has anyone done this
My parents own an apartment in France and have recently registered their 4 x 4 there, cheaper insurance, no tax, MOT every two years. Although they live more over there now then here i wondered if anyone else has thought of registering their car abroad
{typo in header amended}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 29/08/2009 at 15:56
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I doubt that it would really be practical unless you are residing in France as your main residence. For example if you wanted to register your car over there but run it over here then I dare say that you can only keep it in this country so many days out of the year. Also you would need to find a (French) insurer that would cover you and your car in the UK indefinitely, rather than the standard 90 days 'European Cover' that we seem to get on our UK policies here.
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Seem to be lots of Polish cars that have been in this country for several years
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Family next door to us are German. They have lived and worked here in the UK for almost three years. He has a UK registered company car but the lady of the house continues to run her german registered LHD Golf cabrio. They also have a german plated Honda Fireblade in the garage for weekend jaunts. They don't seem to be the sort of people who would try to do this illegally but maybe they do. Dunno.
It may make a difference in that perhaps a couple of times a year they drive back to Germany in the Golf towing a trailer with the bike in it. Not sure.
Edit - Oh and the trailer has a german plate too. It's own one as is the convention in that country.
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 29/08/2009 at 16:03
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for cars yea i think as long as you take it out of the country now and again you are ok, as the clock starts ticking again when the car comes back in
far more widespread is foreign driving licences, i know lots of people who have handed over their UK licence for a foreign one, again as long as you leave the country every now and again you can claim the clock ticking again on reentry, easy way to avoid the plague of speed camera tickets totting up to a ban as they never get added to a foreign licence
quite a few insurers will allow normal UK policy with foreign licence now
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Here you go, a bit of googling has found this info from the Directgov public sevices website:
"Visitors to the UK can usually use a vehicle displaying foreign number plates for six months. This can be made up of a single visit or several shorter visits in a 12-month period, provided all taxes, including vehicle tax, are paid in the country of origin."
"EU vehicles brought into the UK will be allowed to be used freely for six months in any 12-month period without the need to register in the UK, provided the vehicle complies with the requirements of its home country. Where the keeper of the vehicle becomes resident in this country, the vehicle must be immediately registered and licensed in the UK. UK residents are not allowed to use a foreign registered vehicle on UK roads."
So what it is saying to me is that A: You cannot be a permanent resident in this country and run a foreign plated car and B: Even if you do run a foreign plated car in the UK, it can only be here for six months out of a twelve month period. There is no mention of leaving the country and upon re-entry the clock starting to tick from scratch again. That loophole must have been tightened up on.
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>>UK residents are not allowed to use a foreign registered vehicle on UK roads."
This one is quite interesting as many transport companies run foreign registered trucks often using UK drivers and do so on uk roads
And what about my parents who have a house here and an apartment in France?
Up the road fro my apartment is a Polish registered Skoda that has been here for several years now. It disappears for about a month in December but is soon back.
I have been looking at the net too and although I found similar rules I found no punishment if you do not comply with them
who is to say your car has been here so long, you do not register it anywhere?
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Julie, as your parents spend more time in France, they are resident there aren't they? So they can use a For. Reg. vehicle on UK roads.
I've just been through the whole thing in the Czech Republic.
Whilst there was no road tax, there was a motorway sticker to buy each year, but it was only 30 quid, so not too bad. Also only an MOT of sorts every 2 years.
But insurance didnt include theft cover, and if you took this on any half decent car, not a clapped out 20 year old car the locals drove, then the cost was double what it would cost in the UK. The insurance cover also was very basic, no where near what Fully comp covers in the UK.
That combined with UK used cars being the cheapest in Europe currently means I'm happy to have come back to the UK.
Dont worry too much about all these foreign registered cars in the UK, some are just Expats Brits, who most likely have them properly insured, as for foreigners that dont, well they will get caught out with the Plod at some point and pay the price.
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How would having an International driving permit, in relation to exchanging licenses as swap between countries, make any difference, can you use it for as long as you want?
Edited by sooty123 on 29/08/2009 at 18:39
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I well remember the German boss of a UK subsidiary of a German company working over here, with a German registered BMW. His two kids of about 4 and 7 were born over here.
He used to start spouting in German when stopped by plod (always for speeding) but got done in the end when one of the kids woke up and asked in a broad Yorkshire accent "What's the matter Dad".
Nemesis.
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Licence isn't a problem in EU countries - valid, although you have to obey the local laws - for example, driving on a UK licence in Spain you would have to have a medical after 10 years (every 3 years for greater than 3.5 tonnes). Also a problem if you haven't an UK address when it has to be renewed because the photo is out of date.
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Unless I am very much mistaken the position is this: there is freedom of movement within the EU as per the Treaty of Rome and you can choose where to live, study, work, pay taxes, drive and the lot. But read the fine print and it says local laws must be complied with!
There is a clear difference between "living" in a country and "being resident". The EU, contrary to popular belief, is not a great big international menu card where you can say, ooh the starters look nice, I'll have an LHD car with a British registration to start with, then a Spanish MOT, Danish insurance and German emissions test. Pardon, officer, are you pointing the machine gun at me? Was that really a STOP sign, so sorry, I can't speak Italian...
Most "dodgers" get away with it for most of the time, but if a driver and car do not have all the documents tied down to one address it is just a question of time before the long arm of the law catches up...
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There is a clear difference between "living" in a country and "being resident".
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so what is the difference?
What if you have duel nationality
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Sort it out at 20 paces I suppose........
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Julie, I suspect that the country you are "resident" in is the one in which you pay taxes and that is the one who's laws you abide by... I doubt dual nationality would have any bearing on that.
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In most European companies you are obliged to register your overseas residence with - for example - the local town hall.
Within this process, you define your residence as primary or secondary (eg.residence secondaire in France; zweiter Wohnsitz in German-speaking countries).
Julie's parents will have done this if they own a property or are renting long-term (say, more than 3 months) .
As far as vehicles re concerned, the simplest thing to do is take your car along to a local MOT -equivalent testing station BEFORE you register it overseas.
They will advise on modifications, if any, required to meet local regulations.
To register the car abroad you will have already defined your residence, and be eligible to use that country's plates. In some countries you need at least a day off to go to the office to collect the plates, as the motor trade is obviously less trustworthy than civil servants !
As other posters have noted elsewhere, it can take months to get your registration fully processed eg in Portugal.
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