Hi,

I'm going to be moving to Dubai in a couple of months and I am thinking about bringing 1150GS over with me. Normally I'd ride it over, but time constraints mean that it'll have to be shipped over. This is in itself is not too much of an issue (I hope!!), but what I'm not sure about is how I go about permanently importing the bike into Dubai and registering it with the relevant UAE/Dubai authorities.

I understand the UAE is a carnet country and since I am going to be staying in Dubai for some time I don't really want to have the bike on a carnet for all of the time I'm going to be there (even if that was possible - which it probably isn't) and so I would like to have it registered in Dubai with Dubai plates etc, etc.

Anyway if anyone has anything they could share with me about this that'd be greatly appreciated. So any advice on import duties (if any), costs, the procedure for registration etc, etc would be welcome.

Thanks,

Peter

Peter
Used cars are regularly imported into the UAE, e.g. from Japan, so you should be OK.

For starting information try the: Dubai government portal
Dubai government is very keen on online services so if you e-mail them you might even get a reply to specific questions, e.g. about possible import duties.

Vehicle registration is done in conjunction with agencies called Tasjeel ("Registration"). These are joint ventures between the police and petrol companies.

They are fairly efficient. If you try e-mailing them you might also get a reply.

Hope this helps.
Stephan

Importing bikes into the UAE is relatively easy. Duty will be 5% of value. Be aware that you must register and pay duty on the bike in the place it is going to be ridden (ie Dubai if you intend to live there - all the emirates have their own customs and motor registry services). The bike must be trailered to the registry the first time (they take a VERY dim view of unregistered vehicles - mostly because of the insurance requirements to cover the enormous blood money payable after hitting a person). Inspections are cursory. Gulf specifications do not apply to bikes (they can be quite strict for cars) and very few inspectors know what they are looking at. Dubai is an economy largely based on import-export so there are hundreds of (mostly) reliable, cheap companies that can walk you through the process.

An import licence will be expected and Stephan's advice is useful in regards to contacting the govt. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how efficient things are.

cheers
Brett

Thanks very much for both of your replies. I will send a mail to the Dubai government, but in the meantime I just wondered if you were able to help with a couple of issues you mention.

1. Brett - you mentioned cheap companies that could walk me through the process for importing a bike. I just wondered whether you had any details of a company I could speak to.

2. Brett - you say that the bike must be trailered to the registry for registration. I will need to check with the shipping company (who are bringing the bike from the UK for me) as to what will actually happen, but would the bike not need to be cleared through customs at the port of arrival and would the relevant registration not take place there? If not then how would I be able to get the bike from the port to my flat (presumably I'd need to organise a trailer!)?

3. Stephan - On the Dubai government website it states that "For registration of used car, buyer (must be resident of Dubai) & seller must be present. In case, the seller is not present, a sale deed letter from an authorized showroom or dealer is required. If the vehicle is from another emirate, the vehicle registration should have been cancelled there." Since the BMW (from whom I bought the bike) are unlikely to want to travel from the UK to Dubai(!) then I will have to show a "a sale deed letter from an authorized showroom or dealer is required". I am not sure what this is! When I bought the bike, BMW gave me a receipt but this shows the bike at being worth much more than it is now (nearly double) and I don't really want to pay 5% of the purchase price given it is now worth not even half that! Any thoughts on what the authorities would accept would be gratefully received.

Thanks very much,

Peter

‘Tasjeel’ have their own staff who, for a fee, do everything relating to registration for you.

Are you shipping the bike without UK plates? If so, you will need a trailer. I can help there, if required. If the bike has UK plates I would imagine they’d let you ride it out of the port (but the trailer offer is there if they don’t).

Regarding the web site, I think they only cover 99.9% of situations. I don’t think they’d expect the seller to be present in your case. Whatever the normal procedure, there’s always a way to get things done as long as you are friendly and open and talk to the right person.

As for import duty, I wouldn’t show the original receipt right away because as you say you don’t want to be hit for 5% of a high value. I’d have the originals and photocopies of my UK ownership documents. If, in the worst case, they did insist on the sale receipt, I think they would still accept the concept of depreciation because as you say the bike is currently worth less.

When are you and bike arriving?

Stephan

Your shipping company will have a 'customs store' in their warehouse - ie a secure area where customs officials will come and check the bike. There shouldn't be a need to lug the bike all over town.

I don't know much about companies in Dubai - I'm in Abu Dhabi.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are plates you can get for the few days between import and registration. (like the export plates when you take the bike out) Like I said, insurance is the big issue. Go to the motor registry and ask them. Yours is not an unusual problem. Heaps of people import their own cars into the UAE. There will be a system in place to deal with it. As Stephan said, check the govt website.

I'm already here in UAE, in Abu Dhabi. Thinking about riding my old CBR600 out here for occasional use as its gathering dust there in the UK. (still fires up first time when I'm home though!) At the moment i'm nursing the thought of a road trip late summer early winter road trip, as much for the experience as anything else. Did all go well with the registration process, or was it a nightmare sufficient to call off the whole idea and buy a locally registered bike?

Hi there Sparks59
All went well with the process in the end. The shipping company who brought the bike over got the bike through customs and provided me with the customs documents. I did have to pay an import duty, but it seemed to be calculated on the basis of what I told them it should be (I gave them AED1000 for a bike which is worth considerably sufficient for the import duty to rightly be far more than that!) . Once I'd got these docs I just went straight to the RTA here in Dubai, together with the insurance I had had to buy here and the RTA processed it without too much effort - I had to buy a Dubai plate, but it wasn't much (I forget the actual price now) and they even fitted it to the bike there and then!
The Dubai Red Tape Guide says that you need to get export plates to both officially drive around in the UAE before you get your UAE plates (I rode around for a couple of weeks on my UK plates with no problems) and to get the UAE plates at the RTA (I was never asked for them by anyone!) - the Red Tape Guide is useful, but after my experience I wouldn't stress too much about what it says.
So all in all it's definately worth it if you can somehow cover the cost of shipping it over to the UAE in the first place!
Now I just to repair my bike after trashing it the other week riding around Hatta Pools (with these guys - www.UAEride.com • Index page)!
Peter