the country, the six months limit will stop ticking and then recommences ticking again when you come back into the country. To prove you’ve left the country you need to get a scanned copy of your stamped passport. Make sure you when you leave the UK you get a stamp at the place you’re going to because they don’t stamp it on the way out. Either that or keep your flight itinerary as proof you actually did leave. To make the clock stop ticking while you’re gone, email the same HMRC address (or the one on the letter they send you) and provide proof that you’ve entered/left on those dates and request that your temporary admission is halted while you’re out of the country.

When you bring your bike into the UK, you are bringing it into the EU. The six months you have means it must be exported from the EU (you can’t just ride out to France, although now that Brexit is happening I’m sure this will be possible). If you leave the EU at any time during the six months, e.g. I went to Morocco via a ferry from Spain, this also is time not counted towards your six months.

In a perfect world, when I returned to Spain (the EU) from Morocco, my vehicle should have been re-imported temporarily in Spain, but anything goes in Spain and they just stamped my passport and let me in. I’m not sure how this would work anywhere else such as if you went to Turkey and tried to come back in through Bulgaria or Ukraine/Poland etc.

I didn’t want to upset the system (plus I don’t speak Spanish) so I continued to administer my temporary import via the UK HMRC. If I was ever pulled over by police anywhere inside the EU I wanted to be able to prove that I was legally allowed to be there with my bike so rather than confuse the issue by letting the bike ‘fall off the grid’ when I re-entered the EU in Spain I decided to inform the UK and start my clock ticking again. Apart from that I was eventually coming back to the UK so I needed to keep it ‘on the grid’ anyway.

I didn’t email the HMRC every time I left the EU and came back…I waited until I had a number of entries/returns and a bunch of proving evidence and then sent it to them all in one large email. For example…after the initial exchange of emails I did all of my travelling around the EU, Moroco etc. then I went back to Australia for Christmas. I emailed them at that stage informing them that I have left the UK and to temporarily hold my admission relief. When I came back to the UK, after a few weeks, I then emailed them again asking to have it recommence.

Importing
When importing a vehicle into the UK you must inform the HMRC within 14 days of the vehicle’s arrival. Or in the case where my bike was already here on temporary admission relief, within 14 days of deciding that you are going to import the vehicle. In my case, I decided to use up my temporary admission relief while I decided what to do. Before I made the decision to import it, I wanted to make sure that it was roadworthy, although over here they call it the MOT. To do this your bike must have a miles per hour speedometer fitted. I have a Vapor computer and set it to MPH. Easy. Having marks or stickers on your km p/h speedo isn’t acceptable. Other than that, I think the MOT is pretty stock standard…although if you have a bunch of aftermarket LED lights you may run into difficulty. I have converted all the standard lights to LED and didn’t have an issue but any auxiliary lights may be scrutinised. Any bike that comes standard with LEDs is not a problem. Also, loud exhausts are an issue but its quite subjective. I chose to go to a small, local mechanic rather than a big dealer.

To get the MOT, you must show the mechanic your VIN plate or whatever its called. I just printed a photo that I had of the plate and gave it to him, I also showed him the paperwork for the temporary admission relief which has the VIN number on it. I also showed him the original registration certificate from Australia and the roadworthy certificate I had from when I purchased it. This was beneficial for him because it has all the bikes details on it (engine number, VIN, manufacture date, model details etc). When they enter the MOT into the system, they will need to enter it using the VIN only. Usually a vehicle that is registered in the UK will have the MOT entered using the registration number, in this case, not possible until after the bike is registered. The MOT was £40.

Once I had the MOT certificate (which is valid for 12 months and doesn’t expire after 1 month like in Queensland) I first emailed the Temporary Admission team (citex.temporaryadmissionsteam@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk) and informed them that I have decided to import the bike. They stopped my temporary admission relief then and there and I was required to inform another department at the HMRC.

When you import a vehicle into the UK, you need pay tax on it. That is unless you aren’t required to pay tax on it because you qualify for relief. In my case, I applied for a Transfer Of Residence relief because I had moved from Australia to the UK with a Tier 2 Visa. If I didn’t have the visa I would have needed to pay tax. I don’t know how much it would have been but I’d say for older bikes…not very much. To get the transfer of residence relief, I applied through the HMRC here

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...r-relief-tor01

Once my application for TOR was approved, I then emailed the CARS team with my details (this constitutes a NOVA application). They need a date for when the vehicle arrived in the UK, I stated the date that I decided the vehicle was going to be imported. They also needed my TOR reference number and some other details about the bike.

The TOR took about 2 weeks to get approved, the NOVA also took about 2 weeks to get approved. The approval came in the form of a letter by email with a NOVA reference number. This was required for the next step.
Once the HMRC has finished with you, you’ll need to import the vehicle with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). I found this stage to be the most troublesome and confusing. There are so many different rules with bikes and what the rules are with emissions and whether or not they are exempt from type approval. I think this is how it goes…

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval

• If your bike is less than 10 years old

o Has a European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA)?

