We have been on the road now for nearly 6 months and during that time we have been asked many times about the process of taking your own vehicle out of the country with the intention of driving it around the world. Frustratingly, each country has its own set of criteria which does necessitate a bit of forward planning to ensure compliance and, hopefully, a speedy and uneventful border crossing. Many countries are happy to issue a temporary import permit which can be paid for and issued at the border but there are a number of countries that require a Carnet de Passage.

The word Carnet comes from the French meaning notebook - it is a passport for a motor vehicle which is stamped on entry and exit of each country that requires this documentation. The Carnet allows visitors to temporarily import vehicles for a limited period of time, negating the need to pay Customs and Excise duties and acts as a guarantee that should the vehicle not exit any country within the Carnet time frame, import duties will be paid.

In Australia, the Carnet is issued by the Australian Automobile Association upon completion of quite a lengthy application form accompanied by a copy of the vehicle registration document, driving license, passport, club membership (note to self, join the AAA), evaluation of vehicle from reputable dealer (not sure why this is required as the cost of the Carnet is the same regardless of vehicle valuation), written itinerary of proposed route and a list of spare parts/tools and their value. There is no facility to apply online, everything has to be photocopied and posted and the cost of the application is $820 plus an additional $100 for the insurance premium which indemnifies AAA against any customs claim due to non-exportation of the vehicle. There is also a refundable bond of $500 which is returned once a fully discharged Carnet is handed back to the AAA. All in all, a cost of $1,420 which seems quite a lot but does include postage of the Carnet within Australia. The Carnet is valid for 12 months and can be extended for a further 12 months provided application is made before expiry. During this time the vehicle must remain registered in Australia. As we don’t intend to return to Australia I’m not quite sure what happens longer term, my guess is that we keep renewing the current registration until such time that we permanently import the vehicle to another country.

As we plan to ship into Timor-Leste and then drive into Indonesia we have ascertained that both of these countries require us to have a Carnet and in anticipation of leaving Australia as soon as possible we sent off our application. By the time we gathered together all the requested documentation it was quite a bulky package that was dispatched to the AAA in Canberra. We were anticipating a tardy response given the current climate and logistical difficulties but were pleasantly surprised when the Carnet was issued pretty much straight away, no further information required - all very straight forward.