Exporting a Car from UAE to Bahrain

[BahrainChris]

Hi everyone,

I realise my car is going the opposite way (i.e. leaving the country) but I'm hoping somebody here will be able to help me out.

I'm transferring to Bahrain in the near future. My wife wants to take her Audi A4 Convertible with her so I've been trying to organise that.

Somebody in my Human Resources Department is looking into the paperwork requirements both in Dubai and in in Bahrain. However, if anybody has any information about this I'd be really grateful if you would share it here.

My main question is to see if anybody has any contact details for a tow truck driver who could deliver the car to Bahrain. I know that this happens all the time because I used to see UAE registered cars on the back of tow trucks on the Saudi / Bahrain causeway but after an hour spent on google I've hit a blank.

Many thanks for any help.


Chris

[root]

Getting an export plate on a car here is quite simple! Go to Tasjeel, get the car checked and the papers made. You'll need the temporary insurance but you can get that over there as well.

Now, for export on a truck, am not really sure. There are a bunch of shippers but I guess putting on a ship to Bahrain might be an overkill.

[netizen]

Hi Chris,

Just wanted to check with you if you have exported your car to Bahrain. I wanted to know if you drove your car to Bahrain or transported it on a truck.

Also, I wanted to know the import procedures at the Bahrain border. Did you have a Bahrain residence permit stamped in your passport when you entered Bahrain with you car? Or did you enter with just the entry visa document. Did you face any challenges at the border?

I hope you will reply me. I am in a similar situation and will be very grateful if you can provide some input.

Thanks,
Netizen

[MessySnipes]

I am looking to do the exact same, only moving to Bahrain in a few weeks but looking at the choices of cars I thought I might snap up a deal in Dubai, throw it on a truck and wait for it to arrive.....

If anyone has a Dummy Guide on how to do this then I would be very appreciative...

[root]

Wow! A lot of people moving to Bahrain! Is the grass greener over there?

I wish one of our Bahrain-exiles can help with this Dummies guide to export to Bahrain.

[ABC123]

Exile with the right info!

First you need to pay off the car if it is financed! This will take about 3-5 days to get the paper work. Next is making sure that the dealer where you bought the car, confirms that all duties and taxes have been paid in the UAE, (seems that they only pay these when they are requested to provide the documentation). This will take a few days as well, for them to process, calculate a week.
Now you are ready to go to the RTA to get a export license, careful as they love to sell you temp. insurance. If you have valid insurance then you do not need temp for the UAE! They will do an inspection of your car, and all the paperwork needed to take the car out.
Next I would suggest you contact an Bahraini national to import/ drive the vehicle to Bahrain. One who knows the ritual, should you need help, I can refer one. This normally costs about 3000 dinars in total, including his food, fuel, insurances, plates, flight, and the registration in Bahrain. In the end you will have your car with a Bahraini registration, and ready to drive 3 days from sending the chap to the airport.

[root]

Great info! Just what was required.

One clarification. Is it 3000 Dinars? i.e. 30,000 AED ???
That sounds pretty steep!

[luzbecks]

Hi,
I'm about to make the same move. Looks like Bahrain's gonna be crowded !
For the time being I was given the following info (quite in line with ABC123):

1. Pay off your loan (and negotiate the early settlement fees)
2. Go to RTA to have your car inspected and get the export certificate (with the blue plates). At this point you can drive for two more weeks. Your insurance shall be valid the same time (two weeks).
3. Bring the export certificate to your car dealer to get the import duty bill (proof that GCC customs have been paid).
4. Choose an export option: so far I consider either: driving myself through KSA (you need to go the saudi consulate once you have the export certificate) OR shipping the car (would probably cost around 4000AED, then extra for insurance). Marine insurance is quite pricey and costs 1.75% with excess of 500AED (AXA) or 0.4% with excess of 4000AED (Noor Takaful). I was not aware of the third option mentioned by ABC123 (3000AED seems cheap but you need to trust the guy)
5. When in Bahrain, you will get a CPR (Central Population Register). Once you have this piece of paper you can go throuh the registration process:
- Your car needs to be approved by the Vehicle inspection division (if it's GCC specs shall be ok), they will give you the "vehicle's inspection and registration form"
- Bring this document to the vehicle licensing clerk together with: Insurance (for one year), CPR, ID card of the owner, the ownership certificate, and the vehicle's export number plates as well as the Customs Declaration letter.
- Pay the fees for vehicle registration and plate issuance

According to BMW in Bharain, you dont need to get a new driving license. The UAE one will do.

