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Visiting UK from US - bike paperwork? Visiting UK from US - bike paperwork?
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Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

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Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  • 1 Post By backofbeyond

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  #1  
Old 29 Jul 2022
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Visiting UK from US - bike paperwork?
Anyone here brought their US registered bike from the US to the UK as part of a longer trip? I'm trying to get info on what the paperwork process is for doing that.

The background is an American friend is in the process of bringing his US registered bike to the UK - it's on the boat at the moment. It'll be here next week and used in the UK for a week or so before we head off to France / Spain etc.

The shipping co have been bombarding him with import paperwork - that's paperwork (it seems to me) that's intended to import the bike permanently into the UK, whereas he only wants to ride around for a few days before leaving. So anyone know what's actually needed?
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Old 29 Jul 2022
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Here are the details telling you what you probably already know that it is perfectly legal to temporarily import it, might be worth printing off and sending a copy to the shipper to make it clear.

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

It looks like they need to fill in form C110-Temporary admission-notice of arrival of a temporarily imported non-EU motor vehicle and fill in sections 1 to 8, and 17 when it leaves the country, the others are not applicable.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...r-vehicle-c110

A photocopy of current US registration, insurance and anything else required to be legal in the state of origin such as smog test.

A ferry ticket to France or wherever might also be helpful to show intent to leave.

It shouldn't be that difficult but their shipper has possibly not delt with a temporary import before, I have re-imported bikes a few times and found customs to be pretty helpful if you get the right person, this from the bottom of form C110 might be useful.

"If you complete this notification, keep a copy with the
vehicle whilst it is used in the UK and send the original to:
HMRC
Temporary Admissions Team
Warwick House
67 Station Road
REDHILL
Surrey
RH1 1QU
When the vehicle leaves the UK enter the date of
re-exportation on your copy and send it to the
above address."
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Old 29 Jul 2022
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Thanks Mark. No ferry ticket yet as we've no idea when the boat is going to arrive (or even if it's possible to get on a ferry atm )

Bizarrely (considering this saga has been going on for nearly two months), the shipping agent sent through form C110 in between my posting originally and your reply. I'll have lunch and have a look at it.
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Old 30 Jul 2022
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An aside. In my experience of sending motorcycles on planes and boats, I often had to tell shipping companies/ their agents/ customs ossifers how to do their jobs properly. Many are utterly useless/ lazy/ incompetent/ all of the above.

Good that this situation looks like it'll get sorted satisfactorily.
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Old 30 Jul 2022
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris View Post
An aside. In my experience of sending motorcycles on planes and boats, I often had to tell shipping companies/ their agents/ customs ossifers how to do their jobs properly. Many are utterly useless/ lazy/ incompetent/ all of the above.

Good that this situation looks like it'll get sorted satisfactorily.
Haven't actually got our hands on the bike yet - anything could happen. The boat might actually arrive for a start. It was supposed to leave New York in early June - it finally got going last week.
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Old 31 Jul 2022
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Quote:
Originally Posted by backofbeyond View Post
Anyone here brought their US registered bike from the US to the UK as part of a longer trip?
Many years ago (about 2004, I think) I travelled with my Canadian registered motorcycle on the Cunard ferry from New York to Southampton.

The import process was quite straightforward, the customs folks inspected my ownership & registration and compared it to my passport and driver licence to confirm that the motorcycle was in fact mine, they then checked to make sure I had insurance coverage for the UK, and finally they filled in a form that was probably the C110 (or its predecessor) that Mark referred to in his post above.

I was planning to leave via ferry to France in a week or so, and told the customs folks that, and they were satisfied with that response.

But... that was back in the day when the UK was part of the EU. The customs folks may have different concerns now.

Your friend might consider that the easiest way to handle the temporary importation would be to show up at the bonded warehouse where the moto currently is and then sort things out in person.

Michael

HM Customs Officer in the Background
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