Every document that should accompany your shipment, and what each one is used for at customs.
1 min read
1. What's included with every shipment 2. Why documentation is tied to your import age limit 3. Do you need help with customs clearance 4. How documentation fits into the shipping timeline
Missing or incomplete paperwork is the single biggest cause of customs delays for imported vehicles. Here is exactly what should be in your document package, and why each piece matters.
The full list of documents that accompany each vehicle we export is detailed on what export documents are included with each shipment? — keep a copy of this list to check against what you actually receive.
Some of these documents — particularly the registration and manufacture-date paperwork — are what customs uses to verify a vehicle meets your country's import age limit. See what if the car doesn't meet my country's import age limit? for how that check works.
Whether we handle clearance directly in your country, or you'll need a local customs broker, varies by market — see do you handle customs clearance in my country?
Document preparation happens alongside inspection, before the vehicle is loaded — see our full import timeline for where this sits in the overall process, and our inspection guide for what happens right before documents are finalized.
