How do you check a NOVA certificate or replace a lost reference?

There is no paper NOVA certificate and no public website where you type a registration or VIN to see a NOVA. We can check it for you: send us the VIN.

Send us the VIN to check my NOVA

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Bought an imported car and not sure it has a NOVA? Send us the VIN →

What exists is HMRC's confirmation that your NOVA is processed, which you need before the DVLA will register the car, and then a wait of 48 hours.

What is a "NOVA certificate" really?

People say NOVA certificate, NOVA letter or NOVA reference, and they mean the same thing: HMRC's confirmation that your Notification of Vehicle Arrivals is processed. GOV.UK uses that wording: before you register an imported vehicle you must tell HMRC and "get confirmation that your NOVA application is processed". It does not describe a certificate you print and keep. For what NOVA is and why HMRC asks for it, see what is NOVA.

GOV.UK also mentions a 13-character NOVA notification reference number. It appears on the page about paying VAT on vehicles brought into Northern Ireland from the EU, and says to look for it in the email HMRC sent you if you used the NOVA service, or on the payment notice (GOV.UK). That page is about Northern Ireland, but it is the only place we found GOV.UK describing the reference.

How do you check a NOVA online?

We can check it for you. Send us the VIN and we check whether a NOVA exists for the vehicle. A typical case is a car that someone else imported, where you are not sure the previous owner had a NOVA.

We searched GOV.UK and found no public service where anyone can type a registration or VIN and see whether a vehicle has a NOVA. The check is private: it goes to the person who made the declaration.

• You made it through the online NOVA service: sign in to the service. GOV.UK says that after you make a notification you can see updates from HMRC in your secure communications area (NOVA sign-in page). Check your email as well.
• A shipping company or customs agent made it: ask them for HMRC's confirmation and the reference.
• HMRC's CARS team made it for you: ask the CARS team (see section 5).

Remember that the online NOVA service is for VAT-registered companies (and for non-VAT importers bringing a vehicle from the EU into Northern Ireland). Private importers have it made for them; see do private importers need a NOVA.

Would you rather not do this alone? Let us handle your NOVA: we submit the customs declaration and the NOVA, and we prepare every DVLA form, you just sign and post.

How does the DVLA see your NOVA?

DVLA's leaflet INF106 says the DVLA has access to the information you gave HMRC, and that it will not register your vehicle if the details in your application do not match the ones given to HMRC (INF106). So the VIN, value and dates must be the same on both. If they are not, see NOVA wrong VIN or value.

The same leaflet says to wait 48 hours after you receive HMRC's confirmation before you contact the DVLA, so the DVLA can see the NOVA information. After that you send your DVLA application, and the V5C registration certificate can take up to 6 weeks to arrive (GOV.UK).

Can you check a NOVA when you buy an imported car?

If the car was imported by someone else and you are not sure the previous owner had a NOVA, we can check it for you. Send us the VIN.

You cannot look up a NOVA on a public site. What you can do is read the car's papers: GOV.UK says the DVLA cannot register an imported vehicle until the NOVA is processed, so a recent import that already has a UK registration has been through that step. Ask the seller for the V5C and for the import paperwork they hold. If you are not sure, tell us the VIN and the details, and we will tell you what to ask for.

What if your NOVA has not arrived?

GOV.UK says HMRC will tell you when your NOVA application has been processed, and gives no time (Telling HMRC). How long it takes depends on how busy HMRC's NOVA team is, and a case that goes in with missing or wrong details can wait many days. The outcome is a decision for the HMRC caseworker, and no one can promise a date. Our page on how long a NOVA takes has the detail.

If nothing has come, do this in order:

1. Look in your spam folder and, if you used the online service, your secure communications area.
2. Ask the shipping company, customs agent or CARS team that made the declaration.
3. Contact HMRC's CARS team at ecsm.nchcars@hmrc.gov.uk or write to HMRC CARS team, Business, Tax and Customs, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1EH (GOV.UK).
4. Or call the imports and exports helpline on 0300 322 9434, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Have ready: your name, the VIN, the arrival date, your customs documents and, if tax was due, proof that you paid it. Contacting the DVLA first will not help: it cannot register the car until HMRC has processed the NOVA.

NOVA HMRC contact number and email

HMRC's imports and exports helpline is 0300 322 9434, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (GOV.UK). For a NOVA you made yourself on a vehicle you brought in, GOV.UK points to HMRC's CARS team: ecsm.nchcars@hmrc.gov.uk, or HMRC CARS team, Business, Tax and Customs, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1EH (Telling HMRC). We cannot look up your NOVA for you unless we made it.

Can you replace a lost NOVA reference?

GOV.UK does not publish a process to replace a NOVA certificate, because there is no paper certificate to replace. What you need is HMRC's confirmation again. Search your email for HMRC and for your payment notice. If it is not there, ask whoever filed the NOVA, then HMRC's CARS team. If we filed the NOVA for you, ask us and we will send you the reference.

Late or missing? Check our page on a late NOVA as well, and see the whole route in how to get a NOVA.