How to register an imported motorcycle with the DVLA

To register an imported motorcycle with the DVLA, you clear customs and pay any duty and VAT, get an approval test done if the bike does not already have recognised type approval, notify HMRC that it has arrived, and then submit the registration application with the bike's documents. Once approved, the DVLA issues a UK registration number and you can get it taxed and plated. Here is each step in order.

The order that matters

Registering an imported motorcycle is a sequence, and each step depends on the one before it. Skip ahead and the DVLA will simply send you back a step. The order is: customs and tax, then testing, then the HMRC notification, then the registration application itself.

1. Clear customs and pay the tax

When the bike arrives in the UK it has to be declared to customs, and any duty and VAT settled before it is released. The rate depends on the bike's age and origin: a non-EU bike pays roughly 8% duty up to 250cc or 6% over, plus 20% VAT, while a bike over 30 years old and original pays just 0% duty and 5% VAT. The full rates are in our guide to importing a motorcycle to the UK.

2. The approval test

Most imported motorcycles need an approval test before they can be registered, unless the bike already carries recognised EU or UK type approval. The test confirms the bike meets the required construction and use standards for the road. This step has to happen before the registration application, since the certificate it produces is one of the documents the DVLA needs.

3. Notify HMRC

Once the tax is settled, HMRC needs to be told the vehicle has arrived, normally within 14 days. This is the NOVA step, and it has to be cleared before the DVLA will move forward with registration. We cover the process in detail, including timing, in our guide to getting a NOVA on an imported vehicle.

Customs first, then the test, then HMRC, then the DVLA. Each step is the gate for the next one.

4. Submit the registration application

With the NOVA cleared and any test certificate in hand, you submit the registration application to the DVLA along with the bike's foreign documents, proof of ownership, evidence of the tax having been paid, and your own identification. This is the step that turns a bike with a foreign history into a UK-registered vehicle. The particular forms and the exact document list are the same shape as for a car, which we walk through in our guide to registering an imported car with the DVLA.

5. Tax and plate it

Once the DVLA approves the application, it issues a UK registration number. From there the bike can be taxed and the number plates fitted, at which point it is fully road legal. If the bike is over 40 years old and unmodified, it moves into the historic tax class, meaning no road tax and no MOT requirement, covered in our guide to whether an imported car needs an MOT, which applies the same way to bikes.