Leaving Dubai usually comes with a deadline: a contract ending, a lease running out, a school term starting in the UK. The car sits awkwardly in that plan, because the UAE side has its own paperwork and the UK side has tax and testing. The worry is that one of them holds up the other. In practice our agents in Dubai handle the RTA end, and the rest is about doing things in the right order.
For the route itself, see our guide to shipping a car from Dubai. This page is about fitting the car into your move.
- Time at sea
- 4 to 6 weeks
- Port
- Jebel Ali
- Guide shipping price
- From £2,150
- Tax if you are moving
- Often nil under ToR
Is it worth bringing
The tax usually decides it. If you qualify for Transfer of Residence, the car comes in with no import VAT and no duty. If you do not, a car from the UAE pays 20% VAT and 10% duty on its value plus the shipping, which can change the answer completely.
The car is also left-hand drive and built for a different market. That is legal here, but it means a speedometer conversion to mph, headlight changes and, on older cars, a rear fog light. Get a UK insurance quote early too, because prices for left-hand drive cars vary between insurers. Our guide to left-hand drive cars in the UK covers daily life with one.
Transfer of Residence from the UAE
You need to have lived outside the UK for at least 12 months in a row, owned and used the car for at least 6 months, and be moving here to live for at least the next 12 months. The car has to arrive within 12 months of your move.
Two points come up often with people leaving the Gulf. First, the 6-month rule means a car bought in your last few months in Dubai will not qualify, however tempting the price. Second, GOV.UK says relief does not cover goods from a second or holiday home, so the car needs to be the one from your main home.
You apply to HMRC online with form ToR1, before the car ships. HMRC gives you a reference, and we need it on the customs declaration to clear the car tax free. Our guide to Transfer of Residence covers the relief in full.
Your ToR evidence
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Apply for ToR before you hand back the flat. HMRC wants proof of your UAE address dated within the last 3 months. Once the tenancy and the utilities have ended, that proof gets harder to find. Use exactly the same name on every document and on the form.
The UAE side
A car needs an export certificate from the RTA, the Roads and Transport Authority, before it can leave the UAE, and it is deregistered there before it goes. It also needs export plates before it is loaded, and these carry an additional fee.
Once you accept your quote, we put you in touch with our export specialist in Dubai. They guide you through the export plate application and the warehouse procedures, handle the RTA deregistration and arrange the trucking to Jebel Ali. You also get access to a personal online portal, so you can follow the car from your new home.
Before the car leaves Dubai
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Plan the export around your own leaving date. The car has to be deregistered, plated and at the port before it sails, so if you need it until your last day, tell us when you ask for a quote and we will plan the dates with you.
How the move lines up
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Months before
Decide and check ToR
Confirm the 12-month and 6-month rules, get a quote and a UK insurance quote.
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Before it ships
Apply for ToR
Send form ToR1 to HMRC. If the car goes ahead of you, say so on the form.
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Last weeks in Dubai
RTA and export plates
Our agents handle the deregistration and export plates and get the car to Jebel Ali.
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4 to 6 weeks
At sea
Usually in a shared container, with transit insurance.
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On arrival
Customs and inspection
We clear the car with your ToR reference, tell HMRC it has arrived, and inspect it as it comes off.
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At our site
Changes, test, plates
Speedo, headlights and any fog light work, an IVA or MOT on our own lane, then DVLA registration within 10 working days of a pass.
Most cars travel in a shared container with other customers' cars, which keeps the cost down. RoRo is available from the UAE but tends to cost more. For a high-value car, we usually recommend enclosed transport for the UK leg as well, and our guide to shipping a high-value car explains why.
Making it legal here
The usual list for a UAE car is a speedometer converted to mph, headlights changed for driving on the left and a rear fog light on older cars. Our guide to speedometer and headlight conversions explains the work.
A car under 10 years old then takes an IVA test, a car between 10 and 40 years old an MOT, and one over 40 needs no MOT. Shipping a Car is part of My Car Import, and we run one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain, so the changes and the test happen on the same site.
The first months in the UK
Until the car is registered, taxed and insured, it cannot be used on a public road, apart from driving to a pre-booked test. GOV.UK says you can be prosecuted otherwise, so plan to be without it for a few weeks after you land.
Have UK insurance ready for the day it is registered, then tax it. Our guides to insuring an imported car and road tax for imported cars cover both. If you will be driving in London, check ULEZ and imported cars too.
For 12 months after your move, a car that came in under ToR cannot be sold, lent, hired out or used as security, or the VAT and duty can become payable.
What it costs
As a guide, built from a year of real jobs, shipping a car from the UAE starts from around £2,150. That is shipping only. It excludes registration, other services, import tax and any remedial work. Our cost guide for Dubai breaks it down, and a car over 30 years old pays 5% VAT and no duty if ToR does not fit.
Questions people ask
Do I pay import tax when moving from Dubai to the UK with my car?
Not if you qualify for Transfer of Residence: 12 months living outside the UK, 6 months owning and using the car, and moving your home here. Apply to HMRC before the car ships. Otherwise it is usually 20% VAT and 10% duty.
Who handles the RTA deregistration?
Our agents in Dubai. They handle the RTA deregistration and export plates, guide you through the export certificate and get the car to Jebel Ali. Export plates carry an additional fee.
When should I hand the car over?
Plan it around your own leaving date. The car has to be deregistered, on export plates and at Jebel Ali before it sails, so tell us your flight date when you ask for a quote and we will plan the handover with you.
Can I bring a car I bought just before leaving?
You can, but it will not qualify for Transfer of Residence unless you have owned and used it for at least 6 months before you move. It would pay 20% VAT and 10% duty instead.
Does a UAE car need changes for UK roads?
Usually a speedometer conversion to mph, headlight changes and, on older cars, a rear fog light. Then an IVA test under 10 years old, or an MOT from 10 to 40 years.
Got a leaving date? Send us the car and the date on the quote form and we will plan the export around it.
