verification of info kindly needed :)

Hi sieczkoo

I will give you only one answer that should clarify some of the queries you have. If you want to apply for the exemption, it must be done within 30 days from the date the car enters Malta.
We just submitted all our documents this week to get this done & are still on Irish reg & Irish insurance (have it extended to have full cover till end of July).

Good luck

Any person transferring his/her residence from a place outside Malta to a place in Malta is entitled, under the Motor Vehicles Registration and Licensing Act (Cap. 368), to an exemption from
Motor Vehicle Registration Tax on an M1 vehicle (a vehicle used for the carriage of not more than eight passengers in addition to the driver) or a cycle (motor cycles, motor tricycles and quadricycles) which has been registered in the name of that person for a continuous period of at least twenty-four months immediately before the date of his/her transfer of residence to Malta and is still so registered when the vehicle is imported or brought into Malta. That person should also have lived outside Malta for a continuous period of at least twenty-four months immediately before transferring his/her residence to Malta.
A person who went to live outside Malta primarily for the purpose of pursuing a course of studies for duration of less than five years does not qualify for an exemption.
A vehicle is to be declared for exemption not earlier than two months before the date on which applicant becomes normally resident in Malta and not later then twelve months following that date.
A vehicle that has already arrived in Malta, the application has to be made by the person transferring his residence within 30 days from the arrival of the vehicle in Malta.

Thank you for your interest and replies. So do I have 30 days from the day I roll off the ferry to qualify for exemption even if I intend to be a tourist for first 3 months?
Please forgive me if I seem to be a bit dumb but after reading all of these posts I am actually more confused than I had been initially

'30 days from the day I roll off the ferry to qualify for exemption even if I intend to be a tourist for first 3 months?'

Yes, 30 days from the day you roll off the ferry :)If you stayed as a tourist and brought you car over later - that would be different.

thank you once again that might change all of my plans as I am not sure how quickly I find a job there. I thought I might be able to use these 3 months as a tourist as kind of postponing period which allows me to settle down. Would I be able to do so as non resident or I need to work on residency and car simultaneously?

Once you arrive in Malta start the e residency process and then start the car import process within 30 days. You can use your passport number until you get your temp residency paper for things like car insurance ( don't forget your proof of no claims).

thank you
Do I need to be employed to start applying for residency?

sieczkoo wrote:

thank you
Do I need to be employed to start applying for residency?

No

have found this hope it helps others as well http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/Downl … emid=10401

When you are ready to submit your registration documents (after receiving a positive reply regarding your exemption)you need to be sure how long your UK insurers will be prepared to continue to cover you in the EU. Our insurers would only give us 90 days from when we left the UK (we didn't mention to them that we were settling in Malta - just said an extended holiday)As a result we had to insure in Malta before registering the car and that's where the fun started. Many (if not all) insurers here will not give you your no claims bonus discount before seeing the no claims certificate. Our UK insurers wouldn't give us the certificate until we cancelled the insurance and insisted on mailing it to us - wouldn't send it by email! The only way round it was to pay the full insurance rate and have it refunded when the certificate arrived. The issue is though that the stamp duty etc is calculated on the high rate and you don't get that refunded. After a great deal of haggling and our car being uninsured for a day (parked) we got it sorted. Not a pleasant experience, so talk to your UK insurers before you leave and find out how they handle it.

Hello again,
After taking all your advise into my consideration and having a little brainstorm me and my wife rectified our entire plan.
We are still in UK and needed to ship lots of things back home (Poland) prior to our relocation to Malta (We are planning to take only essentials at the very beginning because as I mentioned in my previous posts we do only have a place to stay and no previously arranged employment). Therefore we decided to insure/MOT and tax the car in UK roughly one month before leaving England. (it is currently SORN-ed as we were not using it for last couple of months due to essential repairs that had to be done - I hope that is not going to be an issue regarding my future tax exemption application). I would obtain odometer certificate as well before leaving UK (does anyone know how long is it valid for?) and drive it back home taking all my staff with me (no furniture involved). Once I reach Poland I will leave my car over there (Will cancel my UK insurance asking them to send me my NCB prove etc. Would cancel my Road tax as no longer needed and obviously keep my MOT still valid for further 10 months). Then I will catch a flight to Malta from Poland or Germany as I am located very close to Berlin and ship some more personal belongings with my national post operator (prices are very low compared to shipping cost from UK, the parcel travels around 2 weeks though, but that is not relevant, as we still got 2*20 kg suitcases which  we could check in with our flight).
Once we reach Malta we will start working on our employment, accommodation and residency. When we sort out these and become residents or when we transfer our residency using Transport of Malta nomenclature, we will apply for an exemption.

As the law states:
A vehicle is to be declared for exemption not earlier than two months before the date on which applicant becomes normally resident in Malta and not later then twelve months following that date.

To my understanding I would have 12 months to apply from the day I became a resident. Obviously I need to do it before my MOT expires as I will not be able to pass such a test in Poland.
When my application is granted I will fly back home and drive my car to Malta (still having valid MOT, would have to organize some short term insurance). As in low season the Virtu ferry might get cheaper as well

So that how it looks like. Hope I have not missed anything this time as all these regulations regarding exemption and registration are as clear as mud.
Thank you again for all your kind replies.

The only problem that I can see is that when you get to Poland you say you will cancel your insurance and road tax. To do this you would have to declare the vehicle either SORN or exported.

If you SORN the vehicle you are stating that it is "off the road" it would not then be legal to drive in Europe, if you export it you would have to register it in Poland to keep it legal.
Once you leave the UK and either SORN or export the car the MOT is of no use at all as it is only valid in the UK if the vehicle is UK registered and insured.

Terry

Thank you for pointing that out Terry. I was thinking that this might cause some perturbation. I can not register it in Poland due to fact it is RHD. Was thinking to cancel insurance and declare it SORN in UK as there is no point of paying monthly installments once I am in Malta. When and if I will be ready to drive it to Malta will insure it and tax it again in UK (although vehicle would be in Poland physically) hence I need valid MOT. Perhaps would be better to have it taxed as you suggest.
Thank you for advice