Some of you might know (and others won't) that Easter last year I brought up my car to Norway. That was that trip with the Color Line from Kiel to Oslo (see post).
Before bringing it up here I asked at the toll (= Norwegian word for customs) about the rules, regulations and conditions for driving a foreign registered car in Norway. "Nothing. Up to one year you can driver it without any special arrangements. Just keep a document (e.g. a limited working contract) in the car" was the answer. I have to mention that everything refers to the date that I came to Norway and not the car, i.e. everything is measured from the 21st of March 2009 when I moved to Oslo.
When I first came here I had a limited contract of 5 months only. So it was never up for discussion to keep it any longer. Thus, I brought up my car, put the contract in it as it was explained to me and I was fine.
But then I got my contract renewed: until the end of 2009 and then until the end of 2010. I realised I might keep my car here longer than a year. So I contacted the customs again and asked what I had to do in that case. They told me in order to keep it longer than a year one has to apply for having it a second year - which should be a matter of formality. After two years there is no way of keeping a foreign registered car in Norway: you have to import and register it here. Fine for me, because given my actual contract by March 2011 I anyway wouldn't be here anymore. My plan was to bring my car home in November 2010, right before the snow comes... because my car is still on summer tires, the tires I came with for the summer 2009 only.
For applying for having the car in Norway for another year I was told to bring:
- my passport
- my car papers
- my work contract
- a form I had to fill out and sign (he told me where exactly to download it from the internet)
Thus, sometime in March 2010 (I admit I can't remember anymore when exactly) I went to the customs office in Oslo and wanted to register for having it until March 2011. All papers I brought were ok, but apparently I was missing 1 document (which I wasn't told to bring so how could I know?): a paper that states that I hadn't been in Norway the two years before I came in March 2009. Which stupid document could show that? I hadn't been working in Germany on a tax card, my subscription to university expired with my graduation... I was simply living as a German citizen in my own home country. Hmm... so which document would fit the Norwegian toll's purpose? Maybe a letter showing that I was on the dole? I mean the German state wouldn't grant me unemployment benefits if I wasn't living in Germany, but in Norway, right? Well, I tried it with that paper then.
Of course it took me some time to get that paper and how things are going you are busy at work, travelling, the customs have shit opening times and that issue falls a bit in the background and some levels down on your to-do list. So in the end I only made it to their office again on 21st May 2010.
All papers seemed complete now and after asking the guy at the counter told me "no no, no problems with it". I also asked him which of my 3 working contracts that I brought he needed and he was fine with having jsut the last one from 01.01.2010 - 31.12.2010. "Everything is ok now", he said, "you'll receive a letter/confirmation per post which you have to show again when you take the car out of Norway". Ok, fine. So this issues is crossed off my list.
Or that's at least what I thought until I received a 4 pages long letter from the customs full with paragraphs in Norwegian. I received that letter 22/07, the evening Marco arrived and thus the evening before I was leaving with Marco on a weekend trip (see next post). What those 4 Norwegian pages wanted to tell me was:
1.) I filed the application for having my car in Norway for a second year only on 21/05, i.e. two months too late.
2.) There is no documentation given about my legal stay in Norway before beginning of 2010. Thus, since my stay in their perspective wasn't legitimate, my car had no right of being in Norway either (please remember that the guy didn't wanna have my first two contracts, only the third one, so of course they didn't have documention about my stay before. Furthermore though, I'm an officially registered person at the immigration office they have all my documention about my stay here). Anyway...
Result (and that was written in the letter in bold and underlined - to make sure that I really got that message):
"From right now on you are no longer allowed to drive your car. We reserve the right to confiscate your car if you cannot present the missing documentation legalising your and thus the car's stay before 2010."
Ok, no worries, Lilian. The guy at the customs that day just made a mistake by not taking all contracts. But I have them, 3 contracts since 21/03/2009 without gaps... Of course that night no one would answer on the phone, so I called them right the next morning. Especially because I had to sort that issue out before the weekend: I wanted to leave with Marco for the weekend. And how am I supposed to do that without my car?
I explained the whole story to that lady on the phone and also told her that I could immediately come by or send her the missing contracts. However, she told me that the problems were two: the one of the missing documents about my stay here and then also the delay of my application. In order to take up this "case" again she asked me to write her immediately an email, sending her all documentation; she would be on her way on holidays few hours later.
So I did immediately when arriving in the office. I scanned all the contracts and explained that I did try to register for that second year in March 2010, that I was missing a document and that then the guy said in May everything was fine etc.
I didn't actually know that you had to apply WITHIN the first year of having the car in Norway. When having been at the customs office for the first time in March 2010, the guy that told me that I was missing still one paper, he could have told me that it was THAT important to do that all still BEFORE the 21/03/10. I would have made sure to do it all on time.
Anyway, the lady had my email and she would have a look at it still that day, because I needed the permission by that evening. Later on I had her on the phone then and she said that my contracts are alright. They do show that I was here and that's ok now, BUT (and that was a veeeeeeeeeeeery big but): by fact I applied too late. There was no way that she could give me this permission restrospectively... even not with now the complete documentation about my stay (which is the basis for granting a car for a second year). Too late is simply too late.
Meaning: I don't have the permission to drive (or even have) my car here, i.e. without that permission my car is illegally in Norway and could be confiscated.
And: I won't be able to go on the weekend tour with Marco (and also rental cars were no longer available at that short notice)
Solutions:
The lady gave me two choices:
1.) I fully register, that is I import my car to Norway: cost = a fortune (maybe 10.000 Euro! - not NOK)
2.) Take your car out of the country now within the next week.
The first option: I cannot pay all that money to import my car, let alone that I ever possessed such amount of money in my life! That's crazy!
Option 2: how the hell am I supposed to bring my car out of the country now? First, my colleague is on holidays thus I can't leave the office. Second, car ferries to Germany or Denmark (if they even have availability left) would cost a fortune now.
And if I promise not to touch and drive my car until I anyway wanted to bring it out of the country in November? "No, the car has no right to be where you are" to quote the customs lady.
And to bring it over the border to Sweden and bring it back later? Same answer: as long as I am in Norway my car has no right at all to be here.
While becoming paler and paler and starting to loose control we were already discussing with colleagues how I could resolve the situation and bring my car out of this place. Luckily some minutes later the lady from the toll called me back: "I have talked again to my boss. The facts are simply against you and the rules say that you have to apply within the first year of your stay for keeping your car longer, otherwise you will never get this permission. However, we could see that you did an effort and tried to do all the necessary within this deadline. Of course, we cannot proove if you really got wrong information from our colleagues about what was required for the application. So in your case we decided to make an exception and give you the permission. As your current contract expires 31.12.2010 we will authorise your car in Norway until the end of the year." I would get the official papers for that sent by post of course, but she would also write me an email about that so that I could leave for the weekend trip.
Mrs. G. have a nice trip and enjoy your holidays! Tusen tusen takk for hjelpen (thanks a lot for your help)!
Uhhh, that was a close thing.
And the moral of the story: don't fool around with the Norwegian customs; it's no joking matter. They surely don't stand for any nonsense... especially not when it comes to cars - MY car!
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