You're planning to drive around Australia with your own vehicle, to set out east on the Silk Road or want to go on a safari in Africa? A careful preparation is essential in advance. Among other documents, you will be asked for a Carnet de Passages at many border crossings outside Europe.
Carnet de Passages: An international customs document for the duty-free and temporary importation of a vehicle
Required in certain countries of Africa, Asia and South America as well as in Australia and New Zealand
Due to organizational reasons we can't welcome clients personally. Please contact us by phone or e-mail (cdp@adac.de).
Please send your expired Carnet by registered mail or courier to: ADAC e.V. GVK Hansastrasse 19 80686 München Germany
A personal drop-off is not possible.
When your journey is over and your vehicle is back in the country of registration, please present your vehicle and the Carnet to your national customs authority. It has to stamp and confirm the Certificate of Location (page 26 in the Carnet).
If you have a follow-up Carnet, please don't forget to send along a copy of the first page inside. This copy must contain the vehicle data as well as a foreign customs stamp.
Important information
Due to the quickly changing travel restrictions, you should get in touch with your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and check the current status of entry requirements first.
Please be alert to unannounced border closures at short notice worldwide - also for longer periods. We therefore recommend to contact your Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the embassy in the country you intend to visit.
When entering India with the Carnet de Passages, the Indian customs authority often requires a confirmation issued by ADAC. Hereby we confirm that your Carnet was issued by ADAC. As Indian customs authority often wants to receive this confirmation directly from ADAC, we don't send it to you with the Carnet. The request of this confirmation may cause delay on entry.
Since end of August 2016, vehicle importation rules in Indonesia have become stricter: Travellers, who would like to import their vehicle temporarily under a Carnet de Passages, have to provide different information to the Indonesian automobile club to avoid long waiting periods at the border. Please provide following information to the club (IMI) by e-mail at the latest one week before your planned entry: imi@imi.co.id
• Name • Country of residency • Carnet number • Port and date of entry to Indonesia • Itinerary plan in Indonesia • Port and date of exit from Indonesia
Generally, the Carnet de Passages is required for the temporary importation of a vehicle into Japan. Due to the ratification of different conventions on the road traffic, Japanese authorities don’t accept vehicle registrations from Germany, Switzerland, Monaco or Slovenia. Therefore, it is possible that the temporary importation will be refused even if you have a Carnet de Passages.
For further information please contact JAF directly: https://english.jaf.or.jp/use-jaf-more/bringin/carnet*. This is why you have first to let verify the Carnet at the Japanese Automobile Association JAF. After the verification, your vehicle will be inspected and registered in Japan.
*By clicking on the links, you will be redirected to external websites for which the respective site operator is responsible.
At the moment, the Carnet de Passages is not accepted for the temporary importation. It is not clear at all, how the situation at the borders is.
Due to the current situation in Sudan, we can’t issue any Carnets for Sudan until further notice.
Since 1st of January 2017 there are stricter rules in Thailand concerning the temporary importation of your own vehicle. Please note that you need a permission for the temporary import. For further information please contact the Department of Land Transport of Thailand* at least 30 working days before your planned entry.
*By clicking on the links, you will be redirected to external websites for which the respective site operator is responsible.
An overview - Which country requires a Carnet?
Here you can see if you need a Carnet de Passages for your journey.
The Carnet de Passages can be issued in the name of only one person and for one vehicle. That means it is not transferrable to another person or vehicle. The document's holder is liable for consequences which reveal from loss or abuse of an unauthorized third party. The Carnet is regarded as an official document and stays property of ADAC. That's why the document's holder should keep it carefully.
Please send the complete documents for the application
original application form version 23A (3 pages) signed by the applicant
copy of ID or passport
copy of vehicle registration papers
original and signed collateral promise (3 pages), if you aren't the owner of the vehicle
for camping vehicles a copy of a current valuation report or proof of current vehicle value
copy of automobile membership card (affiliated to the FIA)
original bank guarantee form (if you have applied for one)
to following address: ADAC e.V. Grenzverkehr Hansastr. 19 80686 München/Munich Germany
You can download and print the application form for the Carnet de Passages here:
If your Carnet de Passages is going to expire or is running out of pages and you want to continue your journey, you will need a follow-up Carnet. Please apply for it 6 to 8 weeks before the expiry date of your Carnet at ADAC in Munich. For the issuing of the follow-up Carnet we need a new application form as well as the same documents of the first application. Please download here the current version. If you then decide to go to countries which are not covered by the actual Carnet, the deposit must be increased. If not, the deposit will be transferred to the follow-up Carnet. The issuing fee has to be paid again. Please use the actual table of fees.
