Vehicle shipping · United States to United Kingdom
Collection in the States, CBP export clearance, the ocean leg, UK entry, HMRC, DVSA and DVLA — one file, one person accountable. Most failures on this lane happen on paper, weeks before the ship sails.
- RoRo, shared container, sole-use and enclosed
- Marine cover placed on an agreed value
- Tariff classification prepared before the car moves
Four numbers that govern this lane
- Typical door to door. The ocean leg is 8 to 26 days by lane; the rest is collection, formalities and clearance.
- Typical door to door. The ocean leg is 8 to 26 days by lane; the rest is collection, formalities and clearance.
- To tell HMRC through NOVA once the vehicle is here permanently. DVLA will not register it until that clears (GOV.UK, as at 2026).
- To tell HMRC through NOVA once the vehicle is here permanently. DVLA will not register it until that clears (GOV.UK, as at 2026).
- Duty and import VAT on a standard passenger car. A vehicle accepted under heading 9705 is instead 0% and an effective 5% (HMRC, as at 2026).
- Duty and import VAT on a standard passenger car. A vehicle accepted under heading 9705 is instead 0% and an effective 5% (HMRC, as at 2026).
- Minimum age for heading 9705 to be considered (UK Integrated Online Tariff, as at 2026). Age alone does not decide it.
- Minimum age for heading 9705 to be considered (UK Integrated Online Tariff, as at 2026). Age alone does not decide it.
The route
Seven stages, in the order they happen
Each stage gates the next. That is why a car can clear a US port in a day and still sit for a month.
Collection in the United States
Collected from the seller, auction house or storage on a named carrier, with a dated photographic condition survey before loading. Enclosed where paint or provenance matters. A non-running car goes in a container: RoRo needs a vehicle that drives on and off.
US export clearance — the 72-hour gate
Every used self-propelled vehicle leaving the United States needs an Electronic Export Information filing in AES. The ITN, the vehicle and its title go to CBP at the port of export at least 72 hours before export, under 19 CFR 192.2. Only a US Principal Party in Interest, or an authorised agent resident in the United States, may file. This gate strands more cars than any vessel schedule.
Ocean transit
RoRo is the cheapest deck space, but the car must drive on and off, the keys stay with the vessel and personal effects are prohibited. A shared 40ft container takes three or four cars on steel racking; sole-use buys control of loading and timing — see RoRo versus container. The backbone lane is the weekly ConRo rotation, Halifax, New York, Baltimore and Norfolk against Liverpool, Hamburg and Antwerp, roughly 7 to 14 nights eastbound.
UK arrival and customs entry
An import declaration is made on arrival. Customs value is the price paid plus transport and insurance to the UK border; duty is charged on that, import VAT on value plus duty plus freight. The importer of record needs a GB EORI, and classification is settled here, by HMRC.
NOVA notification within 14 days
HMRC must be told within 14 days of the vehicle arriving permanently, through the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals service. The vehicle cannot be registered until that notification has been processed, and late notification can attract a penalty. Only engines of 48cc or less, or 7.2kW if electric, sit outside it.
The approval route
Individual Vehicle Approval is the general route for an unregistered import. GB Conversion IVA is for vehicles already approved and registered in the EU, so it seldom reaches an American car. Age changes the route. On DVSA practice as at 2026, an IVA certificate cannot be issued where the manufacture date is more than ten years before the application. Those cars register instead on documentary evidence of age and identity plus a UK MOT.
DVLA first registration
Made on form V55/5, with a £55 first registration fee as at 2026. DVLA wants originals: proof of approval, the supplier invoice as evidence of the collection date, the US title showing date of manufacture, and V627/3 where the vehicle has been structurally modified. The V5C can take up to six weeks.
Landed cost
Duty and VAT at a glance
Two positions, and a gap wide enough to change the economics of a purchase. Which applies is a customs decision.
| Vehicle | Customs duty | Import VAT | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard passenger car | 10% | 20% | Duty on the customs value — price paid plus transport and insurance to the UK border. VAT then on value plus duty plus freight. |
| Collectors' vehicle accepted under heading 9705 | 0% | 5% effective | Not a headline rate: the standard 20% is applied to a reduced value under section 21(4) VATA 1994. HMRC Notice 362 refers. |
| Where 9705 is arguable rather than obvious | Determined at entry | Determined at entry | A condition-and-originality test, not an age test. An Advance Tariff Ruling before the car sails turns an argument at the port into a document. |
As at 4 September 2026, from the UK Integrated Online Tariff and HMRC guidance. Rates and reliefs change — check the current position with HMRC and confirm figures per vehicle with the customs agent on the file.
