Is there a NOVA form for an imported motorbike you can fill in yourself?

Why does searching for the NOVA form lead nowhere?

Because the search results mix up three different things. There is the NOVA online service, there is a paper form called VAT NOVA1, and there is the declaration that HMRC's CARS team or your agent makes for a private rider. gov.uk puts them under different headings, and which one applies to you depends on who you are and how the bike arrived.

The online service is for VAT-registered companies. The VAT NOVA1 is what gov.uk says a company asks the imports and exports helpline for if it cannot use the online service. A private rider with one bike in the garage is in neither group, so a rider who finds the login and starts hunting for a form has usually taken the wrong turn already.

Is there a NOVA certificate?

The gov.uk import guide does not use the words "NOVA certificate". It says HMRC will tell you when your NOVA application has been processed, and that you cannot register the bike with DVLA until it is. DVLA's own registration page asks you to get confirmation that your NOVA application is processed. So what you are waiting for is that confirmation, and an agent who files for you will usually be the one to see it first.

If you are searching for a NOVA number or reference, ask whoever filed for you what they received. We do not guess at the format.

Who files NOVA for a private rider?

It depends on how the bike arrives, and gov.uk gives two quite different routes.

If the bike is shipped to the UK: the NOVA declaration is made by your shipping company or customs agent, who may charge an extra fee, or by HMRC's CARS team on your behalf. Either way it has to happen within 14 days of the bike coming in.

If you bring the bike in yourself, by ferry or through the Channel Tunnel: you must contact HMRC's CARS team within 14 days, and only in certain situations: you recently bought the bike outside the UK, you have moved to the UK with it, you are bringing back a bike you owned here before, or you inherited it from someone living outside the UK. HMRC then tells you whether you owe VAT or customs duty, and whether you are eligible for any reliefs.

If anything is due, gov.uk says you must hire a shipping company or customs agent to make the import declaration. They tell you what to pay and give you the documents needed for NOVA, and you send those to the CARS team so they can make the declaration for you.

What has to happen before NOVA can be made?

gov.uk lists the steps in this order for a bike that is shipped to the UK: the import declaration, paying VAT and customs duty, NOVA within 14 days of arrival, vehicle approval, and then registering and taxing the bike with DVLA, which is where the V55/5 goes. NOVA sits in the middle, which is why it holds up everything after it.

The order trips people up. gov.uk says you must have paid any import taxes due before HMRC can make the NOVA declaration. So for a rider who brings a bike in alone, the sequence is: tell HMRC, wait to hear whether tax is due, pay a customs agent to make the import declaration, pay the tax, send the documents, and only then does the NOVA declaration happen. Miss a step and the 14 days keep running.

Whoever files also needs the C88 and E2 customs documents or the MRN, the invoice or bill of sale if the bike was bought in the last 6 months, a valuation carried out in person in the UK if it was bought longer ago, and an official document confirming the frame number. Our NOVA motorcycle guide goes through those documents and the 48cc exception.

What about a bike from the Isle of Man?

gov.uk says that if the bike is registered in the Isle of Man you do not need to make a NOVA application, and you send a completed V55 and the Isle of Man registration document to DVLA instead. If it is not registered there, or it still carries UK plates, gov.uk says to ask the imports and exports helpline for form NOVA1 and send it with a covering letter. That is a different case from an ordinary import, so check the bike's papers before you assume which one you have.

What happens after NOVA is processed?

Then, and only then, you can move to the rest: approval (MSVA, GB conversion IVA or the Certificate of Conformity route, depending on the bike), and then the V55/5 to DVLA. Our V55/5 guide covers that form, and the DVLA registration guide covers the whole order. Until the import steps are complete, gov.uk says you can be prosecuted for using the bike on a public road, unless you are driving it to a pre-booked MOT or vehicle approval test.

What do we do for you?

We make the customs import declaration, work out and pay the import VAT and duty, and make the NOVA notification to HMRC, so the 14 days and the order of the steps are not yours to manage. Then we prepare your DVLA pack: we prepare every DVLA form, you just sign and post. We do not test, modify, insure, buy or sell bikes, pay road tax or arrange SORN, and a garage or the DVSA test station handles anything the bike needs.

Deregistration in the country you buy in, any export plates and the export paperwork are handled by the seller. If you need it, we arrange the transport to the UK, and we handle the customs declaration, NOVA and the DVLA paperwork.

If you also need a documented value for the bike, for HMRC, insurance or probate, Bassett Valuations writes independent valuation reports.

Your path from a bike abroad to a registered bike

1. The customs import declaration, made by an agent: how the import declaration works for a motorcycle.
2. VAT and customs duty paid at the border: what import VAT and duty cost on a motorbike.
3. NOVA, telling HMRC the bike has arrived: you are here, and the documents the person filing it needs are in our motorcycle NOVA guide.
4. Approval, so the bike meets UK standards: the MSVA test for an imported motorcycle.
5. The V55/5 form, which asks DVLA to register the bike: the V55/5 box by box on a motorcycle.
6. Registration, number plates and V5C: the whole DVLA registration order for a bike.

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