Your car to Greece: first the Euro standard, then the paper from the Netherlands

Q: First: does your car meet the standard?

Greece does not admit cars with Euro 1, 2 or 3, or cars whose emissions cannot be demonstrated , for import and registration. This is not a levy you can pay. It is a ban. So before anything else, look on your registration certificate or in the RDW vehicle register for the emission class. If it says Euro 3 or older, that is the end of it: selling in the Netherlands and buying something there is the only route. Do that check early, because a moving plan that hangs on a car that isn't allowed into the country has to be made again.

Q: How does the route in Greece run?

With the certificate in hand it goes as follows: Present yourself at the customs office , immediately on arrival, with the transfer-of-residence certificate, the registration certificate, the export certificate and proof that you used the car for at least six months. The exemption is applied to the registration tax. Technical inspection at the ΚΤΕΟ , the Greek vehicle testing station. Issue of the Greek registration and the plates. Count on an intermediary who does the paperwork. That is customary in Greece and usually worth the money.

Greece waives the registration tax in full if you move — but only with a transfer-of-residence certificate that you have to collect from the Greek consulate in the Netherlands, before departure. And there is a harder limit that can cut everything off: cars with Euro 1, 2 or 3 are not allowed into the country.

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Written and checked by Auke on 6 October 2026, against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.

Yes, you can take your car to Greece without registration tax. If you move your normal residence (the place where you actually live), a full exemption applies to the car you used for at least six months. That exemption can run into thousands of euros.

Two conditions decide whether it works:

The car must be at least Euro 4, the European emissions standard.
Before departure you collect a transfer-of-residence certificate from the Greek consulate in the Netherlands.

First: does your car meet the standard?

Greece does not admit cars with Euro 1, 2 or 3, or cars whose emissions cannot be demonstrated, for import and registration. This is not a levy you can pay. It is a ban.

So before anything else, look on your registration certificate or in the RDW vehicle register for the emission class. If it says Euro 3 or older, that is the end of it: selling in the Netherlands and buying something there is the only route. Do that check early, because a moving plan that hangs on a car that isn't allowed into the country has to be made again.

Then: the six-month rule

The exemption applies to the vehicle you have used for at least six months in your previous country of residence before the issuing of the transfer-of-residence certificate. In practice that means: don't buy a new car just before you leave in the hope of bringing it along tax-free. The clock starts with use in the Netherlands, not with arrival in Greece.

On top of that, the law requires that before the move you had your normal residence outside Greece for at least 24 months. If you come from the Netherlands, you usually meet that automatically. If you already lived in Greece for part of the past two years, check this before you count on the exemption.

Which paper do you collect in the Netherlands?

This is the step most often skipped, and it can't be repaired afterwards.

In Greek the transfer-of-residence certificate is called the πιστοποιητικό μετοικεσίας. You get it from the Greek consular post in the country where you have your normal residence at that moment. So in the Netherlands, before you leave. That has two consequences:

The date on that certificate counts as the date on which you move your normal residence. So it is also the reference point for the six-month rule above.
The certificate is valid for twelve months. Within those twelve months the car has to be presented to Greek customs and the exemption applied.

If you have already moved and don't have the certificate, the exemption is gone and you pay registration tax after all. So plan the consulate appointment in the same period as your extracts and your CAK application.

How does the route in Greece run?

With the certificate in hand it goes as follows:

Present yourself at the customs office, immediately on arrival, with the transfer-of-residence certificate, the registration certificate, the export certificate and proof that you used the car for at least six months.
The exemption is applied to the registration tax.
Technical inspection at the ΚΤΕΟ, the Greek vehicle testing station.
Issue of the Greek registration and the plates.

Count on an intermediary who does the paperwork. That is customary in Greece and usually worth the money.

What do you arrange on the Dutch side?

Don't forget the export notification with the RDW (the Dutch vehicle authority): only after that do the insurance obligation, the MOT obligation and the road tax stop. The RDW adds itself: don't deregister your car before you know which documents Greece asks for, and apply for a lost registration certificate again before the export, because afterwards that is no longer possible.

The notification costs € 12 at an RDW location. You hand in the plates and receive:

a proof of deregistration;
the registration card with a corner cut off;
the export certificate (registration certificate part II), which you need in Greece.

After that you may drive on Dutch roads for another 14 days, with an export registration on white plates.

On export you can moreover reclaim part of the bpm paid from the Belastingdienst (the Dutch Tax Administration). Bpm is the tax you pay in the Netherlands when a car first gets a Dutch registration. You can reclaim it if the car:

received a Dutch registration on or after 16 October 2006;
is not a damaged vehicle;
is demonstrably registered in Greece within 13 weeks of the export status.

How much you get back depends on the age and value of the car.

The order that works:

Before departure, collect the transfer-of-residence certificate from the consulate. Also ask which Dutch papers Greek customs wants to see. The RDW itself advises that.
Do the export notification just before you leave. Then you have the export certificate with you, and the 13-week clock for the bpm only starts then.
Drive to Greece. The RDW only mentions the 14 days on Dutch roads. Ask your insurer whether you may also drive through the other countries on export plates, or have the car transported.
On arrival, declare the car immediately at the nearest Greek customs office. The Greek customs law requires that.
Complete the Greek registration within 13 weeks of the export notification.

Time limit or amount	What applies
Permitted emission class	at least Euro 4; Euro 1, 2 and 3 may not enter the country
Use before the transfer certificate	at least 6 months
Normal residence outside Greece before the move	at least 24 months
Validity of the transfer-of-residence certificate	12 months
RDW export notification	€ 12; then 14 days of driving with an export registration
Bpm refund	registration in Greece within 13 weeks of the export status

What does it cost, roughly?

The exemption removes the biggest item. What remains is the customs handling, the ΚΤΕΟ inspection, the number plates and the intermediary's fee. What it means for your car — including the bpm refund on the Dutch side — is worked out by the cost estimate for Greece.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines monitored. See the whole journey to Greece.

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.

AADE — customs and tax exemption on transferring your normal residence to Greece — aade.gr
National Customs Code (ν. 5222/2025), article 157 — the exemption on relocation — taxheaven.gr
National Customs Code (ν. 5222/2025), article 145 — a car from the EU is declared to customs immediately on entry — taxheaven.gr
gov.gr — registration of a new or second-hand vehicle — gov.gr
AADE — temporary importation of private vehicles and personal items — aade.gr
RDW — exporting a vehicle — rdw.nl
Belastingdienst — bpm refund on export — belastingdienst.nl

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