Registering and driving a foreign car in Italy

Many people want to bring their car with them when moving to Italy and keep asking questions about driving in Italy and registering their car.
It is certainly possible to bring your car with you when moving to Italy, although costs to ship the vehicle can be prohibitive. Also, three months after you become resident in Italy, the car must be registered in Italy and must therefore have an Italian registration plate. The registration costs can also be quite high.

Fines for not complying with the rules are between €400 to €1600, plus the equivalent of the carta di circolazione – the document allowing the car on the road – is taken away and the car is seized until the registration is completed or the car taken back abroad within 30 days (art.93bis CDS https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:1992-04-30;285!vig=).

That said, you may want to plan your car move accordingly.

This article is not exhaustive and is a guidance only.

If you need assistance with your move, please do get in touch.

Barbara De Benedittis Relocation and Legal in Italy