Importing a vehicle to Jamaica as a returning resident

Coming home after years abroad, a lot of people want to bring the car they already own. Jamaica has a specific route for that. The Trade Board Limited issues an import permit to returning residents that relaxes one rule in particular, the age limit, on conditions about how long you have owned the vehicle and how soon after relocating you bring it in. This guide sets out what the permit does, what it does not do, and what to check before you ship.

What the permit allows

The standard age limit for a car is six years from the year of manufacture. A returning resident may import a vehicle that exceeds the normal limit for its category, capped at ten years old. The conditions attached are these:

• You must have owned the vehicle for at least six months before applying for the permit.
• You must import the vehicle within six months of relocating to Jamaica.
• The permit carries a one-year bar on selling the vehicle after it arrives.

Put together, the permit is designed for someone bringing a vehicle they have genuinely been driving abroad, not for buying an older car in the months before moving in order to import it cheaply. The six-month ownership requirement and the one-year sale bar are there to make that distinction hold.

It is a Trade Board permit

The permit is issued by the Trade Board, the same body that issues every motor vehicle import licence in Jamaica. It is applied for before the vehicle ships, and as with any licence, Jamaica Customs is clear that the vehicle must not ship until it is issued. The Trade Board publishes its import permit procedures for returning residents on its own site, and answers questions on 876-967-0507 and 876-967-0674. Read the procedure page before you assume anything about eligibility, because “returning resident” has a definition, and it is the Trade Board’s definition that counts, not the everyday meaning.

What the permit does for you is the age limit. It does not change which category the vehicle falls in, and it does not override any of the other rules that apply to every import: the pre-shipment inspection for a used vehicle, the prohibition on damaged and salvaged vehicles, and the requirement that a licensed customs broker clear the entry.

What this site does and does not price

This is the part to read carefully. Jamaica Customs may offer returning residents concessions on duty, on terms Customs sets and publishes. Clearie does not price those terms. The calculator on this site uses the standard bands from the dealer rate sheet, which are the rates a vehicle pays when it is imported without any concession. If you hold a returning resident permit, treat the calculator’s figure as the ceiling: what the vehicle would cost to clear at the full rates. Then confirm with Jamaica Customs, in writing, what relief applies to your case, on what value, and with what conditions.

There is a practical reason to do it in that order. Any concession comes with strings, usually about disposal of the vehicle, and it may be assessed on a different basis from the standard bands. Knowing the full-rate figure first tells you what the concession is actually worth, and what you would owe if you later broke one of its conditions.

Valuing a vehicle you already own

Customs assesses duty on the CIF value of the vehicle: its cost, plus insurance, plus freight to Kingston, converted to Jamaican dollars at the Bank of Jamaica rate on the day of clearance. On a vehicle you bought years ago and are shipping yourself, there is no fresh invoice from an exporter, so be ready to show what the vehicle is worth and what the shipping cost. Your broker will tell you what Customs expects to see. The CIF and FOB guide explains how the value is built up, and the exchange rate page shows the rate that will be applied.

The documents the broker needs

Motor vehicles must be cleared by a licensed customs broker, who prepares the Special Declaration and lodges the entry. For a returning resident the document list is the standard one, with the permit in place of an ordinary licence:

• The import permit issued by the Trade Board before shipping.
• The title or export certificate, issued to you by the government of the country the vehicle is coming from.
• The bill of lading from the shipping line or agent.
• An invoice or evidence of what you paid for the vehicle.
• A Tax Compliance Certificate from Tax Administration Jamaica.
• The Special Declaration, prepared by the broker and signed by you.
• The pre-inspection certificate for a used vehicle, issued by an approved inspection company in the export country before shipping.

Two of these catch people out. The pre-shipment inspection applies to a used vehicle whoever owns it, so a car you have driven for five years still has to be inspected before it is loaded. And a Tax Compliance Certificate needs a Taxpayer Registration Number, so if you have been away long enough not to have one, or not to remember it, sort that out early. The brokers guide covers what to ask when you engage one.

The one-year bar

The permit’s condition against selling the vehicle within a year is the one most likely to be tested by circumstances. Plans change, the car turns out to be wrong for Jamaican roads, or the money is needed. Understand before you ship that the vehicle is tied to you for that period, and ask the Trade Board what the consequences of an early disposal are, because the answer will shape whether bringing the car is worth it compared with selling it abroad and buying here.

Before you ship

• Confirm you meet the Trade Board’s definition of a returning resident, and that you can evidence six months of ownership.
• Confirm the vehicle is ten years old or less from its year of manufacture, counted to the month it will land.
• Apply for the permit and have it issued before the vehicle is loaded. Do not let a shipper talk you into sending it first.
• Book the pre-shipment inspection in the export country.
• Ask Jamaica Customs, in writing, what concession applies to you and on what conditions.
• Engage a licensed customs broker before the vehicle arrives and give them the full document list.

For the full-rate figure to measure any concession against, run the vehicle through the calculator.