Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA; Welsh: Asiantaeth Trwyddedu Gyrwyr a Cherbydau) is the organisation of the UK government that is responsible for maintaining a database of drivers in Great Britain and a database of vehicles for the entire United Kingdom. Its counterpart for drivers in Northern Ireland is the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA). The agency issues driving licences, organises collection of vehicle excise duty (also known as road tax and road fund licence) and sells personalised registrations.
Make an application
Fill a apllication formYour vehicle may not have ever been registered before with DVLA if your car is a brand new car, a kit car, an importad car, an rebuilt or radically altered car or an old and classic vehicle : When you purchase a brand new vehicle, the dealer will usually be responsable for your its registration. Otherwise, you need to follow the process below. In order to ensure that keeper name and address details are accurate, DVLA can need from you some form of personnal identification. There are two kind of application form
-The V55/4 Application Form is used to apply for a first licence for a new vehicle and declaration for registration. Use this form if you are importing a new vehicle, kit car, etc.
-The V55/5 Application Form is used to apply for a first licence for a motor vehicle and declaration for registration. Use this form to register used or rebuilt vehicles.
Prepare identity documents
If possible you will need to send in a photocopy of your photocard driving licence with your application form in order to prove your identity. If you don't have this kind of card, you need to send in photocopies of one document that proves your name and another that proves your address. The documents you can use to confirm your name include: passport, marriage certificate, decree nisi or absolute, birth certificate or a current UK paper driving licence (not a paper counterpart). Examples of the documents you can use to confirm your address: recent utility bill (within the last 3 months) - e.g gas, electricity, water, recent bank or building society statement (within the last 3 months), medical card or council tax bill for current year.
Add some supporting documents needed for all vehicles
As well as documents to prove your identity, you must also send
-Payment for the vehicle tax
-The new registration fee of £55, unless you are exemple
-A current MOT certificate, if the vehicle is over 3 years old (over 4 years old in Northern Ireland)
-Any documents you have relating to the vehicle, e.g build plans if it's a kit car.
-An insurance certificate i place or cover note (if you’re registering the vehicle to an address in Northern Ireland)
After your application
DVLA may inspect the vehicle before assigning a registration. If your vehicle is approved, the DVLA will send you a V5C registration document showing the vehicle's registration number, keeper's name and address and other information about the vehicle. Any identity documents you provided to support your application will be returned.You will have to wait up to six weeks to receive the vehicle registration certificate.
This shows
-The vehicle’s registration number
-The vehicle keeper’s name and address
-Other information about the vehicle (the make, vehicle identification number (VIN) and number of previous keepers)
DVLA will also return your identity documents.
You’ll need to provide a prepaid self-addressed, special delivery envelope if you want the documents returned by special delivery.
DVLA cannot guarantee the return of the documents by a specific date but you should get a new registration certificate within 6 weeks of getting your application.
If you do not get a response
Contact DVLA if you’ve not had a response after 6 weeks. Do not wait longer than 3 months or DVLA will not be able to investigate properly.