This is our top advice for motorcycle border crossings to make it easy peasy!
We take the freedom to cross borders for granted in Western Europe, and even though we are now outside the EU, taking your motorcycle into the EU and travelling between countries remains straight forward. However, once further afield that the UK & EU, riding a trip like the Trans Americas, traversing a frontier with your bike can become a long and unfathomable process. If you don’t prepare yourself for it – physically and mentally – and it can quickly turn your trip sour, or halt it altogether.
Processes for Motorcycle Border Crossings
In essence, passing between two countries comprises four basic steps. First, you enter yourself into the country at immigration (this is presenting your passport and getting you in). Secondly, you enter your bike with customs (this is getting a temporary import permit for your motorcycle, getting it legally in the country). You repeat these steps when exiting a country. Immigration to get your passport stamped out of a country. Customs to cancel your temporary import permit. Then ride across no mans land and start the whole entry process again!
Simple in theory, but there can be lots of other hoops to jump through too, and in practice every border you come across will be different, and faced with masses of locals, being jostled for money, and a random collection of anonymous sheds/buildings to trawl through, it can get stressful!
Quick Tips
- Push the very English concept of queuing out of your head and ride straight to the front. If there is a long line of lorries at the border, ride past them and get to the front.
- Take your time to suss-out your surroundings and make sure your bike is as secure as possible; borders can attract a strange array of characters and foreign travellers on big bikes attract them all.
- Don’t leave valuables on your bike at a border – cameras in tank bags are easy pickings.
- Using fixers at borders may be a more efficient way of getting yourself through. They will charge, but if you gain a few hours and avoid tearing your hair out, then it can be money well spent.
- Accept that part of the system may be under-the-table payments to the man with the stamp. If it’s only a few dollars, taking a stand on principle and refusing to pay can mean a prolonged and tedious experience.
- NEVER ever throw away any piece of paper given to you at a border, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time. Sometimes that scrappy handwritten receipt may be required to leave the country.
- Before you leave the border post, check you have got all your documents back and that any permits issued for your bike are accurate – in particular check the VIN and number plate.
Immigration
- Firstly, make sure you passport is valid for travel. Normally your passport should be valid for at least six months from the date you arrive and there should be a full blank page for the entry and exit stamps for each country.
- Hopefully, you’ve done your homework and if you need to get a visa in advance of entry, you have got one already, or else you won’t be getting in.
- Immigration is usually the quickest part of the process as you just need to get your passport stamped. Sometimes you may need to fill out a tourist entry form, or a form for a visa on arrival, and you may get a copy of this to keep with your passport. Check the number of days that you have been given to stay in the country.
Getting Your Bike through Customs
- It’s Customs job to issue you the paperwork to allow your motorcycle temporarily into the country on a tax free basis. This procedure is used for tourists using their vehicles for tourism purposes. The process can vary around the world, but often means Customs Officials physically checking your motorcycle VIN and engine number directly to your documents.
- Therefore, before leaving home check all your documents. Make sure the chassis (VIN) and engine number on your registration or title document matches the physical numbers etched onto your bike and engine block. Also check that your name on these documents is the same as on your passport.
- In many countries, it is common for Customs to issue a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for your motorcycle. This is often what takes the time as they have to enter all your details and the motorcycle details in the computer to print out the permit. Check this carefully to ensure it is correct. It is very common for mistakes to be made. And DON’T LOSE IT! You are required to submit the TIP when you exit the country and if you don’t have it, there will be problems. We take a photo of it on your phone, just in case.
- Certain countries require a “Carnet de Passage” instead of the TIP. The Carnet is an import/export guarantee that the bike will leave the country. In the UK, the official carnet issuing organisation is called CARS www.carseurope.net. Customs will stamp the Carnet to show entry and exit of your motorcycle. Again, don’t lose the Carnet. You are required to submit it back to CARS when you get home to receive back the deposit you will have paid to them.
- Some countries, such as China or Vietnam, will not allow foreign motorcycles through the border unless it has been pre-authorised in advance. You’ll need an in-country agent to sort that for you.
Other Processes
- It’s common at large integrated borders to be issued with ticket when you enter the border compound. This ticket is then stamped by passport and immigration (and any other mandatory processes) for both the entry and exit countries, and checked by the police when you exit the border compound so they know you’ve completed everything.
- Some borders will have an agricultural check (for eg in Chile its called “SAG”. They look for food and you may find yourself dumping dairy products, fresh meats and fruit in the bin.
- Others will require fumigation of the bike. It consists of a person spraying insecticide over the wheels of your bike or you riding through a trough of insecticide.
Once through the border, ride far enough away for people not to bother you, then stop on double check all your documents. If there is a mistake on your TIP, you need to get it changed there and then. Don’t be tempted to ignore it. And make sure you have got all your original documents with you, as it’s easy for an official to accidentally retain them.
Six Essential Documents for a Hassle-Free Border Crossing
- Passport – mandatory for all borders. It needs to be valid for at least 6 months after your date of departure from the country you are entering. Hopefully you’ve done your homework and if you need a visa in advance, you’ve got it stuck in your passport already!
- Vehicle Registration Document (in the UK, V5 / logbook) and / or Title – mandatory for all borders, although blagging your way across with good copies is not unheard of.
- Driving Licence – Can be requested, so have it with you. The photo card will normally do. It’s essential anyway if you get stopped by the police
- International Driving Permit(s) – Normally your driving licence from your country of residence suffices, but essential to have anyway for many countries outside of Europe. In the UK, you can get International Driving Permits from Paypoint Centres. Make sure you know if you need a 1926, 1949 or a 1968 IDP, by checking the Government Website.
- Third Party Insurance for your bike – Some countries require the obligatory purchase of country-specific local 3rd party insurance at the border (it’s normally cheap and covers you for very little). It’s rare to be asked for this at a border, but most countries now legally oblige you to have this, so have it ready if stopped by the police. They are normally hiding a mile down the road after the border!
- Carnet de passage for your bike (depending on country) – required by many African and Middle Eastern countries.
Happy Travels! Kevin and Julia
