Up to 30 June 2024, persons with protection status S were treated as persons resident abroad. They were issued with a renewable customs authorisation form 15.30 for a period of two years for their foreign-registered vehicles.
Starting on 1 July 2024, persons with protection status S will be deemed to be resident in Switzerland.
This has implications with regard to the customs formalities for their vehicles: persons domiciled in Switzerland may not use an uncleared (foreign-registered) vehicle in Switzerland. Therefore, from 1 July 2024, authorisation form 15.30 will no longer be renewed for persons with an S permit. The vehicles concerned must be cleared through customs under the normal procedure with the payment of import duties or as duty-free household effects, or be permanently exported.
As you will require a certificate of conformity (CoC) after normal customs clearance, we recommend clearance as household effects. This is conditional on the vehicle having been used abroad for six months before entering Switzerland. See the following sections for details.
Applications and documentation
You can send us your application by post or present it in person. Please ensure that all necessary documentation (see below) is included.
Customs clearance as household effects
In order for your vehicle to qualify for customs clearance as household effects, it must have been used abroad by you personally for at least six months before entering Switzerland for the first time and you must intend to continue using the vehicle after importing it.
The following documentation must be submitted for customs clearance:
- Completed and signed application form 18.44 (PDF, 276 kB, 19.08.2022)
This form is available at any customs office or online at www.bazg.admin.ch > Moving (household effects) > application form 18.44 household effects (PDF, 276 kB, 19.08.2022)
- Copy of your S permit (both sides)
- Original authorisation form 15.30, if available
- Copies of the vehicle documents
- If the six-month period of use abroad is not evident from the vehicle documents, this must be demonstrated with other appropriate documents
Once you have cleared the vehicle through customs, it must be fitted with Swiss number plates. To do this, contact a driver and vehicle licensing office in your canton of residence.
Normal customs clearance
The following documentation must be submitted for normal customs clearance with the payment of import duties:
- Electronic import customs declaration
You can get a customs clearance agency/freight forwarding company to prepare the import customs declaration (we recommend this) or you can do it yourself via e-dec web:
www.bazg.admin.ch > Import customs declaration e-dec web > e-dec web production
N.B.: The self-declaration in e-dec web must be prepared in advance
- Copies of the vehicle documents
- Information required to determine the vehicle's current value (purchase value, current mileage) or, if available, an estimate from a garage
- Original authorisation form 15.30, if available
Once you have cleared the vehicle through customs, it must be fitted with Swiss number plates in Switzerland. To do this, contact a driver and vehicle licensing office in your canton of residence. Please note that you need to prove that your vehicle complies with the European standards. You can do this by means of a certificate of conformity (CoC).
Competent customs offices
You will find a list of the competent customs offices (PDF, 279 kB, 20.06.2024) here (see also the list of customs offices)
Note on insurance for vehicles with a Ukrainian number plate
Until you get a Swiss number plate, you will need an international motor insurance card (formerly green card) that is valid in Switzerland for your vehicle. This applies to both temporary stays and permanent residence in Switzerland. A frontier insurance policy taken out in an EEA state is also valid in Switzerland.
Exceptionally, proof of insurance may also be presented on an electronic device in PDF format.
In the absence of a valid international motor insurance card,
- vehicle owners can obtain a new green card from their Ukrainian insurance company
or
- take out frontier insurance at one of our staffed offices