The old Carnet will be stamped out on exit and the new one will be stamped in on entry.
If a vehicle cannot be exported from a country within the Carnet validity, it can usually be extended by another three months. This is only possible in a country where an automobile club exists.
Please apply for the extension 4 to 6 weeks before the expiry at ADAC and the foreign automobile club. The foreign automobile club will get in contact with foreign customs authority. We can provide the according contact details upon request. Customs authority has to give its approval for this extension. As soon as the extension was granted by customs authority, the foreign automobile club will ask for our permission. We will give our permission as soon as the extension fee (proportional paying based on the issuing fee) is on our bank account.
An extended Carnet is only valid in the country of extension. You can use it for leaving the country only, not for continuing your journey (please see Follow-up Carnet).
There are special rules in a few countries:
Extension South African Customs Union (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho)
Here you find answers to frequently asked questions concerning the Carnet de Passages:
The Carnet de Passages is a customs document and replaces the lodging of a deposit on entering a country. The Carnet guarantees the country you are visiting that your vehicle will be exported. It can be used in several countries and it is valid for one year. The insurance for the vehicle is not included.
The Carnet de Passages is valid for twelve months. The respective customs authority decides the maximum period of stay for the vehicle. This period can be different to the validity of the Carnet. An extension of the Carnet has to be asked for directly at the foreign automobile club or ADAC issues a Follow-up Carnet (please see tab Application/ Use). In both cases, please get in contact with us at least 6 weeks before expiry of the Carnet.
You have to lodge a deposit for the Carnet. The deposit depends on the vehicle value and the countries, you intend to visit. Additionally, you have to pay an issuing fee. In case you require a shipment by DHL Express, there will be an additional shipment fee.
The exact costs for the Carnet can be found in the application documents (please see table of fees).
As soon as all required documents (original and signed application form, copy of passport, vehicle registration papers and automobile membership card) and the payment of deposit and issuing fee have been received by ADAC, we need approximately 2 - 3 weeks for the issuing and dispatch. During high season from May to October and before Christmas holidays you should expect an issuing time of approximately 6 weeks.
Please send all required documents in time (at least four weeks prior to your trip to start). We can issue the Carnet maximum 28 days prior to Carnet validity date. Due to organizational reasons we can't keep an application form for more than six months. Shall your Carnet validity start in more than six months or you don't submit missing documents in this period, we will destroy your application documents under data security aspects. You will then have to send all required documents at a later time again.
As the individual equipment and interior of a camping vehicle vary a lot, we require a current proof of value when applying for a Carnet.
Please send us a copy of an official invoice (for body and built-in equipment) or a current valuation report. We require the value including VAT.
You can apply before your departure for the Carnet de Passages. Please clarify the dispatch modalities with ADAC.
Please note that the Carnet can be pre-dated only 28 days. The Carnet de Passages will be issued and sent on time to any address you wish by DHL. The costs for DHL have to be paid by the applicant.
In case your Carnet shall be valid in more than six months, you can't apply before your departure. Therefore we kindly ask you to send the required documents by email or post while on the move.
Please send your expired Carnet by registered mail or courier to: ADAC e.V. GVK Hansastrasse 19 80686 München Germany
A personal drop-off is not possible.
When your journey is over and your vehicle is back in the country of registration, please present your vehicle and the Carnet to your national customs authority. It has to stamp and confirm the Certificate of Location (page 26 in the Carnet).
If you have a follow-up Carnet, please don't forget to send along a copy of the first page inside. This copy must contain the vehicle data as well as a foreign customs stamp.
We recommend you to keep your vehicle registered because you will need a valid registration as soon as you return to Europe.
In most countries you are obliged to present a liability insurance. Probably your insurance company doesn’t offer a global liability insurance. That’s why it is possible to take out insurance at the border of a country with liability insurance duty. The Carnet de Passages does not include any vehicle insurance.
