Shipping a car from Albania or Montenegro to the UK

Albania and Montenegro do not come up as often as France or Germany, so people tend to assume we will not touch them. We will. Neither country has its own guide on the My Car Import site yet, but we ship from far more places than we have written up, and the UK end of the job is exactly the same as from anywhere else in Europe.

The two countries sit side by side on the Adriatic, take the same road north and share most of the same rules at our end. The main difference is the duty position, which we cover below.

Route

By road or by sea

Price

Priced per job

Transit time

Usually 1 to 4 weeks door to door

Steering

Left-hand drive

Import tax

20% VAT, duty depends on the car

How the car gets here

We arrange collection from your address and bring the car to the UK by road or by sea, whichever works out best for the car. By road, the route runs north up the Balkans through Bosnia, Croatia and Austria, then west to the Channel. Container or ferry options are there where they suit better.

Door to door, European moves usually take 1 to 4 weeks once collection, any border checks and customs are allowed for. If the car is valuable, ask for enclosed transport on the quote form and we will price it in. Our guide on how long it takes to ship a car to the UK explains what stretches the timings.

The paperwork before it leaves

Both countries will want the car dealt with on their register when it leaves, and the rules for that sit with the local registration authority. We have not found a current official English source to quote for either, so we will not guess at it here. Ask the authority where the car is registered before it goes, and keep whatever they give you.

If you are buying rather than moving your own car, make sure the seller is the registered owner and that the paperwork matches the car. Our guide to buying a car abroad safely covers the checks worth doing before money changes hands, and car shipping scams covers the ones to walk away from.

Import tax: Albania and Montenegro compared

Neither country is in the EU, so My Car Import's standard rate applies to start with: 20% import VAT plus 10% duty, worked out on the price you paid plus transport. A recent valuation is used if the invoice is more than 3 months old. A car over 30 years old pays 5% VAT and no duty.

A trade agreement does not make every car from that country duty free. Preferences follow where a car was made and need proof of origin, not just an Albanian address on the invoice. A car built in the EU or UK may also qualify under the UK's agreement with the EU, with the right proof. We check this for your car and confirm it on the quote. Until then, budget for the 10%.

Moving to the UK

If you have lived outside the UK for more than 12 months and owned the car for more than 6, Transfer of Residence means no import tax or duty. Apply to HMRC before the car ships. A car that was UK-registered before may come back tax free with its UK purchase invoice and old V5C, as our guide to bringing a UK car back home explains.

Customs and NOVA

We clear the car through UK customs ourselves as HMRC CDS authorised agents. HMRC needs to be told within 14 days that the car has arrived, through the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA), and the DVLA will not register the car without it. We submit it as part of clearance.

Making it UK road legal

Cars from both countries are left-hand drive and set up for driving on the right. Expect:

• Headlights adjusted or replaced for driving on the left
• A speedometer reading in mph
• A rear fog light where needed

All of it is done on our own site. Our guide to speedometer and headlight conversions explains the work, and left-hand drive cars in the UK covers day-to-day life with one.

Testing and registration

The test depends on the car's age. Under 10 years old, it takes an IVA test. Over 10, it takes an MOT, with changes generally coming down to the rear fog light. Over 40, it needs no MOT and can be delivered to you before it is registered.

We run one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain and test on site every week, so there is no waiting months for a government slot. Once the car passes, our dealer-level DVLA account lets us register imported cars within 10 working days. The IVA test explained guide goes through what the test checks.

1. 1

   Before it moves

   Quote and checks

   We price the route, look at where the car was built for the duty question and set up any Transfer of Residence application.

2. 2

   Collection

   Out of the Balkans

   The car is collected from your address and comes north by road, or by sea where that suits it better.

3. 3

   Arrival

   Customs and NOVA

   We clear the car through UK customs and tell HMRC it has arrived.

4. 4

   At our site

   Conversion and test

   Headlights, speedometer and fog light are sorted, then the car takes its IVA test or MOT.

5. 5

   Within 10 working days

   Registration

   We register the car with the DVLA and fit your UK plates.

What it costs

We do not publish a guide price for Albania or Montenegro, because European routes are priced per job. Distance, open or enclosed transport and the work the car needs here all make a difference. The estimator below uses the standard non-EU rate, so its tax figure is the cautious one. Our Europe guide gives the wider picture.

Questions people ask

Send us the car's details on the quote form and we will confirm the route, the duty position and the price.