My pending questions are: say you manage to get the car in Bahrain (via a local driver, yourself or a shipping company) how long can you drive with your export plates before you need to register your car? Also ABC123 can you confirm you got the "custom duty bill" from your car dealer BEFORE you got the export certificate. BMW Dubai told me to come AFTER I got it.

Thanks

[root]

Great info! I am sure all the Dubai->Bahrain migrants will appreciate this.

How long does the CPR take in Bahrain? I see that as a potential risk with the car waiting at the port unless you get it.

[luzbecks]

It takes 3-4 weeks to get residence visa. Once you have it, it takes an additional 1-2 weeks to get the CPR.

Personnaly, I asked my company to start processing my visa early May but it is still not achieved (you don't have to be there to start processing, you can send scanned copies of your passport, diploma, picture and resume).

I will ship the car most likely as it seems that you can not drive with temporary plates in Bahrain (according to HR in my company). But I will wait for having my papers ready so that I don't have my car staying at the port.

I called the Bahrain embassy in the UAE to cross-check what my HR said but they couldn't answer. I called the Bahrain Traffic Department but they seem quite "bureaucratic", hard to find the right person to speak to, and they don't really speak english... (they eventually transferred me to to the "inspection department" !)

[root]

Hope it works out! Would be interested to hear back on the final experience once its all done.

[Nacheez]

Hi. Well it seems that there is a big move towards Bahrain this summer. I am planning a similar move. I shall be obliged if some one can shed some light on the following:

1. The shippers or movers will not take your car unless some one resident (preferably yourself) imports it. Is it possible to import the car based on the employment visa papers or do we need to have it stamped in the passport?
2. There is some confusion about cars which are more than 5 years old. Does anyone know for sure?

Thanks
Nacheez

[Macrotors]

I was in Bahrain last week looking at a possible move to there and asked the local Bahraini company representative what the procedure is for importing a car from the UAE? He told me that 80% of the cars in Bahrain are KSA plated, so there is no need to import - you can just visit like the Saudi's do and drive it with the UAE plates on it.

This seems to be totally the opposite of everything i have read to date! Knbowing only too well the UAE\s penchant for collecting fees for everything, it would seem that the Bahraini guy does not know what he is talking about. Or are we all being fooled at this end?

[Nacheez]

Hi
I have now lived in Bahrain for 5 weeks and collected the following information:

1. You can drive a KSA number plate car to Bahrain (and not vice versa for expats), however for UAE residents, they need to take Traffic Police papers if they are visiting KSA by road and they need KSA visit visa. This would need to be multiple entry as you will need to drive it back before the registration runs out. I am not sure about the procedure for conversion of registration for such a car to Bahraini registration.

2. There are two practical ways. Export by road, or export by sea
a) By Road, you will need to de-register your car, take export number plates, and arrange for a Custom Duties exemption paper called Muqafarah. The process for obtaining this is to submit your de-registration papers to the dealer and they arrange for it. However if you are unfortunate enough to own an EMC Mercedes that is more than 2 years old, there is nothing that they can do. EMC is unwilling to help and claim they have lost all records more than 2 years old. They also present a letter stating duty exemption will not be applicable for more than two years.

If you have a BMW however, the dealers are very helpful. I have processed my papers from AGMC for a 2003 X5.

You need to then hire the services of a Bahraini and there are quite a few who do this as a matter of routine. They charge a total of around AED 3000 and drive it over

b) By ship. Many agencies. Costs range from US $ 1,300 to US $ 3,000 for similar services. You will atleast need the export number plates and a copy of your passport with Bahrain Visa for importing it in Bahrain

If you dont have the duty exemption papers, you will expect to pay around 5% of the estimated value of the car

Regards

Fayyaz

[root]

(why is everyone moving to Bahrain??)

Good info Fayyaz! Seems consistent to what others posted earlier as well.
Keeping a UAE plate for long in Bahrain seems kind of impractical to me, and to export they need to see the car physically back in UAE to create the proper export papers.