--- title: "Moving to the UK from Dubai with your car | Shipping a Car" url: https://shippingacar.co.uk/moving-to-the-uk-from-dubai-with-your-car/ description: "Moving from Dubai to the UK with your car: whether it is worth bringing, Transfer of Residence from the UAE, the RTA export side, UK changes and timing the move." --- - [Home](https://shippingacar.co.uk/) - [Guides](https://shippingacar.co.uk/blog/) - Moving to the UK from Dubai with your car # Moving to the UK from Dubai with your car Leaving Dubai usually comes with a deadline. How to line the UAE paperwork, the shipping and the UK tax and testing up with your move. By My Car Import, 19 October 2026 · 7 minute read 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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/ship-a-car-from-dubai-to-the-uk/). 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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/transfer-of-residence/) covers the relief in full. Your ToR evidence 0 of 6 done - Passport photo page - Proof of your UAE address, such as a utility bill or tenancy contract, dated within the last 3 months - Proof of your UK address, or a statement from where you will first stay - The registration card (Mulkiya) - Proof of purchase, showing how long you have owned the car - A list of your possessions, including anything shipped with the car **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 0 of 7 done - Check the 12-month and 6-month ToR rules against your dates - Get a quote, and fix the export date around your flight - Apply to HMRC with form ToR1 and send us the reference - The original Mulkiya and a copy of your passport ready - RTA export certificate and export plates, with our agents - Talk to the lender before booking, if there is finance on the car - Photos of the car before collection 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 - 1 Months before ### Decide and check ToR Confirm the 12-month and 6-month rules, get a quote and a UK insurance quote. - 2 Before it ships ### Apply for ToR Send form ToR1 to HMRC. If the car goes ahead of you, say so on the form. - 3 Last weeks in Dubai ### RTA and export plates Our agents handle the deregistration and export plates and get the car to Jebel Ali. - 4 4 to 6 weeks ### At sea Usually in a shared container, with transit insurance. - 5 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. - 6 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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/insuring-an-imported-car/) and [road tax for imported cars](https://shippingacar.co.uk/road-tax-for-imported-cars/) cover both. If you will be driving in London, check [ULEZ and imported cars](https://shippingacar.co.uk/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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/cost-to-ship-a-car-from-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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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](https://shippingacar.co.uk/quote/) and we will plan the export around it. Shipping is half the job ## Then My Car Import puts it on UK plates. Shipping a Car is part of My Car Import, so when the container is unloaded the car is already where it needs to be. It goes straight into testing and registration on the same site, with no extra transport and no waiting for a test slot somewhere else. [Quote for the whole import](https://shippingacar.co.uk/quote/) [Registration at My Car Import](https://mycarimport.co.uk) - **One of only seven** privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain - **The only privately owned** MSVA test centre in Great Britain - A **dealer-level DVLA account**, so we register imported cars within 10 working days - **In-house conversions** and test preparation, from lights to speedos ## More guides - [Moving to the UK from Canada with your car For someone moving home the tax is often nil and the work is a known list. How to fit a Canadian car into the move. Read it](https://shippingacar.co.uk/moving-to-the-uk-from-canada-with-your-car/) - [Moving to the UK from Hong Kong with your car Most Hong Kong cars we import come over as part of a family move. How to fit the car into yours, from ToR evidence to UK plates. Read it](https://shippingacar.co.uk/moving-to-the-uk-from-hong-kong-with-your-car/) - [Moving to the UK from New Zealand with your car The car makes the longest trip of anything you own, but it is a simple one to bring in. Most of the risk sits in a few dates you control. Read it](https://shippingacar.co.uk/moving-to-the-uk-from-new-zealand-with-your-car/) ## Tell us about your car Where it is, what it is and when you need it here. We will price the whole import, from collection abroad to UK registration with My Car Import, not just the boat. Rather talk it through? Call 01332 810442