 If you can buy one of these bikes in the EU, brand new today from a dealer, then your bike definitely has one of these which you can supposedly get from a dealer

o Does not have ECWVTA (bikes which aren’t sold new in the EU)

 You must use the Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval Scheme

 You need a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) which you need to get from the dealer

 https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/...icle-approvals

 It will need to be inspected (although if you already have an MOT

maybe this may not be required?)
• If your bike is older than 10 years

o You’re exempt from needing approval!

Next, once you have your approval sorted… you need to fill out the form and pay the money. For a used bike it’s a V55/5 form.
You can request a pack in the mail which has most of the information you need

https://www.gov.uk/dvlaforms

I got the Used Vehicle Import Pack which contain everything I needed.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...irst-time-v555

When filling it out, fill in every box that you have information for, otherwise leave it blank.
When you send the completed form to the DVLA, you’ll need to include
• V55/5 form
• NOVA letter from the HMRC
• Proof of Identity – passport, Drivers license (photocopies are sufficient)
• Proof of UK address – bank statement, utilities bill etc. (photocopies are sufficient)
• The original MOT form
• Type approval paperwork (if required)
• The money – they only accept cheque or money order which you can get at any post office

To calculate the amount required for the fee, it’s the cost of a new registration which for me was £55. Also, the vehicle tax for your specific vehicle. This is the page for motorcycles. Mine was £91.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-...icle-tax-rates

Add up all the fees and put them onto a money order or cheque. The money orders are really expensive but I didn’t have any other way to do it. Cheques also cost money to buy from the bank.

Once you’ve put that in the mail..wait 4 weeks and you’ll receive the approval which also contains the V948 form – number plate authorisation certificate. You’ll also receive the form V5C Registration Certificate.
You now need to get some license plates manufactured. You’ll need to provide either the V948 or V5C form to a number plate provider and get some plates made up. I went with pressedplates.co.uk opting for the aluminium ones rather than the acrylic. I think the acrylic ones are cheap and won’t last very long on a bike, well not my bike anyway…I’m constantly dropping it and crashing though trees and shrubs I doubt it would last long before snapping off.

Finally, you’ll need insurance. Once you have your registration number, getting UK insurance is must easier. You’ll just need to get a quote and specify that it’s a grey import. The Registration number is entered into a national database so the insurer knows the details as soon as you give them your number.

If you can do it without having to answer any questions about where your drivers license is from then you should be ok. If, however, you have to tell the insurer you are on a foreign license, then your premium will skyrocket. The insurers in the UK just don’t trust new drivers/riders regardless of how long they have had their license in country of origin. I went with Bennetts and got a Third Party Only policy for less than £100 pounds. One thing to note is that most policies only cover you for three months if your riding in the EU so if you want to stay on the continent for longer, you may need to specify that when looking for quotes.

If you’re having trouble getting insurance because of your foreign license, you can get a British license once you have been in country for more than 180 days.

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-driving-licence

In the end I traded my Australian license for a British one. You can’t keep your foreign license; you have to surrender it. This may be an issue for you if you have a heavy vehicle license back home because when you surrender it in the UK you won’t get the heavy vehicle authority transferred…only cars and motorcycles. The British license cost £43 pounds.
Documents I’ve needed at various stages throughout this process. Get all these documents scanned in and kept digitally on the cloud or somewhere where you have regular access to them so you can send by email when requested. I also kept one copy of most of these in paper in case I was pulled over by police. I was never pulled over so I can’t comment on whether any of them aren’t required but I would never go riding without at least the passport, registration, driver’s license and insurance.

• Certified true copies of

o Passport

o Driver’s License

o International Driving Permit

• Proof of address in the UK

o Bank statement or utilities bills or something else similar

 If you know someone living in the UK, get your bank from overseas to readdress your mail to the UK address to prove you are living here to get started

• Proof of address in Australia

o Bank statement or utilities bills or something else similar

• Proof of dates of arrival in UK/Australia/EU etc

o Stamped passport/ or

o Flight itineraries/ferry itineraries/train itineraries

• Proof of dates of residential arrangements in Australia (required for TOR)

o Copy of tenancy agreement

o Statement otherwise to verify residential living situation

o Historical bank statements delivered to the address in question

• Copy of Visa approval letter (required for TOR)
• Scanned digital copy of passport, entire document - every page that has text or stamp on it scanned in
• Scanned digital copy of UK/EU Biometric Residence Permit
• Copy of EU Green Card Insurance
• Copy of completed C110 Temporary Import Form
• Copy of confirmation of Temporary Admission Relief
• Copy of MOT (Ministry of Transport/Roadworthy) Certificate
• Copy of TOR (Transfer of Residence Relief) Approval Letter from HMRC
• Copy of NOVA (Notification of Vehicle Arrival) Approval letter from HMRC
• Copies of all emails from HMRC and DVLA
• V5C Registration Certificate
• V948 Number Plate Authorisation Certificate
• DVLA Registration Approval Letter

Hope this helps!
Ryan

ryan-lindberg@outlook.com