Your car and driving licence in Scotland: NOVA, converting a left-hand-drive car and the low emission zones
Your Dutch driving licence stays valid in Scotland until you are seventy, and exchanging it needs no test. The car may come too, but a left-hand-drive car needs converted headlamps, a speedometer in miles and a British approval. And in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee an old diesel or petrol car cannot enter the city centre without a fine.
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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.
Yes, your car may come to Scotland, and so may your Dutch driving licence. Scotland is part of Great Britain, so the rules are those of the DVLA (the British vehicle licensing agency) and HMRC (the British tax and customs authority), the same as in England. The licence is the easy part: as a resident you drive on it until you are seventy, and exchanging it needs no test and costs £43.
The car is the work. It goes in three steps:
- Within 14 days of arrival you tell HMRC about it.
- A left-hand-drive car under ten years old then needs a British approval (£100).
- Only then does the DVLA register it (£55), with a British number plate.
One thing really is Scottish: the low emission zones in the four big cities. More on that below.
How long may you drive on your Dutch licence?
If you became a resident before 67, you drive on your EU licence until 70. If you became a resident at 67 or later, you may do so for three years from that day. After that you exchange it.
One exception: if you got your Dutch licence by exchanging a licence from outside the EU, you may only drive on it in Great Britain for 12 months.
You may also exchange it earlier, without a test. This is how:
- You get the D1 form from a Post Office that offers DVLA services.
- You send it with £43 and your Dutch licence.
- The British licence usually arrives within three weeks.
If you have told the DVLA about a medical condition, it takes longer.
May the car come without import charges?
Yes, under Transfer of Residence relief, the same as for your household goods. The conditions:
- You lived outside the UK for at least 12 consecutive months.
- You had the car for at least 6 months.
- You bring it in within 12 months of your move.
- You do not lend, hire out or sell it in the first 12 months.
Which offices follow after arrival?
| Step | Deadline or cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tell HMRC (NOVA) | within 14 days of arrival | if you drive it over yourself, you tell HMRC's CARS team; late can mean a fine |
| European Certificate of Conformity | from the manufacturer | proof of approval for a car from the EU |
| GB conversion IVA (left-hand drive, under 10 years old) | £100; 5 to 10 working days when paying by card | garage letter with the 17-character VIN, no more than 3 months old |
| Registration with the DVLA | £55, plus the first vehicle tax | registration certificate (V5C) up to 6 weeks; you do not get your Dutch registration certificate back |
| Vehicle tax, car from after 1 April 2017 | £200 a year from the second payment | the first payment depends on CO2 emissions |
| MOT (the British roadworthiness test) | at most £54.85 | from the third anniversary of registration, then every year; driving without a valid MOT means a fine of up to £1,000 |
The order is fixed. Without a processed NOVA and without proof of approval, the DVLA will not register the car. Send originals with the registration, not copies. And until those steps are done, the car may not use a public road, except to a pre-booked MOT or approval test. Otherwise, GOV.UK says, you can be prosecuted.
What does the approval of a left-hand-drive car require?
The GB conversion IVA is a paper procedure with the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). You show that the car meets British requirements on three points, with a detailed statement from a garage:
- Headlamps that dip to the left. Stickers and beam benders are explicitly not accepted.
- A speedometer in miles per hour, alongside or instead of kilometres. Add-on devices or stickers do not count.
- A rear fog light on the right or in the centre, or on both sides.
If the car is over ten years old, you do not need this approval and go straight to the DVLA.
Have your garage write down exactly what it did. The statement must be on the garage's letterhead, quote the 17-character VIN, be no more than three months old, and say for each point what was changed or that it was already standard.
What are the low emission zones?
Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow each have a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in the city centre. The zones apply day and night, public holidays included. Cameras read every number plate. You cannot prepay to drive in anyway.
A car may enter if it meets the European emission standard:
- petrol: at least Euro 4;
- diesel: at least Euro 6.
| Contravention with the same car in the same zone | Penalty |
|---|---|
| first | £60 |
| second | £120 |
| third | £240 |
| fourth and beyond | £480 |
If you pay within 14 days, the penalty is halved. If you do not pay and a charge certificate follows, 50% is added. If you go 90 days without a contravention, the count starts again at £60. Which streets are in a zone is on each council's website.
Bring it or sell it?
On paper the British costs are manageable: NOVA costs nothing, the approval £100 and the registration £55. What decides the sum is something else:
- converting the headlamps and speedometer, which varies by model;
- the weeks the car stands still until registration is done;
- whether the car may enter the LEZ in the city where you will live.
If the sum disappoints, selling in the Netherlands and buying a right-hand-drive car in Scotland is the simpler route. Do that sum before the removal company comes.
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 Scotland 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.
- GOV.UK — importing a vehicle, the steps and prosecution if you use the road earlier — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — importing vehicles, telling HMRC within 14 days (NOVA), Scotland included — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — vehicle approval on import, the CoC and the £100 GB conversion IVA — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — registering an imported vehicle with the DVLA, £55 and up to 6 weeks — gov.uk
- VCA — application form for GB conversion IVA for passenger cars, headlamps, speedometer and fog light — assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- GOV.UK — exemption from vehicle approval for cars over 10 years old — gov.uk
- HMRC — Transfer of Residence, your car included — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — driving in Great Britain on an EU licence as a resident — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — exchanging an EU licence, the D1 form and £43 — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — when a car needs an MOT, and the fine of up to £1,000 — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — the maximum MOT test fee — gov.uk
- GOV.UK — vehicle tax rates — gov.uk
- Scottish Government (lowemissionzones.scot) — the four Scottish low emission zones, day and night, with cameras — lowemissionzones.scot
- Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 — Euro 4 for petrol, Euro 6 for diesel (regulation 2) — legislation.gov.uk
- Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 — the £60 penalty and the doubling (regulation 4 and schedule 4) — legislation.gov.uk
- Road Traffic Act 1988, section 47 — the MOT for an imported car — legislation.gov.uk
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