Ship Car To Nassau

The city of Nassau has its location on the island of New Providence and it’s the largest city, capital and commercial center. The island nation has splendid beaches, well developed fishing, exciting tourism opportunities and it is one of the most popular tourist destinations.

If you decide to relocate to the Nassau, you might want to consider a few things for importing your vehicle.

Left-side driving

They have left hand drive in the former British colony so if your car is right-handed you might want to take some time to adjust to the new way of driving. In any case, you would have to get used to left-side driving but other than that the traffic regulations are pretty similar to those in Canada and the USA. In any case, the traffic is rather congested but if you are used to driving in a big city you should have no problems driving in Nassau.

Ro/Ro vs. Container Shipping

There is a lot of merit to both shipping options. The RORO method is more affordable but it would also not allow you to ship any personal belongings. Your car would be shipped on a freight carrier and it would be exposed to the elements throughout the shipping. However, container shipping on the other hand is more expensive but your car is shipped in a private container and you can ship as many items as you want with it. Of course, the first procedure is far simpler than this one.

Customs Duty and other Taxes

The truth is that exporting your car to the Bahamas would be quite expensive. The taxes are based on the value of your car. You are charged 45% of the vehicle value is less than $10,000. However, if the value of the car is over $20,000, you have to pay 65%.

As per the Bahamas Customs Authority, there is also an additional 7% stamp tax. You are exempted on taxes if the vehicle that is being imported is going to be used as taxis or as part of the public transportation in the country. Both new and old vehicles are exempted  but old vehicles can’t be over 3 years of age. If you’ve received the right of exemption you can’t put the vehicle for sale, and has to be re-exported when you leave Nassau.

Required Documentation

The documents that you’d need are:

• Copy of your Commercial Invoice
• Insurance Policy
• Declaration Form from Customs

Once the vehicle reaches the Bahamas you have to take it to the Department of Road Traffic for registration, licensing and inspection. You are going to need all of the documents which were listed above including valid driver’s license and information form. You can use your own driver license for up to 3 months and you have to obtain a local one after that. The inspection fee is $35 but the registration cost is based on the weight of the vehicle. You can double check these numbers as they are subjected to regular update and alteration.