Purchase agreement and deregistration of vehicle from Switzerland
If you have already found your dream vehicle and the inspection went according to your expectations, congratulations! You are on the right track and if you have decided to buy the car, it is time to start with the formal steps.
First, it is necessary to conclude a purchase-sale agreement and then arrange, together with the seller, the official deregistration of the vehicle from the Swiss registry (Abmeldung). This will cancel the so-called permanent registration for export abroad. This step is necessary, because without it it will not be possible to register the vehicle in Slovakia.
Car transport to Slovakia – there are several options
1. Towing the car on a car carrier trailer
If you decide to transport the vehicle from Switzerland yourself on a trailer, make sure that the towing vehicle has trailer towing with the required weight approved in its technical certificate. The driver also needs a category BE driving licence to legally drive such a vehicle combination. However, the good news is that you can also rent a car carrier trailer from a rental company, with prices ranging from around €30 to €60 per day.
2. You decide to drive the car home
If you decide to drive the car home, you will need temporary export number plates with insurance (valid for 5–30 days). We recommend obtaining the number plates for at least 15 days so that you can complete all the necessary procedures for registration in Slovakia. Transit number plates can be issued to you either by a specialised company or, in certain cases, by the vehicle seller.
The fee for transit number plates is set by each country and already includes vehicle insurance. Don’t forget to check that the plates and insurance are valid in all the countries you will be passing through, as they may not be harmonised according to EU legal regulations.
3. Specialised companies for car transport from abroad
If you do not want to handle the vehicle transport yourself, you can use the services of specialised companies that import cars from abroad including Switzerland. These companies will arrange complete transport of the vehicle to Slovakia, often including customs clearance and other formalities. Although this is a more expensive option, it saves you time and reduces the risk of complications during transport.
Vehicle customs duty and VAT payment
To avoid any complications or violations of customs regulations, it is recommended to first deregister a vehicle imported from a country outside the EU. Depending on the method of transport across the EU border – whether self-arranged (with so-called transit number plates) or loaded as cargo on another means of transport – it will be necessary to transport the vehicle under the transit customs regime (read more about the transit regime HERE). For this you must obtain a transit customs declaration (document T1) and a customs debt guarantee.
You can declare the vehicle for transit customs regime either upon entry into the EU at the border or already at a Swiss inland customs office, since Switzerland is a signatory to the Convention on a common transit procedure.
When you arrive in Slovakia, you must present the vehicle to the designated customs office within a specified period, where the transit regime will be ended.
Next, you are required to submit an electronic import customs declaration at the same customs office and provide vehicle documents, including acquisition documents (such as a purchase agreement or invoice). Based on these, the customs office will set import fees – customs duty and VAT. After their payment, the vehicle will be released into free circulation and you can continue with the registration process at the district transport office.
Current customs duty rates on motor vehicles can be found in the Customs Tariff (Chapter 87).
Certified translation of documents required for vehicle registration
Your new car has arrived in Slovakia, which begins its registration process. Since most documents are in a foreign language (German in this case), it is necessary to ensure their certified translation into Slovak – with the exception of documents issued in Czech. The translations must be certified, i.e. produced by a certified translator. Most often you will need a certified translation of the technical certificate, purchase contract or invoice, vehicle deregistration document or even the technical and emissions test certificate.
If you received a COC certificate (Certificate of Conformity) in a foreign language together with the vehicle, it does not need to be translated – this is a uniform document recognised throughout the European Union.
We recommend checking in advance with the relevant transport inspectorate which documents will need to be submitted with a certified translation.
Vehicle originality check
An originality check must be performed for every vehicle imported from abroad. It involves assessing the authenticity of documents, any interference with the vehicle structure and any unauthorised changes to its identifiers. The result of the check is recorded in an expert assessment, which is also publicly available online. The validity of this assessment for administrative purposes is 15 days.
The appointment for the check mostly depends on the availability of providers, but you usually get it within a week. The check itself takes approximately an hour and a half and its price ranges from €70 to €100.
Technical and emissions test
Every vehicle imported from abroad that was first registered more than four years ago and does not have a valid technical and emissions test certificate from another country must undergo this test in Slovakia. At the technical testing station you will need to present a registration certificate from the vehicle’s country of origin and an expert assessment from the originality check. Therefore, have these documents ready in advance.
However, if the vehicle has already undergone a technical and emissions test abroad and is still valid, it is sufficient to present the relevant records with their certified translations. Slovak authorities accept them, so repeating the tests in Slovakia will not be necessary.
Waste management fee
For vehicles imported from abroad, it is necessary to pay a one-off fee to accept responsibility for waste management associated with the vehicle. You can check the amount of the recycling fee and pay it directly on the idovoz.sk website. You only need your VIN number.
Application for individually imported vehicle approval
An application for individual acceptance or approval of an individually imported vehicle is submitted to the relevant district office. Submitting this application is necessary for every vehicle import from abroad. You can find the application form HERE.
The district office has 30 calendar days to process the application upon payment of the standard fee of €100. If you opt for express processing with a fee of €300, the application will be processed within 5 working days.
Compulsory liability insurance
The vehicle can only be registered in the vehicle registry of the Slovak Republic if it has Compulsory Contractual Insurance (PZP). Obtaining this insurance is very simple these days – visit an insurance company of your choice, call their contact centre and conclude an insurance policy with an operator, use the services of an agent or arrange the insurance online. You can get the best insurance quote on a price comparison website such as superpoistenie.sk, where you can also arrange insurance within a few minutes. At this point your vehicle will not have number plates yet, but you only need your VIN number to conclude the insurance. After registering the vehicle for number plates, you only need to notify this change to the insurance company with which you concluded the insurance.
Vehicle registration at the transport inspectorate
At the police station you must present the documents you obtained at the district office. This step requires that you have already concluded PZP, because without it they will not register your vehicle.
The amount of the fee depends on the vehicle type, its power and Euro standard (the minimum fee is €33). In addition, it is also necessary to pay a fee of €16.50 for each number plate with a registration number (€33 for two number plates).
For a smoother process, we recommend booking an appointment to avoid unnecessary waiting.
Administrative technical and emissions test
The last step is completing the administrative technical and emissions test, which you must do within 7 days of registering the vehicle. The simplest way is to arrange it at the same technical testing station where you underwent the tests before registration. The total fee for the technical and emissions test is around €30.
The key to success when importing a car from Switzerland is preparation
The process of importing a car from Switzerland may be a little more demanding, but with a well-prepared plan and the right information, you will certainly manage it without problems.
Remember that thorough preparation is key – from the correct documents through the proper registration procedure to technical tests. If you manage to complete all the steps, you can look forward to trouble-free driving in a car that both looks great and is technically reliable and ready for Slovak roads. A car from Switzerland can be an excellent choice if you decide to get a car from abroad and we wish you best of luck with the entire process!