Hi all,

We're preparing everything right now for our move from Belgium to Switzerland. Right now, we're making an inventory about the goods and filling in the form "Customs clearance of household effects in connection with household removal"(i guess the form 18.44?)

We also want to take our car (Toyota Yaris) and motorcycle (Kawasake ER-5). The plan is to take the motorcycle with us when we move and return later for the car. Both car and motorcycle will initially still be registered and insured in Belgium for a few months before we plan to import it.

Now on the form 18.44 you have to fill in informations of the vehicles. My question is: do we write down both (the car and the motorcycle) or should we only add the motorcycle, since the car won't be with us at the time we make the move?

I also read that the documents required for registration of the motorcycle are the following:
* Legal personal ID
* Vehicle registration certificate
* Declaration/Application for clearance of household effects, form 18.44
* Proof of transfer of domicile --> will a work contract and the contract of our rented place be enough proof for this?

Is that sufficient for importation?

(FYI: we do own both the car and the motorcycle for more then 6 months, which means we can import both of them duty free)

Thank you very much!

As far as I recall, you should declare a "Partial Importation" on the 18.44 form. You should also write the down the VIN and Belgian registration of the car you are going to later bring in the space provided for vehicles being imported. This is a declaration that you own the car and it is a personal effect on the date of transfer of domicile.

You then have I believe 2 years to complete the "Partial Importation" of your remaining personal effects including the car.

If you tick the other box, for "Full importation" it means whatever you are declaring on the day of import is your full personal effects import. i.e., you cannot bring a car later.

if you do not declare the car at the date of domicile transfer, you cannot later bring it as a personal effect i.e., tax free. $

tl/dr: write both down, and tick the Partial import box.

You might want to consider bringing the bike insurance documents. For "import permission" when you cross the border you'll also need an export certificate which you can get from German customs. For putting onto Swiss plates later you'll need also a certificate of conformity. All the stuff is available online if you search for it.