Hello All,

I have a bike that was registered in Australia and is currently in Uganda. It entered Uganda under a Carnet. I myself have dual Australian and UK citizenship, if that might help.

I left the bike to travel back to Australia briefly, and expected to return to pick up the bike, but due to COVID, I couldn't return. The bike registration has expired, as has the Carnet. I can't re-register the bike (it would need to be in Australia to do this), and I can't revalidate the Carnet without the bike being registered in Australia. So, I'm in a Catch-22 situation.

I would like to either 1) sell the bike in Uganda, or 2) airfreight the bike back to Australia. Can anyone advise me on what my options are? I am concerned that I will have issues transporting the bike out of the country without the paperwork being current. Alternatively, what are the options for someone buying a currently unregistered bike from overseas in Uganda?

Looking forward to hearing peoples thoughts. It's a really frustrating position to be in, as I was especially careful regarding paperwork while I was travelling.... unfortunately a combination of COVID travel restrictions and Australian bureaucracy around vehicle registration has put me in a difficult position.

From my own experience of motorcycling in Africa, although not specifically Uganda the only paperwork customs are interested in is the carnet and I advise speaking to the most senior Uganada customs officer you can find at the border and explain why the bike was left there and try to get them to stamp your current but expired carnet out of the country and take the bike to another who will let you enter on a temporary importation permit, I believe Kenya might do this.

I realise that in theory a vehicle should be legal in country of origin with a current registration/road tax, safety/MOT test but it is not always possible to keep this up on the road and people continue their trips with them expired, it is between you and your conscience as to whether you do this, it obviously could also cause problems if you have an accident but with many border crossings all over the world I have never had this checked, except entering Australia.

As long as you have a registration document/title with the bike's details and a matching number plate on the bike you should be able to continue either to a port to ship the bike home or onward through other east and southern African countries if you want, if you are not comfortable riding it with expired registration you could have it and yourself transported to a port to get it removed.

I expect you will have to bring the bike back into Australia to get your carnet deposit back and to ensure no claim is made against it which could cost you a lot.