Australian Motorbike Import
 

I'm an Aussie permanent resident and UK citizen. The Vehicle Imports Administration in Canberra have approved the import of my XT600.

I had to provide a full copy of my passport, copy V5, copy receipt/proof of purchase (in my case, emails between me and the seller on HUBB were sufficient) and a statement of travel (i.e. you state that the bike's been in your ownership for at least 12 months. You also state the dates you've been in and out of your home country over the past 12 months).

It cost AUD50 and took four weeks to process the application.

Shipping it, customs and Victorian rego all add to costs significantly. I just don't want to sell my XT, cos it's farkled to the limit. It'd be worth it if you were importing the new Tenere or similar.

Hope this helps someone in future.:scooter:

Glad to hear you got it though. My application goes off soon. Did you have to get all your photocopies signed by someone to prove they are real?

That's right, but I got a nice lady at the local post office to sign the copy document to 'certify' it. Not exactly to the letter of the law, but adequate for the purposes of the administrator at Vehicle Imports...and didn't cost me anything.

Good luck, where are you moving to? Me, i'm off to Melbourne.

I had been hoping to ride there, but the missus has a sprog in the box, so I eventually had to turn the rational part of my brain on...wasn't easy.

Mike

You can clear the bike through customs and quarantine yourself - its not difficult. Customs are very helpful and will make sure you fill in the correct forms and get the right duty codes.

Usual process is to pay the shipping company port costs, they give you a release order, then go and pay any duty and GST - cutoms give you a release order, book and pay for a quarantine inspection at the same time as you pay the duty. Bear in mind that you pay 10% duty on the value of the bike, then add the duty to the value of the bike to pay 10% GST, then pay 10% GST on the shipping costs as well. Its often a shock when all the taxes are added - another 23% to 26%.

Be at the shipping company when the quarantine give it the once over inspection, quarantine then give you a release or an order for further cleaning. Just be aware that unless the shipping company has approved cleaning facilities you have to get the bike transported to an approved cleaning facility if it needs a clean - big $$$ start to crop up now as the transport companies know they have you by the nuts. If the bike needs a clean you pay for that and another inspection. SO MAKE SURE ITS CLEAN LIKE NEW.

Clean the bike thoroughly before crating it up - no mud, no seeds, no bits of grass, even put insect killers in the crate. Aus quarantine are paranoid about vehicles ex UK because of the foot & mouth - only 'cos the UK reports it whilst the rest of the world ignores it!! I'd even "create" an invoice from a cleaning company stating its been cleaned and disinfected to AQIS standards.

After all thats done you can get the bike out of the customs area.

Legally you cant ride it on the road until you get the personal import plate fitted by the engineer certifying that the bike complies with Australian Design Rules. You need a trailer or a Traders Plate. The ADRs are about what must be fitted to the bike - he wont check they work. You can download the ADRs from the Aus Attorney General's website.

Once you get the import plate you can buy daily insurance and unregistered vehicle permits or use a trailer to get the vehicle a road worthy certificate - this is when the items that must be on the bike are checked to see if they work properly.

Then off to Vic Roads to get new number plates and pay the rego and third party. They'll check all the paperwork - import approval, V5, your ID, bike VIN.

Best of luck - the paperwork after the import is a lot harder than dealing with customs.

Hmmmmm,

my gs adv arrived yesterday. only found out about the GST charge today after being told by vehicle imports in Canberra that there was no charge applicable.
seems to be that you spend quite bit of time trying to find out the truths to these things.
good to find out about the AQIS standards though. i paid for the shipping company to have this dealt with before it was crated so i hope it will pass through with no problems.
thyanks for the forward info. very helpfull. will post with any tips of my own when the process gets started.

The Koalas who work for Vimports in Canberra are hopeless - NEVER rely on anything they say or do. Check the Import Approval against the details that you have provided - one added or missing digit on your VIN can mean months of being stuffed around trying to get a new Import Approval issued - whilst your vehicle sits on a wharf accruing storage costs.

I guess I've been lucky with quarantine. I've brought 3 vehicles back to Oz, each one absolutely filthy dirty and each time AQIS has cleared it without question. Most recent import was October last year.

Garry from Oz.

What port (airport) did you bring it in to? Anything that will make import easier is a good thing!

Port of Melbourne Xander. I found sea shipping a lot easier (and cheaper), and since I was coming home each time the extra time the bike was on the ship was not a problem.

For my most recent import, when I brought my Burgman back in October last year I did the customs clearance at the office in docklands and scheduled the AQIS inspection for 2 days later. I arranged to be there when AQIS arrived (so I could answer any questions and if necessary, plead my case as to why the bike shouldn't be steamcleaned), but when I arrived at the warehouse I was told AQIS had arrived early and had already completed the inspection and everything was Ok. :)

Garry from Oz.