Importing Spanish Vehicle Into UK

When we first bought our apartment in Spain (2000) we were inundated with helpful advice from ‘established expats’ as to who to go and see to get various things set up: gas for BBQ, importing a vehicle, cheap dial up (yep believe it or now we had to survive on dial up internet access for several years.

All good intentions, but as we quickly found out all pretty much useless and not really necessary. Most of the people passing on the advice were people who were scared, unable, or unwilling to sort things out, and the people administering the advice were more often than not passing on old wives tales …

I was reminded of this as I went through the process of importing our Spanish registered van into the UK following our move back to the UK.

First thing I would say: ignore all the online services saying that they will sort the import out for you; a) it is pretty straight forward, and b) they will need all the documentation that you have to provide so you will not save yourself any of the work.

Second thing I would say: prepare all the paperwork you are going to need before you start the process as once you notify the DVLA of your intent to import the vehicle you have to take it off the road.

You are going to need the Certificate of Conformity. Every new vehicle in the EU comes with one, so you may have the original if not you need to get one. Don’t be tempted by a cheaper option from one of the many online services as you will need one from the original manufacturer. They are not cheap (c£200) and factor in a 6 week wait BUT you will need one.

You will also need to ensure that the vehicle is UK compliant which basically means that the speedo shows MPH and KPH, and the rear reversing and fog lamps are on the correct side of the vehicle. You may be luck with the first, but you will need the second doing. You can source easily online and the light fittings don’t need to be original manufacturer ones BUT you do need to get the work done by an official manufacturer garage and a letter from them confirming that they have done the work.

Next, get an MOT. You can get this done based on the VIN number so don’t be told otherwise and again you are going to need one before you can import the vehicle.

Next you can start the process: the Government provide all the information you need so please check their site for the latest details.

To start you need to tell HMRC (customs) using the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA) service. You are meant to do this within 14 days of the vehicle arriving in the UK (hence the advice above to get everything sorted first) and once they have confirmed you can import the vehicle it needs to stay off the road. The NOVA basically tells you if you have any VAT to pay on the vehicle.

Once you have has this confirmed (is pretty quick when their online service is working) you will need to get a Mutual Recognition Certificate (assuming is left hand drive) which is why you need the above paperwork (MOT, Letters Confirming work has been done, Certificate of Conformity). Costs about £100 and can take up to 4 weeks to get sorted.

Once you have the Mutual Recognition Certificate you can then complete the V55/5 – you will get most of the details you need from the Certificate of Conformity. You have to pay a tax and a initial license fee, and again you can expect to wait 10 days for confirmation is approved (at which point you get the new registration details), and they say up to 6 weeks for the V5C, but in practise this is pretty quick.

At this point all you need to do is insure the vehicle and you are good to go.