International Certificate for Motor Vehicles (ICMV)

[Dave The Hat]

Evening all,

Last time we took our truck down to West Africa we purchased an ICMV. Was never sure it was strictly speaking necessary, but a few times were asked for it.

Does anybody ever get one? UK government website says it's only needed for Mexico, Somalia and Lichtenstein:

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-vehicles-icmv

We used to get it via the AA but they no longer issue it post-Brexit.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

[PanEuropean]

I've never heard of such a document, and I've been all over Europe & North Africa during the past 20 years.

You sure as heck don't need it for Lichtenstein. There's barely any border control at all between Switzerland & Lichtenstein - there is a Customs station at the primary crossing point, but for all practical purposes, Lichtenstein is just the 27th canton of Switzerland.

If it was necessary for Mexico, I am sure we would have heard about this from our many US based forum members who ride into Mexico.

As for Somalia... well, I don't know of too many folks who are planning to go riding there. I'm not even sure if there are border controls going in and out of Somalia. Years ago, I used to fly into various communities in Somalia from Kenya, and I never saw anyone who resembled a customs or immigration officer.

So, basically, forget about it.

[markharf]

I've never heard of this either, and I've driven to and thru Mexico any number of times (and Lichtenstein just once). Then again, I'm not from the UK, and virtually all search results relate to UK requirements, i.e., I found no mention of this document in anything connected to the US government.

Mr. Hat, I'm curious where and under what circumstances you were asked to show your ICMV. On the surface, having a translation of your registration documents seems as reasonable as having a translation of your license, or IDP. But I've been harassed by uniformed officials in a lot of different places around the world, and none has ever mentioned this.

Mark

[Dave The Hat]

Thanks for your thoughts both.

If interested front cover and contracting states in the images below.

Nigeria and Senegal were the 2 who would on occasions ask for this. They knew what it was and would ask for it alongside the CDP. But I was never too sure if it was a legal requirement.

Only used to cost about £5gbp from memory. As I say AA have stopped issuing this now so I think it's part of the history books!