I have just imported a car on the Ro-Ro from the UK (arrived 24/10/08) the method was as follows:
Check that the car you are buying has the correct engine size and CO2 output listed on the British V5 Registration Document.
Arrange shipping - I was charged £1150.00 including collection & delivery to Southampton, shipping to Limassol and Shipping Insurance.
You will need to organise a clearing agent at a cost of about €495.00 to include his fees and all the Port Fees and un-loading fees in Limassol. This took about 2 hours in total at Limassol docks. Our shipping agent recommended our clearing agent but it may be worth getting some prices for this. We just asked for clearance for 10 days, which gave us 10 working days to pay the Import Duty.
You will then need to get an Emissions Certificate from Road Transport Department in Mesogi Industrial Area, this is free of charge.
You will then need €50.00-€60.00 for a Local Clearing Agent to open & update an Electronic Customs File, without this you cannot pay the duty.
You will need to wait 45 minutes from this being done to the computer in the Customs Office being updated. Take a break in one of the coffee shops near the government offices, if you have got this far you have earned it.
You then need to pay Import Duty in the local government offices on Neofytou Nikolaidi it is the first floor of the building at the rear (not land registry, the other end), the offices are open from 08.15 until 13.30. The Import Duty can be calculated by using the calculator available from:
http://www.mof.gov.cy/mof/customs/custo ... enDocumentYou will also need 5 x €1.71 Duty Stamps, 1 for the customs office and 4 for Road Transport Department later. Customs will also want to inspect the car and check the Chassis Number and mileage, this is an informal and very quick check.
Once you have paid the duty you will be given a certificate to enable you to get an MOT test carried out, the MOT costs about €35.00. Make sure the tester shows you where to find your Chassis Number AND Engine Number as you will need to show these to the inspector at the Road Transport Department.
You can then take all the paperwork you have been issued and the car to the Road Transport Department and register the car. The car will be inspected and measured. The Registration fee can be calculated by using the spreadsheet available from:
http://www.mcw.gov.cy/mcw/rtd/rtd.nsf/d ... enDocumentThe Road Tax needs to be paid at the same time, and can be calculated by using the same spreadsheet. You will need to pay for the months remaining in that year. So if you did it mid-October you will need to pay 3/12 of the total for the year.
Once you have the Registration Paper, Proper MOT Certificate and Tax Disc from the Road Transport Department you can go and get your number plates made at a cost of €22.00.
You will need:
Cash for Clearing Agent & Port Fees.
Cash or Visa card for import Duty
Cash for Duty stamps
Cash for Registration Fee & Road Tax
Cash for MOT
Passport
Driving Licence
V5 from UK
Invoice from dealer if V5 is not in your name
Bill of Loading from Shipping Agent
Cover Note from Insurance Company in Cyprus
You will be given a huge amount of paperwork, receipts, tickets and print outs along the way. Keep ALL of it with you throughout this process as at some point you WILL need them and without them you will loose a lot of time.
In total it took us 1 day to get to the point of getting the MOT and then we went to the Road Transport Department on a Thursday evening between 15.15 and 18.00 to get it registered.
Please be polite and take a sense of humour with you. I know the process seams a bit long-winded and annoying but the people behind the desk are really helpful and are just doing their job the best they can. We did not come across any corruption and things went very smoothly.
You can employ a red-tape company to help you with this but we did not think it was necessary as it does not save you any time, money or hassle, especaillay as you have to be there with them anyway.
N.B The above is for a DUTY PAID vehicle in Paphos.