Documents to import a used car from Korea into the UAE
Two sets of paper move a used car from Korea into the UAE: the Korean deregistration certificate, export declaration, invoice and bill of lading on one side, and the customs declaration, MoIAT conformity document and RTA registration file on the other. Dubai Customs charges 5% duty on the assessed value and issues a vehicle clearance certificate for AED 30; the RTA then registers the car for AED 400 once it has that certificate, a Gulf-specification document and a passed safety test.
Korea side: four documents that leave with the car
Deregistration certificate (jadongcha malso deungnok sasil jeungmyeongseo)
A Korean car cannot be exported while it is still registered. Korea Customs Service states that a used car registered under the Motor Vehicle Management Act may be exported only after its registration has been cancelled under Article 13 of that Act. The seller or exporter files a deregistration application for export at the vehicle registration office; the Government24 portal lists the fee as ₩1,000 (about $0.74) and the processing time as three hours from acceptance, with the processing body named as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport vehicle registration office.
Once the cancellation is recorded, the certificate of deregistration is issued by the provincial or municipal government. According to the car365 portal, operated by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority for MOLIT, the certificate is issued immediately and is free when requested online. It is the document a UAE customs officer compares against the chassis number.
Korean export declaration
The exporter must file an export declaration with Korea Customs before loading. The same Korea Customs Service FAQ lists what goes to the customs office: general trade documents such as the invoice and packing list, plus vehicle documents, above all the deregistration certificate. For containerised cars the FAQ requires the vehicle to enter a bonded area first, with photographs of the container before and after loading and of the vehicle identification number.
Commercial invoice and bill of lading
Commercial invoice: the sales document addressed to the UAE importer, stating the vehicle, the price and the seller. Korean pricing is agreed in won; for a ₩80,000,000 car the USD figure on the invoice is about $59,400 at 1 USD = 1,346.93 KRW. The name on it should match the person or company that will clear the car.
Bill of lading: issued by the carrier after the export declaration is accepted. It is the title document for the shipment.
Insurance-history report (Carhistory)
Carhistory is run by the Korea Insurance Development Institute and draws on insurers' accident data since 1996; a report shows insurance claims, repair costs, total-loss, flood and theft records, use history and ownership changes. A single lookup costs ₩2,200 (about $1.63) for non-members or ₩770 (about $0.57) per lookup for registered users within a five-lookup annual allowance.
UAE side at customs: what Dubai Customs asks for
Documents at the port
Dubai Customs publishes the list for a car arriving through a shipping company: original invoice, packing list, bill of lading, and a passport or Emirates ID copy. The Korean deregistration certificate and export declaration are not on that list, but they prove the legal export, so the agent adds them to the file.
Declaration and duty
The Dubai Customs Service Guide (Version 9) lists invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and any permit from a restricting authority as the declaration documents, with a declaration fee of AED 15 to AED 100 depending on the channel, plus an AED 20 Knowledge and Innovation fee added to any service costing AED 50 or more. Duty is 5% of the customs value, which the guide defines as cost plus freight plus insurance; the procedure page adds that the vehicle is evaluated by the Customs Valuation Department and inspected before duty is levied.
Vehicle clearance certificate
After duty is paid, the importer requests a Vehicle Clearance Certificate. The Service Guide prices it at AED 30 per vehicle, issued immediately online, for a vehicle imported through Dubai entry ports after clearance. The RTA calls this paper the Electronic Customs Certificate.
UAE side at the RTA: registration file
Conformity with Gulf specifications
Registration of imported used cars has required a conformity letter since 1 May 2018, when the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology introduced the rule, as reported in November 2018 by Gulf News. ESMA's functions now sit with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, whose service page describes the Product Status Statement for used imported vehicles as a statement verifying compliance with UAE regulations. The RTA lists this document as conditional: it is needed only if the customs card does not already show the vehicle as Gulf-compliant.
Who can register and what they bring
The RTA vehicle registration service lists, for residents, the Emirates ID, the Electronic Customs Certificate, the sale and purchase agreement, and the MoIAT Gulf-specification document where required. Emiratis may register an unlimited number of vehicles and residents a maximum of three. The car must pass the traffic safety test at an RTA testing centre. Registration of a light vehicle costs AED 400 plus AED 20 Knowledge and Innovation fee, plates from AED 35, and the RTA quotes one working day for the service. The RTA page covers individuals only; a company importing under its trade licence should confirm its document set with the RTA.
Customs versus RTA: which paper goes where
At the port: invoice, packing list, bill of lading, passport or Emirates ID, Korean deregistration certificate and export declaration; output is the AED 30 Vehicle Clearance Certificate.
At the RTA: Emirates ID, that certificate, the sale and purchase agreement, the MoIAT document if the customs card is silent, insurance and a passed safety test; output is the ownership certificate and plates.
Example on a Genesis GV80 at ₩80,000,000: at 1 USD = 1,346.93 KRW the invoice shows $59,394. On the car price alone, 5% duty is $2,970; the actual duty is 5% of the higher customs value that adds freight and insurance to Jebel Ali. Fixed fees on top: declaration AED 15–100, Knowledge and Innovation AED 20, Vehicle Clearance Certificate AED 30, RTA registration AED 400 plus AED 20.
Translation and attestation
Nothing on the Dubai Customs or RTA pages fetched for this article requires an Arabic translation of the Korean deregistration certificate or the invoice. The US Commercial Service guide (updated 25 August 2025) notes that the UAE asks companies to present a certificate of origin approved by the chamber of commerce in the exporting country and refers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for attestation of commercial invoices and shipping documents. Whether this is enforced for a single private car is not stated on any primary page we could reach; treat it as a question for the clearing agent.
What KingStone checks before you pay
Insurance-history report: we pull the Carhistory record for the chassis number and read it for the size and timing of any payout. For example, a hypothetical ₩700,000 bumper repaint is a different car from a hypothetical ₩9,000,000 claim that touched the side member; the report distinguishes panel repairs from structural work, and we send the whole record, not a summary.
Lien and encumbrance check: the Korean registration record shows any mortgage, seizure or pending tax hold. A car with an encumbrance cannot be deregistered for export, so this check happens before the deposit is discussed, not after.
Official-import status and mileage plausibility: for a German or British car sold in Korea we confirm it came through the official importer, not a parallel channel, since that shapes the paper trail the RTA sees. We then compare the odometer against the Carhistory inspection dates and the Korean periodic-inspection record; a mismatch ends the deal.
Open questions
We could not reach the detail pages of MoIAT's Product Status Statement service, so its fee, processing time and document list are unverified here; the RTA page we fetched lists documents for individuals only, so the corporate set for a company registering under its trade licence is unconfirmed; and no primary UAE page we could open states whether a MOFA attestation or Arabic translation is demanded for a private car's invoice or the Korean deregistration certificate. The Dubai Customs Service Guide is Version 9 and undated, so its fees should be reconfirmed at the time of clearance.
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