Hamburg Welcome Portal Foreign Vehicle Registration

If you're taking your foreign vehicle to Hamburg for a short stay while travelling, you do not have to register your car here or pay any taxes for it. Your car remains registered in your country of residence. 

As soon as you move to Hamburg and you register you adress here, your main residency will be in Germany. Then you'll need to register your foreign vehicle. When buying new or used vehicles, registration should take place immediately after the purchase.

Upon registration, you will be assigned a registration number and the necessary registration documents to be able to participate in road traffic. As the owner of a registered motor vehicle, you’re also obliged to pay vehicle taxes (Kfz-Steuer) and vehicle insurance.

It is also possible to reserve a desired license plate online in advance.

The LBV (Landesbetrieb Verkehr), Hamburg’s central traffic office is responsible for this. In addition to local approval, the LBV also offers its customers services independent of LBV locations directly on site with the LBV-Mobil. LBV-Mobil is a mobile LBV service that offers selected LBV services on special dates at external locations, e.g. in shopping centres. Here you can see when the LBV mobile is near you and which services are offered.

To register your vehicle, schedule an appointment at the LBV and select 'Zulassung'. Then another selection field will appear below:

To register a new vehicle, select:
Zulassung eines fabrikneuen Fahrzeuges aus dem Ausland (Importfahrzeug) 
Required documents: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

To register a change of ownership of a used vehicle, select:
Wiederzulassung eines abgemeldeten Gebrauchtfahrzeuges aus dem Ausland
Required documents: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8

• Select a location, preferred date and time
• You will receive a confirmation of your appointment via email
• Collect all necessary paperwork, see the list below
• Bring the confirmation email and all the paperwork with you to the appointment

List of possibly required documents

1. National passport and confirmation of address registration (Meldebescheinigung)
2. eVB-code: electronic vehicle insurance confirmation (Kfz-Versicherung)
3. Completed SEPA payment form for vehicle taxation, download here
4. Licence certificate part I (vehicle registration document)
5. Licence certificate part II (vehicle identification document)
6. Certificate of Conformity CoC from the producer (Übereinstimmungsbescheinigung)
7. Proof of completed general inspection (TÜV) and safety inspection
8. Licence plates
9. Vehicle documentation from abroad and official translation
10. Custom clearance certificate (non-EU)
11. Proof of ownership (sales contract, certificate of inheritance or gift contract)

Locations

The central traffic office (LBV) offers vehicle registration at five locations: