What V5C steps apply when permanently exporting a Northern Ireland registered vehicle?

The V5C contains the section used to notify permanent export. The keeper should follow DVLA’s current instructions and provide the buyer or foreign registering authority with the documentation they need for registration abroad.

Keep a copy or record of the vehicle, buyer and export date. That helps if UK tax, enforcement or correspondence continues after the vehicle has left.

If your name/address is wrong on the V5C or the vehicle has a private registration you want to retain, correct those issues before completing the export where possible.

An NI vehicle import normally has four separate tracks: customs/VAT with HMRC, construction or type approval, DVLA registration/tax, and DVA roadworthiness testing. Completing one does not automatically complete the others. A NOVA reference is not an MOT; an MOT is not type approval; and an IVA certificate does not itself register or tax the vehicle. When applying the rule, the outcome is that use the V5C permanent-export procedure and notify DVLA rather than simply handing the entire log book to the overseas buyer without updating the UK record. That prevents a rule written for Great Britain or the Republic of Ireland being applied automatically to a Northern Ireland case.

When permanently exporting a Northern Ireland registered vehicle, complete the V5C export steps so DVLA records that the vehicle has left the UK registration system.