Which Dutch papers you need to register the car in Germany

At our desk in Hengelo the car is deregistered for export, and the papers are split between buyer and seller:

• Buyer, or the person exporting the car: the export certificate (exportbewijs), which the RDW also calls kentekenbewijs deel II, in their name, plus the kentekencard (registration card) with one corner cut off. With older papers this is the tenaamstellingsbewijs deel 1B.
• Seller: the vrijwaringsbewijs, the proof that the Dutch registration has ended.

According to the RDW, the export certificate and the registration card are needed together to register the car abroad, and you hand them to the authority that registers it. The RDW also warns that if you remove the vehicle from your name yourself, you do not receive an export certificate. So let the buyer export the car in their own name: their details then appear on the export certificate.

The Zulassungsstelle asks for, among other things (Berlin and Munich as examples):

1. the original foreign registration papers; with a two-part certificate, the numbers of part I and part II must be shown (§ 8 FZV);
2. a CoC or Datenbestätigung;
3. the purchase contract or invoice;
4. an identity document with a Meldebescheinigung, the proof of your German address;
5. an eVB (electronic insurance confirmation) from a German insurer and a SEPA mandate for the vehicle tax;
6. proof of a valid HU (German roadworthiness test), or an inspection report the office accepts.

If part II is missing, the car can only be registered after a confirmation from the Dutch authority via the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), which can take longer. The Zulassungsstelle keeps the original Dutch papers. Munich notes that translations may be required in individual cases, so ask in advance whether a Dutch purchase contract needs one. The full process is on the page about registering a car in Germany.

The CoC (EU certificate of conformity, in German EU-Übereinstimmungsbescheinigung) is the document that proves a car's EU type approval. For a car with EU type approval it is the standard proof at the Zulassungsstelle. Without a CoC:

• a car with a national type approval needs a Datenbestätigung (the manufacturer's data confirmation);
• a car with an individual approval needs the certificate of that approval (Einzelgenehmigung);
• a car without any type approval needs a Gutachten nach § 21 StVZO, a full technical report, which Berlin wants no older than 18 months.

Check before you buy whether the CoC is among the car's papers. We offer CoC assistance on request. The route varies by manufacturer and importer, so we cannot give a price or delivery time in advance.

For the export itself you bring the documents in the checklist below, including a valid identity document of the person in whose name the car is exported, the registration card or older papers, the yellow Dutch number plates, the current mileage and the buyer's full address abroad. With complete papers the application is usually ready in about 15 minutes.

The export is done in the name of the German buyer. If the buyer cannot come to the Netherlands, a contact person in the Netherlands may arrange the export (RDW). Selling your own car to a buyer abroad? See selling a car for export.

We send documents and plates insured and with tracking, also to Germany. Is the car already there, for example after a move? Then we can still arrange the export with the kentekenbewijs deel II, entirely remotely through a separate procedure by post. DHL standard takes about 5 working days, DHL Express about 1 working day. Contact us first, and we will tell you what we need and what it costs. Postage is listed on the page about the cost of registering a car in Germany, and our export desk contact page has all the ways to reach us.