Paperwork for your Motorbike Trip

Documents you are Likely to Need for your Trip

The paperwork/documents you need for your trip may differ due to your own circumstances. However below is a list of documents that would be worth considering.

Passport

Make sure you have your own, all the details are correct and that it expires more than 6 months after your return home form your trip. To be on the safe side make it 12 months after you return. This is because you might find it difficult to get visas issued to you if your passport doesn't have at least that long left. Don't give officials an excuse to hold you up.

Not may people know this but you can in fact get a second passport issued to you. You might want to do this if you think you'll need to submit a passport for visa application during your journey. Because visa applications can take weeks you may want to travel on one passport whilst the other is with the embassy issuing your visa. Explain your plans and reasons to the UK Passport Office and if they think agree they'll issue an additional one.

You can also get a passport with more pages than the standard issue. If you are running out of space in your current passport and/or think officials are going to be rather enthusiastic with various official looking stamps then I'd suggest you apply for the thicker passport.

Visas

These are basically a document giving you temporary permission to stay in the issuing country. Other than perhaps a screening process to stop potential ner' do wells entering their country I reckon these are just another way of generating a bit of cash for the issuing country. Fortunately UK citizens generally don't need visas to visit Europe, USA, Mexico, Central and South America. So if you don't want to bother with the hassle or cost of visa applications I suggest you think about these as destinations. To check whether you need a visa and other entry requirements look on the FCO website.

If you do decide to travel to countries that need visas check the application process on the country's embassy website for that country. They usually want to know an exact entry date, which can be tricky. You may not be able to get them all sorted before you leave home so try to plan your trip to visit embassies in countries on way and apply for ongoing visas as you go. All sounds rather difficult to me... I guess that's part of the challenge though.

If you have the money there is another option. Employ the services of a Visa Agency. These companies charge a fee to sort all your visa needs for you. You tell them where you plan to go and when and they get all the visas you need. If you can't collect from their office they will courier them to you. They may also be able to get a visa sent to you whilst you're away. I haven't used one of these companies but a quick internet search should bring a few up for you.

Vehicle Registration Document (V5)

Produced by the DVLA, this is the document that shows you own your vehicle. The DVLA should have issued one of these to you a week or so after you informed them you own your motorbike. If you don't have one you can apply for a new V5 directly form the DVLA. Make sure that all the details on this document are correct. Things like:

If any of the above are not the same you should tell the DVLA. Better to get it sorted at home than having your trip cut short because your motorbike has been impounded by customs or police somewhere abroad.

Your national motoring organisation (the AA or the RAC) can also provide you with a multilingual version of your vehicle registration document. It's called an International Certificate for Motor Vehicles. Not essential but perhaps worth considering for piece of mind.

Driving License and International Driving Permit

Your UK Driving License is generally widely accepted over the world. To be on the safe side you can also get yourself an International Driving Permit (IDP). The IDP is a multi-lingual document issued (and underwritten) by the Automobile Association (the AA) in the UK. It entitles you to drive in a number of countries signed up to the international agreement. There are 2 versions of the IDP (1926 and 1949) covering different countries. They cost £5.50 each and you can apply for them by post or in person at a selected Post Office. Check the Post Office website for locations. If applying in person take the following items with you and they'll issue one to you there and then.

Carnet de Passage en Douane

This could be the clincher as to where you go on your motorcycle adventure or whether you go at all. I had no idea these existed before I decided to do my motorbike trip. Fortunately the continent I was vaguely thinking of going to did not require a Carnet, which pretty much made up my mind.

Put simply, a Carnet de Passage en Douane is insurance that you will not dispose of your vehicle in the country you are visiting without paying whatever taxes are required to do so. It is an internationally recognised temporary importation document. The process is this.

  1. You tell your national motoring organisation (the AA or the RAC) the details of your motorcycle and the countries you want to visit.
  2. They calculate the value of your motorbike and the highest possible level of payable duty of all the countries you plan to visit. This total is the cost of your Carnet de Passage en Douane.
  3. You give the motoring organisation the cost of the Carnet de Passage en Douane plus an arrangement fee.
  4. They issue you with a Carnet de Passage en Douane with one page for each of the countries you plan to visit. Each page is divided into 3 perforated sections (entry voucher, exit voucher and counterfoil).
  5. On entering a country, customs will stamp the counterfoil and tear out the entry voucher.
  6. On exiting the country, customs stamp the counterfoil and tear out the exit voucher.
  7. Repeat until finished.
  8. On returning to your home country you present the Carnet to the issuing motor organisation.
  9. They check it is all in order and give you your money back minus the arrangement fee.

You can guess that if your Carnet is not in order you will be liable to pay whatever the duty is in the country in questions. They already have your money so there's not much you can do!

If you have sold your motorbike en-route make sure you have all the paperwork showing it was official and you have paid all the local duties and taxes.

Motorcycle Temporary Import Permits

Countries that do not require a Carnet de Passage en Douane may require you to purchase a temporary import permit for your motorcycle. These are generally bought at the border / customs office of the country you are entering. In many instances this consists of paying a few dollars for a piece of paper and a stamp on it. On the occasions that the issuing country customs want a credit card deposit make sure you get a receipt and you get the permit redeemed and proof your deposit is returned on your exit from the country.

Travel Insurance and Motorcycle Insurance

I've discussed these topics in the Travel Insurance and Motorcycle Insurance sections of this site.

Other 'Local' Permits and Documents

During your motorbike journey you may well be requested to buy any number or 'local' permits from tourist cards, road tax, photography permits, etc. Before you leave home you will already have checked on the FCO website and in travel guides to see if there are any official local permits required. If when you're there you have a 'local' permit sprung on you I reckon it's up to your own judgment and wits as to what you pay for. Good luck.

Protecting your paperwork and your liberty

I've yet to experience this but I have seen plenty of warnings written about handing over your precious passport, vehicle registration document, visa, etc. to a dodgy officer and not getting it back until you pay a relatively large sum of money or spend hours arguing to get it back... or both of the above. Advice I have been given is: