Customs and Import into the UK
I've just finished my trip from Australia and I'm in the UK now with my Australian registered bike. My intention is to live here and I have a UK passport so I've ignored the bike for a while until I sort out my employment situation.
I took the eurotunnel from France and I asked at the UK Immigration/Customs window before boarding if having an Australian bike would be a problem and the answer was an "I can't see why". So I shrugged and went through.
But now I read lots of references to Temporary Imports. Have I missed a step getting the bike into the country?
On the permanent import side, has anyone gone through this into the UK? Is it worth it? At the moment I'm just looking to garage it over the winter because it won't pass an MOT (head stem bearing is notched) and I'm focused on finding work and don't have the money to fix everything yet. I also understand it has to be in stock form which would require extensive modification to the bike, is that correct?
I've also heard that if the bike is registered and Insured it can stay in the EU for as long as they are valid, is that correct? It might be easier/cheaper to leave it garaged there until I'm sorted out here.
|