Sunday, April 19, 2015

Legalisation Under Way

Small note to say that the first step to do the car's legalisation is now under way. I've submitted the paperwork to VOSA (in the UK) to get the car tested late May. Steve, from Aries, will be representing me and handling the bureaucracy.

The car is going to the UK early May and I hope to fetch it early June. I've already defined the trip back, doing 300Km in the UK, sleeping in Portsmouth, taking the ferry to Santander (26h on a boat) and then driving another 830Km to Lisbon. Let's see if I don't chicken out of this adventure all alone.

EDIT: I was a bit lazy when I wrote the post above and I think it would be good to add some additional information.

The IVA process is very well organised and easy to perform even from abroad. It can all be done through the web with just an additional phone call.

To apply, one needs to fill in two forms, IVA-1C and IVA-4. The forms are available online at the following addresses:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iva-application-form-for-passenger-cars-iva-1c
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/amateur-built-vehicles-declaration-iva-4
The first requires Adobe PDF Reader to see and fill in. It has to be a recent version due to it using the Adobe Forms functionality. The second form requires Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.

I found the instructions on this forum thread helpful to fill in the form:
http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=13491

Then, I selected a few photos from the kit arrival and the build and scanned the detailed invoice for the kit. On the IVA-4 document I also mentioned this blog as a proof of an amateur build.

Then, through the address below, all documents were submitted (after I asked Steve from Aries to review them):
https://www.gov.uk/apply-vehicle-approval

Since I'm not in the UK, Steve will be my representative taking the car to the exam. From the moment I submitted the application the system started sending him emails. One of them was regarding the payment.

The IVA can be paid in several ways. For me, being abroad, the easiest is by VISA card. That required me to phone VOSA with an Application Reference and give my VISA details to a person there. After 5 minutes on the phone, the payment went on the card and all proceeded naturally.