Permanent import of bike to Australia
 

Hi,

Don't know if any of you have come up against the predicament I now find myself in.

I imported my KTM Adventure 'temporarily' under a carnet into Australia last year. At that time I was only in Australia on a temporary business visa. At the time I rang the RTA to find out the proceedure for importing the bike properly and the first thing they said was - "Where is the bike?". I said that it was already in the country, under a carnet. They replied that they only issue import permits for vehicles out of the country. They completly refused to entertain the idea that I could import the bike, and said that the only way was to export the bike, apply for a permit (may/may not receive it) then re-import. I said 'Where to?', they said 'New Zealand?', I said 'To whom?'. And we went down a route of mindless drivel...

I got around the situation by extending my carnet for another year and strangely enough the customs were fine and also agreed that the rules were crazy. They agreed that it would be far more sensible, that if I were legal (I am) just to be able to take it down to customs, pay the import tax (10%), drive away to RTA, get new plates and pay stamp duty (3%).

I am now a permanent resident and want to import the bike again. Does anyone else have experience of this situation? Will I still be forced to export it because it's still here under a carnet? If that is the case I might as well send it back to the UK and sell it.

Any thought welcome.
Regards
James

From official documentation...
Personal Imports – Part 8 on the Application Form

Visitors, temporary residents, foreign diplomatic personnel, companies and corporations are not eligible to import a vehicle under the personal import scheme.

This scheme allows a vehicle to be imported as a personal import without proof that it meets the ADRs, but the vehicle is expected to provide a level of safety similar to Australian vehicles. To be eligible for a personal import the following criteria must be satisfied:

a) the vehicle has been owned and used by the applicant for a continuous period of at least 12 months (3 months where ownership and use of the vehicle commenced before 8 May 2000);
b) at the time the vehicle is imported, the applicant is:

i. an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident; or
ii. a person who has applied to become an Australian citizen or an
Australian permanent resident;

c) the applicant is of an age that entitles him or her to hold a licence or a permit to drive a road vehicle of that type; d) the applicant undertakes to comply with any requirements as to road safety that are imposed in respect of the vehicle by the Administrator; and
e) the applicant has not imported a road vehicle owned by him/ her within the year ending on the day on which the vehicle in respect of which the application is made is landed in Australia.

The following documents must be provided to establish ownership and use of the vehicle overseas for twelve consecutive months, or more:

* every page of your passport including all blank pages · statement of travel
* purchase documents · overseas registration documents in your name

Here you can see the part that says 'If it's imported under a carnet, you have to export it', JT

*************************

Overseas visitors to Australia – Part 9 on the Application Form

In accordance with the provisions of certain international conventions on road traffic, Australia recognises the temporary import of vehicles for a period of less than 12 months by visiting foreign nationals of signatory countries who hold a visitor's visa. In this category vehicles may be allowed entry in one of two ways:

(a) By presenting a valid Carnet de Passage en Duane at port of entry to Australia, in which case no Vehicle Import Approval is required.
(b) By submitting an application to import a vehicle accompanied by a copy of current overseas registration document valid for the period of the visit and passport pages showing nationality, personal details and valid Australian visitor's visa.

Neither visitors nor temporary residents are eligible under the Personally Imported Vehicle Scheme described in this brochure.

Please note that if you import your vehicle by either of the above methods, then the vehicle MUST be exported from Australia. Under no circumstances will an Import Approval be issued to allow the vehicle to remain in Australia.

No one got any thoughts then?

James

James, I think you're answered your own question. You have to export it. That's the rule. Even if you were in temporarily if you had an idea that you wanted to be permannet you should have imported it then.

But given the price of shipping to NZ, why not work in a trip to, say, Bali? Then it's easy to import it correctly from there, and shipping isn't too expensive.

good luck,

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------

One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Thanks Grant,

I was looking for tips/tricks to get round this rule. E.g. send to a bonded warehouse, etc. There are many cases of people coming to Australia and changing their visa status. Incidentially, you can only import a vehicle if you are an Australian or permanent resident (i.e. not even 4 year long term temporary business visa), so at the time I arrived here that was impossible. I had to wait for my partner to re-enable her permanent visa and then apply 'defacto' as her partner.

So the situation is that *if* I imported a vehicle now (being legal), then I would be allowed to import the vehicle, no problem. So why can't I just take that option, take it to customs, cancel the carnet, pay the import tax and ride away. It seems futile to have to go through the same process but add 'ship the bike out of the country and back in again' for no benefit except the extra shipping charges...

It seems there are quite a few people who arrive with vehicles and change their visa status, but are stuck in this situation. The RTA told me that a court case *may* change the situation. Strangely enough, it's not the customs who have the issue, but the RTA.

Well, we'll see what happens... maybe I can extent the carnet for another year? Do you know how long, in general, one can keep extending the carnet?

James

James
You dont expect Australian bureaucracy to be helpful do you! It is government policy to keep out as many foreign things as possible. Just think of the policy on refugees and the Tampa! It is amazing anyone or anything gets in at all.