Registering a foreign vehicle in France

What foreign-vehicle registration means

It means entering a vehicle into the French SIV for the first time. The document issued is a definitive registration certificate: keeper, French address, technical data.

The starting point is not a French carte grise. It is a foreign title, sometimes in several parts, plus proof of purchase or ownership. Without that base, tax clearance, a COC and transmission all fail.

This is not the path for a used purchase already on French plates. In that case, change of ownership is enough.

The one-month deadline and processing time

User rule: start French registration within one month of the vehicle arriving or of fixing your main residence in France. That month covers filing, not the end of processing.

Once a complete file is transmitted, the examining office often takes four to six weeks, longer if a document is queried. Start tax clearance, conformity and the roadworthiness test during that calendar so you are not out of time without a usable title.

An acknowledgement and, in some cases, an SIV CPI come before the definitive title is posted.

Bought abroad or moving to France

Two doors, one title at the end. A purchase (new or used) outside France brings an invoice or transfer deed and a local title. Moving with a vehicle already in your name needs proof of ownership and French proof of address.

In both cases the address on the carte grise is the French one. The consulate of the country of origin sometimes says whether old plates must be returned.

A second home used less than eight months a year may, in some cases, stay on foreign plates. Once France is the centre of your interests, registration here is required.

European Union, outside the EU, and the United Kingdom

The country of purchase changes the tax brick, not the goal: an SIV title. The EU usually goes through the quitus fiscal. Outside the EU, Customs issue an 846A after duty and VAT. The United Kingdom, since Brexit, follows the non-EU path.

When this is the wrong procedure

Vehicle already on the SIV, French plates, ordinary private sale: change the keeper, do not open an import file.

Moving within France with a French title: change of address. Lost French title: duplicate. A trader moving stock: W garage, not a first registration per chassis.

• Used vehicle already registered in France → change of ownership
• French title, new address → change of address
• French title unreadable or missing → duplicate (and FIV if the test is blocked)
• Dealership / workshop → purchase declaration and W garage

Documents for the definitive file

The nominative file must be readable. A cropped scan or an incomplete title is the most common rejection. Cerfa 13750 and 13757 can be generated in the online flow; they remain downloadable below.

• Foreign registration certificate, every part
• Trader invoice or private transfer certificate; if the seller is a French trader, their foreign purchase proof too
• Tax clearance (EU) or 846A (outside the EU)
• European certificate of conformity or equivalent — €40 + the manufacturer's COC fee (varies by brand)
• Roadworthiness test less than 6 months old if the vehicle requires one
• ID, licence for the category, French proof of address less than 6 months old
• Proof of insurance

Multi-part foreign titles

Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands often issue a multi-part title. One coupon is not enough for tax clearance or for the SIV.

Germany: Teil I and Teil II. Belgium and the Netherlands: collect every part, including the one left with the seller or the authority. The VIN must match on the title, the invoice and the COC.

Tax clearance for an EU purchase

The quitus fiscal shows that VAT was handled somewhere in the Union. Without it, definitive registration of an EU import is blocked. It is issued in the buyer's name (and co-keeper if any), not the foreign seller's.

A company or leased vehicle whose VAT was never paid: the tax office may collect it before issuing the certificate.

How to apply, which papers and the support we offer are on the tax-clearance page. Here, remember only that it is a brick of the definitive title, not optional.

846A certificate outside the European Union

Outside the EU there is no quitus. Customs issue an 846A after import duty and VAT. That document is the fiscal key to the SIV.

Switzerland, the United States, Japan, Gulf states: plan this step before you file for registration. Our tax-clearance path also steers this case when papers must be chained.

Certificate of conformity, RTI and classics

The COC proves the vehicle was type-approved for the European market. The manufacturer's fee varies; our handling is added (€40 + the manufacturer's COC fee (varies by brand)). Without a COC, two ways out: individual approval (DREAL / UTAC) or, over 30 years, an FFVE attestation.

The European certificate of conformity page covers ordering and manufacturer refusals. Classic registration and the FFVE attestation have their own flows. This landing does not repeat those guides: it places them in the file order.

Roadworthiness testing of an imported vehicle

Over four years old, a test less than six months old is normally required for the definitive title. A recent European test is sometimes accepted (except Monaco); a French lane remains the safest default.

Two-wheelers and vehicles under four years: often exempt, subject to the rules for the category.

Without a readable French title, some centres refuse the vehicle. The vehicle identification form then acts as a technical ID, alongside the import file.

Registration taxes and the agency fee

Regional tax Y1 depends on fiscal horsepower, energy, CO2, first-registration date, body type and département. A malus may apply. Those amounts are separate from the handling fee (€80 incl. VAT for the registration file at Office Carte Grise).

Estimate taxes with the registration cost calculator or the tax calculator, and read the 2026 fiscal horsepower rates. State taxes are paid when ANTS confirms the amount, not on the first click.

Tax clearance, the manufacturer's COC and plates remain separate lines.

How long the carte grise takes

Two clocks. Yours: gather tax clearance or 846A, conformity, the test, readable scans. The State's: at least four weeks after a complete file, often more if something is queried.

