How to Import Your Personal Vehicle into Australia with a Concessional RAV Approval
Use the personal effects concessional RAV pathway to bring an eligible vehicle to Australia when settling permanently, including the ROVER application, evidence, fee and deadlines.
AU Australia
Driving & Vehicles ~ 9 min read
8 FAQ
Updated 2026-09-14
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If you are settling permanently in Australia or returning after living overseas, you may be able to import your personally owned vehicle through a concessional RAV entry approval under the personal effects criterion. You must generally have owned the vehicle continuously for at least 12 months immediately before your relevant arrival in Australia, have acquired it while living permanently overseas, and have used it regularly on public roads there. Apply online through ROVER and obtain the approval before importing the vehicle. If you have already arrived in Australia to live indefinitely, the application must be made within 6 months of that relevant arrival date.
What you need
- A verified ROVER user account for the applicant or authorised representative.
- Vehicle details including make, model, year of manufacture, seating capacity, motive power, vehicle type and VIN or chassis number.
- Evidence that you own the vehicle and owned it continuously for at least 12 months immediately before the relevant arrival date, such as a purchase invoice or registration certificate.
- Evidence that you became the owner while living permanently outside Australia.
- Evidence that the vehicle was available to you and regularly used on public roads in the overseas country where you lived permanently.
- Clear photographs of the front, rear and both sides of the vehicle, the VIN and manufacturer or compliance plate, odometer and engine.
- Evidence supporting your entitlement or pathway to live in Australia indefinitely.
- Evidence of continuous overseas residence, such as rental or property records, employment records or utility statements.
- Information showing your intention to leave the overseas country indefinitely and settle in Australia.
- Details of any previous personal effects vehicle approval granted to you.
Eligibility
The personal effects criterion is intended for an individual bringing their own vehicle when settling in Australia or returning permanently after living overseas. You must own the vehicle when you apply, have become its owner while living outside Australia on a permanent basis, and have owned it continuously for at least 12 months immediately before the relevant date. During that ownership period, the vehicle must have been available to you for public-road use in the country where you lived permanently and either regularly used by you or regularly used with a substantial part of that use being by you. You must intend to live in Australia indefinitely and meet the residence or visa-related eligibility specified in the Road Vehicle Standards Rules. You must also be old enough to hold a licence or permit for the vehicle under Australian law or the law of the overseas country where you used it. You normally cannot use this personal effects criterion again until more than 5 years have passed since a previous relevant personal effects approval.
How to do it
- Check the personal effects eligibility rules before arranging shipment. Confirm the ownership, overseas residence, vehicle-use, immigration-status and previous-approval requirements.
- Create and secure your ROVER account. ROVER is the Australian Government portal used for Road Vehicle Standards applications and approvals.
- Prepare your evidence. Gather ownership and overseas registration records, proof of overseas residence, evidence of regular vehicle use, settlement evidence, vehicle specifications and the required photographs.
- Start a Single Road Vehicle application in ROVER. Select the concessional RAV entry pathway and provide the information needed for the personal effects criterion.
- Upload the supporting documents and declarations. Make sure the documents actually demonstrate each eligibility requirement. Do not include your tax file number as supporting evidence.
- Submit the application and pay the required charge. An application is not complete for assessment until the required payment has been received through ROVER.
- Do not import the vehicle without an approval in force. A concessional RAV entry approval is also treated as the import approval for the vehicle. Importing a road vehicle without the required approval can breach the Road Vehicle Standards Act.
- Respond promptly if the department requests more information or an inspection. The assessment clock pauses while required information or an inspection remains outstanding.
- Follow every condition in the approval. After importation, any specified conditions must be satisfied before the vehicle can be entered on the Register of Approved Vehicles.
- Complete RAV entry and then deal with registration. Once the vehicle is entered on the RAV, it can proceed toward registration, subject to the separate requirements of the relevant Australian state or territory registration authority.
When can you use the personal effects concessional RAV pathway?
A concessional RAV entry approval is the federal pathway that can allow certain individual vehicles to be imported into Australia and entered on the Register of Approved Vehicles (RAV). Under the personal effects criterion, it is aimed at migrants settling in Australia and Australians returning permanently after living overseas.
For personal effects, the applicant must be the individual owner of the vehicle. An agent can complete the process on your behalf, but the agent needs authority to act and the underlying eligibility remains yours.
The 12-month ownership and use test
You must have become the vehicle's owner while living outside Australia on a permanent basis and must have owned it continuously for at least 12 months immediately before the relevant date.
Ownership by itself is not enough. During that period the vehicle must have been available to you for use on public roads in the country where you lived permanently. It must either have been regularly used by you or have been in regular public-road use where a substantial part of that use was by you and the remaining use was by someone you authorised.
The 6-month application deadline
The Rules define the relevant date by reference to your arrival in Australia from the country where you had been living permanently for the purpose of living in Australia indefinitely. If more than one date could meet that definition, the latest qualifying date applies.
Your personal effects application must be made within 6 months of the relevant date. This deadline is different from the separate requirement to have an import approval in force when the vehicle is imported.
Your status in Australia
At the application date, the Rules require you to fall within an accepted residence or immigration-status category. This can include being entitled to remain in Australia indefinitely, having applied for Australian citizenship, permanent residence or a visa allowing indefinite stay, or holding a visa that entitles you to apply for permanent residence.
The department's checklist therefore asks for evidence of your entitlement or pathway to live in Australia indefinitely, such as an Australian passport or relevant visa information.
What evidence should you prepare?