Heading 9705
What actually qualifies as a collectors' vehicle
The internet has flattened heading 9705 into a slogan: thirty years old equals five percent. That is not the test. The heading covers vehicles of historical interest meeting three conditions together — at least thirty years old, in original state without substantial changes to chassis, body, steering, braking, transmission, suspension or engine, and a model or type no longer in production.
Original is not the same as untouched. Repair and restoration are permitted, including replacement of broken or worn parts, provided the vehicle is preserved in historically correct condition. What breaks the test is substitution: a crate motor for the original unit, a modern gearbox conversion, a re-engineered chassis, a comprehensive restomod. American cars are disproportionately exposed.
The gap between the two treatments is a serious sum, so classification is work done before the car moves. Build record, dating evidence, originality statement, photographs of engine, chassis and numbers, and an Advance Tariff Ruling where the figures justify it. We prepare the case and present it through the customs agent. We do not promise the outcome. Before purchase, it is a sourcing question.
Before the car sails
What the file needs
Eight items, most of them gathered before the car leaves the United States. Any one of them can stop a car at a port.
Original Certificate of Title, plus two copies
A certified copy is accepted instead. A never-titled car needs the original Manufacturer's Statement of Origin.
Bill of sale or purchase invoice
The basis of the customs value at UK entry, and the date evidence DVLA later wants.
Lienholder or lessor consent
On the third party's letterhead where finance or a lease is attached, with the VIN and an original signature.
AES filing and the ITN
By a US Principal Party in Interest or authorised US-resident agent, at least 72 hours before export.
Ocean bill of lading
The shipper's or carrier's original. The UK entry is built on it.
GB EORI number for the importer of record
Obtained before the vessel arrives. Without it no declaration can be made and storage charges start.
Marine cargo certificate on an agreed value
Institute Cargo Clauses (A) is the all-risks standard. Invoice plus ten percent is the wrong basis for a car with no comparable.
Dating and provenance file for DVLA
Factory build record, manufacturer letter, US registration history, marque club dating certificate. This decides age-related mark or Q plate.
Plates and status
Age-related mark, Q plate, and what the evidence decides
Where age is proven to DVLA's satisfaction the car takes an age-related mark in the format current when it was built. Where age or identity cannot be established, DVLA issues a Q mark instead — a value event on a collector car rather than an administrative one, and hard to reverse. We commit to the evidence; the determination is DVLA's.
The ground shifted on 26 August 2025. A 2024 DVLA Call for Evidence drew more than 1,350 responses. DVLA now lets restored and substantially modified vehicles keep their original chassis and registration numbers, and lets combustion-to-electric conversions keep the original identity provided DVLA is notified. Routine like-for-like repair no longer needs notifying — only work deviating from the V5C, such as colour, engine capacity or body type. That narrows Q-plate exposure on a documented restored import.
Two later questions, neither automatic. Historic tax class and MOT exemption both run on a rolling forty-year rule: from 1 April 2026 the cut-off is vehicles constructed before 1 January 1986. Exemption also requires that the vehicle has not been substantially changed in the previous thirty years, assessed against eight DVSA criteria. The keeper makes a positive declaration on form V112 each time the vehicle is taxed. An import qualifying on age can still fail that test. The full route guide goes deeper.
Questions
USA to UK, answered
Three to six weeks to the delivery address, and longer to the V5C. The ocean leg is 8 to 26 days by lane; collection adds two to four days, the 72-hour CBP gate sets the earliest sailing, and UK clearance and delivery add five to fourteen. Registration then runs on its own clock behind NOVA.
Late notification can attract an HMRC penalty, and DVLA will not register the vehicle until NOVA has been processed. The car sits unregistered while storage charges run.
Only if all three limbs of heading 9705 hold. Thirty years or older. In original state, without substantial changes to chassis, body, steering, braking, transmission, suspension or engine. A model or type no longer in production. HMRC decides at entry, and we obtain an Advance Tariff Ruling where the sum justifies it.
It depends on age. IVA is the general route for an unregistered import. On DVSA practice as at 2026, a certificate cannot be issued where the manufacture date is more than ten years before the application. Those cars register on documentary evidence plus a UK MOT instead.
No, other than to and from a pre-booked MOT or approval test. Registration follows NOVA, NOVA follows customs entry, and insurance must be in place before the car moves on a public road.
Container, on almost any car worth importing individually. RoRo needs a runner and an exposed deck crossing. Comparison on our shipping overview; the westbound lane covers the reverse.
Next
Tell us about the car
Build date, engine, ownership status and where in the States it sits. From that we can set out the likely classification position, the approval route and a realistic date on a UK plate. See also where we operate.