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First registration of an imported car in Serbia

An imported car is registered at the MUP unit for the owner's place of residence, after customs clearance, the vehicle test and a technical inspection. You pay the MUP fees and the cost of making the plates and documents, and also insurance, the inspection, the vehicle-use tax and the municipal tax; the pages linked below give the amounts. You get plates at once and the registration certificate (saobraćajna dozvola) within 30 days.

Who registers the car, and where

Only MUP enters a car in the unified vehicle register, at the MUP unit for the owner's place of residence or a company's seat (Road Traffic Safety Law, article 268). Inspection stations do not register cars: with MUP authorisation they issue stickers only for cars already registered.

You can book an appointment for filing the request on eUprava. An agent with a certified power of attorney may file it for you.

How to drive the car before it is registered

A Serbian resident may drive a car on German export (ZOLL) plates until it is registered or the export document expires, but for no more than 5 days after entering Serbia (Road Traffic Safety Law, article 273).

Otherwise use PROBA plates, for the drive to customs clearance and to the place of registration. They are valid for at most 15 days, for the route and driver named in their certificate. Apply at the MUP unit for the place the car is driven from, or at a company MUP has authorised, with proof of ownership, compulsory insurance (AO) and ID, among other documents. From 12 September 2026 they cost 370 RSD for the request, 1,760 RSD per day of use and 462 RSD per pair in production costs.

Insurance and the technical inspection

Before registering, take out compulsory third-party insurance (AO) and have the technical inspection done, where you show the test certificate (uverenje o ispitivanju) issued by the Road Traffic Safety Agency (ABS). The price and the rules of each step are on the pages linked below.

MUP fees and document costs

Before filing the request, you pay the state administrative fees and the costs of making the saobraćajna dozvola, the sticker and the plates. The amounts, and how to pay them, are on the page linked below.

Vehicle-use tax, municipal tax and transfer tax

The vehicle-use tax and the municipal tax are also paid at registration; an imported car pays no transfer tax. The pages linked below give the amounts and how each is paid, and when the transfer tax is due.

Documents to bring to MUP

  • the registracioni list from the technical inspection, not older than 30 days
  • the AO policy
  • proof of origin and ownership: the foreign registration certificate and the invoice or purchase contract
  • proof that customs and tax obligations are settled (the JCI)
  • your ID
  • the paid slips: fees, production costs, vehicle-use tax, municipal tax

MUP converts foreign ownership documents into electronic form and keeps them. Whether customs keep the original German registration document, and whether MUP wants certified translations, was not confirmed; ask MUP before you file.

What you receive

MUP then issues the plates, the sticker and a registration confirmation (potvrda o registraciji), which replaces the saobraćajna dozvola until the dozvola is issued. The dozvola follows within 30 days of a complete request (registration rulebook, article 8), and you return the confirmation when you collect it. Urgent issue of the dozvola, without proof of urgency, costs 5,000 RSD (MUP services decree, article 5).

The sticker is valid for one year. Later stickers can also be issued by an authorised inspection station.

Is there a deadline after customs clearance?

No statutory deadline for registering after customs clearance was found in the Road Traffic Safety Law or the registration rulebook, though that does not prove there is none. The time limits that do apply are 5 days on export plates, 15 days on PROBA plates and 30 days for the registracioni list.

Common mistakes

  • "You need a statement of how the car entered the country." Neither MUP's list nor the registration rulebook names one.

Work out the whole cost

Sources

The official laws, decisions and pages this guide rests on, read on 23/09/2026. Rules and amounts change, so check the ones that matter to you before you buy.