Exporting your car from Germany: Außerbetriebsetzung or export plates
You can end the German registration before you leave, drive on an export plate, or have the car deregistered once it is in Portugal. Each route leaves you with different papers.
By Gerardus Koetje · Updated on
Three routes
All three go through the Zulassungsbehörde, the German registration office; the rules are in the Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung (FZV).
Route A: take the car out of service before you leave
For the Außerbetriebsetzung you show the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I and hand in the plates to have the stamps removed. The office writes the date on the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I and gives the papers back. You can have the registration number reserved for up to 12 months.
Route B: drive on an Ausfuhrkennzeichen
If you want to drive to Portugal yourself and end the ordinary German registration before you leave, you apply for an export plate. That registration is valid for at most 1 year, as long as the insurance for foreign vehicles you show. Your old Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I is taken in and you get one limited to the export; you must carry it on the way. If the next Hauptuntersuchung falls before the end of the registration, have it done first.
Route C: deregister once the car is in Portugal
You drive to Portugal on your ordinary German plate with your running insurance. According to the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt the holder must in principle arrange the deregistration. If that is not done, the KBA receives every month a notice of the cars re-registered in another EU member state, and the Zulassungsbehörde then takes the car out of service after checking. Better arrange it yourself, so you know until when German insurance and tax run.
Which route suits Portugal?
- Portuguese customs ask for the registration certificate with the declaration, and you hand in the original foreign certificate to the IMT within 10 days of the DAV.
- With route B the Zulassungsbehörde takes in your ordinary Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I. Whether Portugal accepts the export version without questions we could not find in an official Portuguese source. Ask in advance at the customs office where you file the DAV.
- Also take the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil II if you have it, and your car's original CoC, from the dealer or the manufacturer; a substitute declaration does not count.
Working out your car
Germany has no open plate register like the Dutch RDW. On Understanding ISV you choose Germany and copy the values from your Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I: box B for the first registration, P.1 for the engine size, P.3 for the fuel and V.7 for the CO₂. The test method of that CO₂ value and the particle emissions are not among the fields of the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I; you take them from the CoC. Everything stays in your browser.
Facts and sources on this page
Every highlighted value in the text comes from an official source that we read ourselves.
12 monthsYou apply for taking the car out of service (Außerbetriebsetzung) at the Zulassungsbehörde with the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, and you present the stamped plates to have the stamps removed. The office notes the date on the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I and hands the papers back. You can have the registration number reserved for up to 12 months from that day.
Source: Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung § 16 Außerbetriebsetzung, Wiederzulassung (Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de)) · Legal basis: FZV § 16 Abs. 1 · Checked on
at most 1 yearYou apply for an export plate (Ausfuhrkennzeichen) at the Zulassungsbehörde with the registration certificate and the current plates. You show proof of insurance for foreign vehicles; the registration runs as long as that insurance and at most 1 year. The old Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I is taken in; you get one limited to the export. If the next roadworthiness test (Hauptuntersuchung) falls before the end of the registration, it has to be done first.
Source: Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung § 45 Fahrten zur dauerhaften Verbringung eines Fahrzeuges in das Ausland (Bundesministerium der Justiz (gesetze-im-internet.de)) · Legal basis: FZV § 45 Abs. 1 und 4 · Checked on
every monthIn principle the holder must arrange the deregistration. If that is not done, the KBA receives a monthly notice of cars re-registered in another EU member state; if the car is still registered in Germany, the Zulassungsbehörde takes it out of service after checking, and customs and the insurer are informed.
Source: Fragen und Antworten – Zentrale Register (KBA) (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt) · Legal basis: FZV § 15 Abs. 7 · Checked on
10 daysYou hand in the original foreign registration certificate to the IMT within 10 days of filing the DAV.
Source: Etapas na regularização fiscal de veículo proveniente de outro Estado-membro (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) · Legal basis: CISV art. 20.º n.º 5 · Checked on
Guide: Importing your car into Portugal
Do it yourself, in the right order
The pages on this site explain the rules. The guide is the workbook: what to do in which week, which papers to take to which office, where to click in the Portal das Finanças and what to do when an application is rejected.