The department assesses the application from the declarations, information and supporting documents you provide. A useful file should establish both the vehicle history and your personal circumstances.
- Vehicle identity: make, model, year, seating capacity, motive power, vehicle type and VIN or chassis number.
- Ownership: purchase documents, overseas registration records or other evidence showing continuous ownership for the required period.
- Regular use overseas: material demonstrating that the vehicle was available to you and regularly used on public roads where you lived.
- Photographs: front, rear, left and right sides, VIN and manufacturer or compliance plate, odometer and engine.
- Residence overseas: rental or property documents, employment records, utility statements or similar evidence supporting continuous residence.
- Permanent relocation: evidence such as ending overseas employment or services, disposing of overseas accommodation or shipping household goods.
- Australian settlement status: documentation supporting your entitlement or pathway to remain in Australia indefinitely.
The department specifically warns applicants not to provide a tax file number as supporting information.
How to apply online through ROVER
Applications for concessional RAV entry approval are submitted online through ROVER. You or your representative must first create a ROVER account. If someone acts for you, they must have an authority to act and upload evidence of that authority.
In ROVER, start a Single Road Vehicle application. Complete the questions that direct the application to the concessional RAV pathway and personal effects criterion, upload the required evidence and submit the application.
The department's published fee information lists the personal effects concessional RAV charge as A$57.20, including its RAV charge component. Payment is made through ROVER and the application is not complete for assessment until the required payment has been received.
Get the approval before the vehicle is imported
A granted concessional RAV entry approval is also taken to be an import approval for the vehicle. Australian road vehicle legislation generally prohibits importing a road vehicle without an applicable import approval in force.
For that reason, do not treat submission of the ROVER application as permission to import. Wait until the approval has been granted and is in force before the vehicle is imported into Australia.
How long does the decision take?
The department must decide a concessional RAV entry approval application within 30 business days after receiving it. For this purpose, a business day excludes Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays in the Australian Capital Territory.
If the department asks for further information or requires an inspection, the relevant days while it waits for the requested material or inspection are not counted toward the 30-business-day decision period. The practical elapsed time can therefore be longer.
If you receive a formal request for further information or inspection, comply within the period stated in the request. The Rules allow the department to refuse to consider an application where the applicant does not provide required information within the permitted period.
What happens after approval?
If approved, ROVER generates a concessional RAV entry approval and the department provides notice of the decision. The approval identifies the vehicle and can include conditions that must be satisfied.
The vehicle can only satisfy the concessional RAV entry pathway when the approval is in force and any condition that must be met before RAV entry has been satisfied. Unless the approval allows otherwise, the vehicle must also be in Australia immediately before it is entered on the RAV.
Once it has been entered on the RAV, the vehicle becomes available for registration by a state or territory registration authority, but RAV entry does not itself complete state or territory registration. Local registration requirements still apply.
Common mistakes that can delay or prevent approval
- Shipping or importing the vehicle before the required approval is granted and in force.
- Applying after the 6-month personal effects deadline has passed.
- Counting 12 months of ownership without proving that the vehicle was actually available and regularly used on public roads overseas.
- Providing ownership documents but insufficient evidence that you lived overseas permanently during the relevant period.
- Failing to prove that you acquired the vehicle while living outside Australia.
- Ignoring a previous personal effects vehicle approval granted within the last 5 years.
- Uploading documents that do not establish the facts claimed in the application.
- Including a tax file number when the department expressly says not to provide it as supporting evidence.
- Assuming federal RAV approval automatically means the vehicle is registered for road use in an Australian state or territory.
Frequently asked questions
How long must I own my car overseas before importing it to Australia as personal effects?
You must generally have owned the vehicle continuously for at least 12 months immediately before the relevant date when you arrived in Australia from the country where you had been living permanently for the purpose of living in Australia indefinitely.
How soon after moving to Australia must I apply for the personal effects vehicle approval?
The concessional RAV personal effects application must be made within 6 months of the relevant arrival date defined in the Road Vehicle Standards Rules.
Can I ship my vehicle to Australia while my ROVER application is still being assessed?
You should not import the vehicle until the required approval has been granted and is in force. A concessional RAV entry approval is also treated as the vehicle's import approval.
Can an import agent apply for the concessional RAV approval for me?
Yes. An agent or representative can act for you through ROVER if they have authority to act, but for the personal effects criterion you must still be the individual vehicle owner and satisfy the eligibility requirements.
Can I import a personal vehicle if I previously used the personal effects scheme?
A new personal effects approval can generally satisfy this criterion only if you have never previously received the relevant personal effects approval or more than 5 years have passed since the previous approval.
Does a concessional RAV approval register my vehicle in Australia?
No. The approval enables the vehicle to use the concessional RAV pathway and acts as an import approval. Once the vehicle is entered on the RAV, separate state or territory registration requirements must still be met.
How long does a personal effects concessional RAV application take?
The legislated decision period is 30 business days after the application is received, but time spent waiting for requested further information or an inspection is excluded from that period.
What photos do I need for a personal effects vehicle import application?
The department's checklist asks for photos of the front, rear and both sides of the vehicle, plus the VIN and compliance or manufacturer's plate, odometer and engine.
Official sources
Concessional RAV entry approvals - Australian Government Department of InfrastructureGuide to concessional RAV entry approvals - May 2025Checklist for a concessional RAV entry approval application for a personal effects vehicleImporting a vehicle as personal effects - Australian Government overviewRVS legislation fees, charges and paymentsRoad Vehicle Standards Rules 2019 - Federal Register of LegislationROVER - Australian Government Road Vehicle Standards portalRelated procedures
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