Export documents for a car bought in Doetinchem or the Achterhoek

Export documents are the first step of any car export from the Netherlands. With them, the vehicle is deregistered for export in the Dutch registration system, which comes before it can be registered in its new country. As an RDW-approved export company we handle this deregistration, from €50, for cars as well as vans, motorhomes, motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, caravans, trailers and trucks. Heavy or non-standard vehicles are priced on request.

We have no desk in Doetinchem. You come to our desk in Hengelo once, about an hour's drive away, or you use the postal service. The better you prepare, the shorter your visit.

What the export documents consist of

After deregistration, the paperwork splits in two:

• The buyer, or the person in whose name the export is arranged, receives the export certificate. In Dutch this is the exportbewijs, also called kentekenbewijs deel II (registration certificate part II). With it comes the registration card, with one corner cut off.
• The seller receives the vrijwaringsbewijs, the proof that the Dutch registration has ended.

According to the RDW page on exporting a vehicle, the Dutch owner's insurance obligation, APK obligation and motor vehicle tax end after export. Exporting is possible at RDW inspection stations, at RDW counters and at approved export companies such as ours.

Bought from a Dutch seller? How the transfer works

You might expect the car to be transferred to your name in the Netherlands first. That is not how it works. When a car is sold abroad, it is not registered in the foreign buyer's name in the Dutch register. The RDW advises that the buyer exports the vehicle in their own name instead. You receive the export certificate in your name and the seller receives the vrijwaringsbewijs. That is the whole transfer.

Prepare before you travel to Hengelo

The checklist below shows what to bring. Go through it before you leave Doetinchem, because the drive to our desk takes about an hour.

Not sure about a document? Send photos of the registration card or paper parts by WhatsApp first, so we can check whether everything is complete. Write down the buyer's full foreign address too, including postcode and country.

What if a document or plate is missing?

If the registration card or the old paper parts are lost, a replacement registration certificate must be requested first. Only then can the vehicle be exported. The same goes for the yellow number plates, which are handed in on export: if they are gone, new ones must first be made by a recognised number plate manufacturer.

Price and timing

The export document costs from €50 and includes the export certificate, the vrijwaringsbewijs and processing with the RDW.

With complete documents a standard request at the desk is usually ready in about 15 minutes. Office hours are Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 16:30; outside those hours we work 24/7 by appointment, possibly at a higher rate. Please call or message us about 20 minutes before you arrive.

Prefer not to travel? Prepare online and send the yellow plates by post or courier. We start once they arrive and return the documents insured and tracked, at a postal price confirmed in advance.

Driving the car home yourself?

Then the export document alone is not enough. After deregistration you may drive on Dutch public roads for 14 days with white Dutch export plates and temporary export insurance, and a car also needs a valid APK, the Dutch roadworthiness test. The complete export package from €150 covers all of this. If the car goes on a trailer or car transporter instead, it usually needs no driving insurance, but the export document is still required.