Once the request is accepted, the acknowledgement and then the definitive title follow by tracked post. The real bottleneck is almost always upstream (tax paper, COC, multi-part title), not printing the card.

New or used vehicle bought outside France

New: the manufacturer or dealer invoice often shows VAT. It supports the quitus (EU) or the customs calculation (outside the EU). Used: transfer certificate or trader invoice, plus the full local title.

A readable mileage, first-registration date and VIN avoid mismatches with the COC. A 'new' vehicle never registered abroad is still an import: it is not a French stock registration.

Translations and readable scans

Recent EU titles are usually enough as they stand. A handwritten sale deed, an old title or a document outside the Latin alphabet may need a translation. Better to plan it than to discover a refusal after transmission.

Sharp photos, edges visible, no finger on the identification number. A front without a back, on a two-sided title, almost always comes back.

Matching the VIN and the technical data

The identification number must be the same on the foreign title, the invoice, the COC (or FFVE) and the application. One character out blocks examination.

Power, energy, body type and first-registration date feed the taxes. A mistake here skews the registration cost calculator and can send the file back.

Malus, fixed tax and other lines

Besides Y1, a CO2 malus or a fixed tax may apply depending on age, energy and the year's schedules. The tax calculator includes them as a guide; the binding amount is the one ANTS confirms.

Those lines do not appear on WW plates or on the quitus. They are settled with the definitive title.

Uploading documents in the client area

After you pay the agency fees, you upload scans from the client area — a postal packet is no longer the default. If a page is missing we ask for it instead of transmitting an incomplete file.

A tracking reference and the option to contact us stay available throughout examination.

After the title: definitive plates and the insurance policy

The French certificate carries the definitive SIV number. Have plates engraved with that number and switch insurance from any temporary identifier.

From then on, the usual procedures (change of address, duplicate, sale) are those of a French vehicle.

A co-keeper on an import

If two people appear on the title, their identities must match on the quitus (or 846A), the Cerfa forms and the ID documents. A co-keeper omitted from the tax paper and added at the last minute fails transmission.

Proof of address can be the main keeper's only, at the French address that will be printed.

ANTS or an authorised professional

A private individual can file alone on ANTS. The import path there is poorly guided: what a quitus is, a missing COC, the difference from a change of keeper.

An authorised professional checks the papers, generates the Cerfa forms, transmits and chases instead of a silent rejection. Start at step 2 of the procedure when the foreign title, identity and address are ready.

Vehicles imported from Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands

These three origins make up a large share of files. The trap is not regional tax, it is an incomplete title and a quitus in the wrong name.

Align keeper (and co-keeper) on the quitus, form 13750 and the ID. A quitus in the Belgian or German seller's name does not unlock the SIV.

Recent EU-market models often already have a COC; off-catalogue versions are ordered from the manufacturer while the rest of the file moves.

Spain, Italy and Portugal

Titles are usually a single document, easier to scan. Still check the VIN on the invoice and the COC.

Bought from a French trader who imported the vehicle themselves: ask for their foreign purchase proof, not only their resale invoice.

Switzerland and other non-EU countries

Switzerland is not an EU member: expect an 846A and conformity to prove. A European history is not automatic, even on a recent model.

United States, Japan, Canada: originally outside European standards, RTI or classic status (over 30 years) is the usual path. The definitive title waits for those inspections.

United Kingdom after Brexit

A UK import is no longer an EU flow. Customs, VAT, 846A, then conformity and the SIV file. Manufacturer and customs delays often exceed the one-month user window.

The detailed path is in the Brexit import article. On this page, remember the United Kingdom is treated as outside the EU, not as a classic quitus.

Car, motorcycle, motorhome or van

Private car: the most common case. Category B licence, roadworthiness test if over four years, definitive plates after the title.

Motorcycle: licence for the category. Two-wheeler test rules apply to the definitive file.

Motorhome and VASP: the body type on the foreign title and COC must match. An unapproved conversion blocks the SIV.

Van in a company's name: recent company extract, stamped Cerfa, suitable licence.

Imported classic vehicles

Over 30 years, no longer produced, unmodified: the FFVE attestation can replace a missing COC and open collector status.

That does not waive the tax paper (quitus or 846A) or the SIV filing. Order the FFVE attestation or classic registration in parallel with this file.

Import in a company's name

A legal entity can be the keeper of the French title. Attach a recent company extract and have the legal representative sign the Cerfa forms.

If the purpose is trading and resale, use the professional purchase declaration rather than a first registration 'as a private individual'.

Mistakes that get an import file rejected

• Incomplete foreign title (a missing part)
• Quitus or 846A in a name other than the applicant's
• No COC while the vehicle is neither in RTI nor a classic
• Foreign proof of address, or one that is too old
• Licence for the wrong category
• Expired test, or a test refused for lack of FIV
• Mixing up import and change of ownership on a title that is already French
• Waiting until the end of the user month to start tax and conformity

If you are hosted by a third party

• A signed accommodation certificate from your host
• Your host's proof of address

If there is a co-owner

• The co-owner's photo ID

If the vehicle is registered to a company

• Kbis extract (French company registration certificate)