Car and driving licence in Bolivia: a used car can hardly get in
Bolivia prohibits the regular import of passenger cars older than one year, and of diesels up to and including 4,000 cc too. Your Dutch car may stay as a tourist vehicle for 90 days at most. Your licence is valid with an international driving permit; converting it is only possible with a permanencia definitiva.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Taking your Dutch car to Bolivia almost never works. Since 1 January 2016 the vehicle import regulation has prohibited the regular import of passenger cars older than one year, counted from the model year (article 9 of the regulation DS 28963, as amended by DS 2232 of 2014). Diesels with an engine capacity up to and including 4,000 cc may not come in either, not even with four-wheel drive. As a tourist vehicle your car may stay in the country for 90 days at most. For the first period you drive with your Dutch licence plus an international driving permit.
| Situation | What the rule says | Period or amount |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger car (heading 87.03), regular import | prohibited if older than 1 year, counted from the model year | since 1 January 2016 |
| Diesel up to and including 4,000 cc | prohibited, also with four-wheel drive | |
| Damaged car, or converted from right- to left-hand drive abroad | prohibited | |
| Car as a tourist vehicle | temporary admission with the SIVETUR form | 90 days at most |
| Tourist vehicle leaving late | confiscation | after 20 days |
| Car in your removal goods | does not count as household goods | |
| Dutch driving licence | valid with an international driving permit | |
| Converting to a Bolivian licence | only with a permanencia definitiva | Bs 225 for category P |
Can a young car come along?
On paper yes, if it is no older than one year, counted from the model year, does not run on diesel up to and including 4,000 cc, and has no damage. Then you pay the ordinary import duties and taxes. For a used car the regulation also asks for an environmental certificate (certificado medioambiental) on import.
In 2020 DS 4373 was to set the limit at two years, but DS 4403 revoked that decree before it entered into force. In 2022 DS 4687 amended the import bans again. That amendment touched the rules for damaged cars and chassis numbers, not the one-year limit and not the diesel rule. Before shipping, ask the Aduana Nacional whether the rule still applies to your car.
Do not ship your car before the Aduana has confirmed it may enter. For most people selling in the Netherlands and buying in Bolivia is the simplest route.
How does the tourist vehicle work?
If you enter Bolivia overland, you register the car with customs using the form for tourist vehicles, the SIVETUR. You show your identity document and the car's proof of ownership. Customs gives you 90 days at most; if you were given less, you can ask for an extension up to 90 days. If you have not left 20 days after it expires, the car is confiscated (article 231 of the customs regulation). NederlandWereldwijd advises registering the vehicle with customs in advance.
That is an arrangement for a trip, not a move. Anyone going to live in Bolivia cannot keep the car there this way.
What about your driving licence?
In Bolivia your Dutch licence is only valid together with an international driving permit, NederlandWereldwijd writes. Arrange that international permit in the Netherlands before you leave.
Conversion (homologación) is possible at the SEGIP, but only if you hold a permanencia definitiva or indefinida. You bring proof of it, your licence, and a medical certificate from an accredited centre, which costs Bs 50. The licence for a passenger car (category P) costs Bs 225.
If you still have a permanencia temporal, you get a new Bolivian licence as a foreign resident. For that the SEGIP asks for:
- your valid cédula de extranjero;
- a medical and psychological certificate from an accredited centre;
- a certificate of driving skill from an accredited driving school;
- police certificates on your record.
That licence also costs Bs 225 for category P. It stays valid as long as your cédula de extranjero. How to get that is in registration and numbers.
What do you arrange in the Netherlands?
If you take the car anyway, or sell it to someone abroad, you deregister it with the RDW for export. Only then do the insurance obligation, the MOT obligation and road tax stop. The RDW warns: do not deregister the car before you know which papers the importing country asks for. You don't get the bpm back when you export to Bolivia: that refund only applies if the car is permanently registered in another EU country or in Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.
Your removal goods go separately and under different rules; see household goods to Bolivia.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Bolivia or go straight to step 4.3 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Aduana Nacional — circular 052/2022 with DS 4687, the latest amendment of the import bans in article 9 of the regulation DS 28963 (the age limit and the diesel rule of DS 2232 stayed in place) — aduana.gob.bo
- Aduana Nacional — tourist vehicles, 90 days at most and confiscation after 20 days late — aduana.gob.bo
- Aduana Nacional — the customs regulation (DS 25870), article 192 paragraph III, a car is not household goods — aduana.gob.bo
- SEGIP — driving licence for foreigners, new or converted, and the fees — segip.gob.bo
- NederlandWereldwijd — travel advice for Bolivia, Dutch licence only valid with an international driving permit — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- RDW — exporting a vehicle and stopping the registration — rdw.nl
- Belastingdienst — refund of bpm when exporting a used car — belastingdienst.nl
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