I’m a staff member of an international organization’s Vietnam-based representative office. May I import a car for personal use in Vietnam?
According to the procedures for temporary import, re-export, destruction and transfer of automobiles and motorbikes of subjects entitled to privileges and immunities in Vietnam, you may import one car for personal use in Vietnam.
First of all, you must prepare a dossier of application for an automobile temporary import permit. Such a dossier must comprise:
- An application for an automobile temporary import permit: 1 original;
- Identity card granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 1 copy accompanying the original for comparison;
- Bill of lading or another transportation document of equivalent validity: 1 original and 1 copy of the shipping company (except for automobile temporary import through a land border gate);
- Automobile circulation registration or deregistration paper granted by the competent authority of your country: 1 certified Vietnamese translation of the original accompanying the original for checking (for temporary import of automobiles currently in use as personal effects);
- Certification by the Vietnam-based office where you are working of the movement of your personal effect or the work transfer from your country to Vietnam: 1 original;
- Duty-free automobile import quota book granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: To be produced to the customs office for checking.
Your dossier must be submitted to the Customs Department of the province or city where your office is located.
After receiving your dossier, the Customs Department will examine the completeness and validity of the dossier and check it against the automobile quota stated in your duty-free automobile import quota book. If they are consistent, the Customs Department will send a receipt and a reply to you, and then grant a temporary import permit within five working days from the date of dossier receipt.
If your dossier is incomplete, the Customs Department will guide you in completing it under regulations.
For each to-be-temporarily imported automobile, one set of temporary import permit, consisting of three copies, will be granted, clearly showing your (temporary importer’s) full name, address and title, brand, model, year of manufacture, country of manufacture, paint color, frame number, engine number, cylinder capacity and state of the vehicle (brand-new/used vehicle) and temporary import and re-export duration according to your working term in Vietnam stated in your identity card granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
An automobile temporary import permit is valid for 30 days from the date of grant.
After granting an automobile temporary import permit, the Customs Department will record the content of the permit in your duty-free automobile and motorbike import quota book (in the box for temporarily imported automobiles) granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, append a certification seal and return the book to you together with two copies of the permit (enclosed with one bill of lading bearing the seal of the Customs Department) for submission to the border-gate customs office for clearance of import procedures.
What should I prepare to make dossier and procedures for temporary import of an automobile in Vietnam?
You must include in the dossier for automobile temporary import the following:
- Automobile temporary import permit: 2 originals;
- Bill of lading: 1 original (bearing the stamp of the Customs Department that has granted the temporary import permit);
- Non-commercial import/export customs declaration: 2 originals;
- Written registration for quality, technical safety and environmental protection inspection of imported motor vehicle: 1 original.
When the dossier is completed, you may carry out the procedures for automobile temporary import at the Customs Branch of the border gate (to which the automobile is transported from your country). Particularly for temporary import of automobiles through land border gates, procedures for temporary import are the same as those for automobile temporary import through international border gates.
Procedures for automobile temporary import must comply with the current regulations on goods imported not for commercial purposes.
The border-gate Customs Branch will clear customs procedures for your automobile only when you can produce a quality, technical safety and environmental protection certificate of imported motor vehicle.
Upon the customs clearance for your automobile, the leader of the border-gate Customs Branch will give the certification of “temporarily imported automobile” in the top right corner of the non-commercial import/export customs declaration and inscribe the result of clearance of customs procedures for automobile temporary import in the two copies of the temporary import permit.
The Customs Branch will return to you one copy of the temporary import permit, one copy of the customs declaration (the copy to be kept by the customs declarant) for carrying out procedures for automobile circulation registration, and one original duplicate (the duplicate kept by the customs declarant) bearing the signature and certification mark of the Customs Branch of the border gate of temporary importation and the stamp for “re-export or transfer in accordance with law” for carrying out procedures for re-export or transfer under regulations.-
