Permanent import of bike to Australia

[JNTaylor]

Hi,

Don't know if any of you have come up against the predicament I now find myself in.

I imported my KTM Adventure 'temporarily' under a carnet into Australia last year. At that time I was only in Australia on a temporary business visa. At the time I rang the RTA to find out the proceedure for importing the bike properly and the first thing they said was - "Where is the bike?". I said that it was already in the country, under a carnet. They replied that they only issue import permits for vehicles out of the country. They completly refused to entertain the idea that I could import the bike, and said that the only way was to export the bike, apply for a permit (may/may not receive it) then re-import. I said 'Where to?', they said 'New Zealand?', I said 'To whom?'. And we went down a route of mindless drivel...

I got around the situation by extending my carnet for another year and strangely enough the customs were fine and also agreed that the rules were crazy. They agreed that it would be far more sensible, that if I were legal (I am) just to be able to take it down to customs, pay the import tax (10%), drive away to RTA, get new plates and pay stamp duty (3%).

I am now a permanent resident and want to import the bike again. Does anyone else have experience of this situation? Will I still be forced to export it because it's still here under a carnet? If that is the case I might as well send it back to the UK and sell it.

Any thought welcome.
Regards
James

From official documentation...
Personal Imports – Part 8 on the Application Form

Visitors, temporary residents, foreign diplomatic personnel, companies and corporations are not eligible to import a vehicle under the personal import scheme.

This scheme allows a vehicle to be imported as a personal import without proof that it meets the ADRs, but the vehicle is expected to provide a level of safety similar to Australian vehicles. To be eligible for a personal import the following criteria must be satisfied:

a) the vehicle has been owned and used by the applicant for a continuous period of at least 12 months (3 months where ownership and use of the vehicle commenced before 8 May 2000);
b) at the time the vehicle is imported, the applicant is:

i. an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident; or
ii. a person who has applied to become an Australian citizen or an
Australian permanent resident;

c) the applicant is of an age that entitles him or her to hold a licence or a permit to drive a road vehicle of that type; d) the applicant undertakes to comply with any requirements as to road safety that are imposed in respect of the vehicle by the Administrator; and
e) the applicant has not imported a road vehicle owned by him/ her within the year ending on the day on which the vehicle in respect of which the application is made is landed in Australia.

The following documents must be provided to establish ownership and use of the vehicle overseas for twelve consecutive months, or more:

* every page of your passport including all blank pages · statement of travel
* purchase documents · overseas registration documents in your name