Export registration

Export registration can be granted to a vehicle that has not been previously registered and is handed over in Finland to be used in another country. Usually export registered vehicles are new, unregistered cars, the taxes for which have not been paid. A decommissioned, used vehicle can also be granted an export registration for the duration of transfer.

When a vehicle is brought back to Finland as removal goods, a sale restriction is entered in the register. For more information on the sale restriction, please contact Finnish Customs. The export registration date will be marked as the vehicle’s commissioning date.

• Applying for export registration
• Validity of export registration
• Temporary use of export registered vehicles in Finland

Applying for export registration

Documents needed for export registration are largely the same as when the vehicle is registered for the first time. If the vehicle has been previously registered or is privately imported, it must always undergo a registration inspection in Finland before the export registration can be completed. Export registration requires a continuous motor liability policy valid in Finland.

Export registered vehicles are not subject to vehicle tax.

Validity of export registration

In the case of vehicles not previously registered, export registration expires the following year at the end of the month in which the registration was completed – in other words, export registration granted in the beginning of June is valid till the end of June the following year. The validity period can also be shorter if the applicant so requests.

For a decommissioned vehicle or a used vehicle not previously registered in Finland, the export registration is valid only for the duration of transport from Finland to the target country (1-30 days depending on the target country).

Whether the Finnish export licence plates can be used for the whole duration of the export registration or whether the vehicle must be registered in the local vehicle register depends on the target country’s national legislation. For further information on export registration, please contact the relevant authorities of the target country such as that country’s embassy or Customs. If an export registered vehicle is registered abroad, the motor insurance company must be notified so that the vehicle's insurance can be cancelled.

No separate notification is needed for Trafi, nor are the export registration plates returned unless otherwise stated in the export registration certificate.

Temporary use of export registered vehicles in Finland

Prior to being exported, an export registered vehicle can only be used in Finland for transferring it from the point of delivery to the point of export, or, in connection with the emigration of its owner, to the domicile of the owner and thereon further to the point of export.

An export registered vehicle may temporarily be used in Finland for a compelling reason, a customary holiday trip or other comparable short stay. It cannot, however, be used during the month immediately following the emigration or the month immediately preceding the immigration.

The owner or holder is responsible for obtaining arrival and exit markings from Customs on the back of the export registration certificate.

If an export registered vehicle is obtained during a holiday in Finland, the customer must be able to prove to traffic police that he/she lives abroad.

For more information on the deadlines for using an export registered vehicle in Finland, please contact Customs.