Driving licences and bringing a car

Your licence

The UK is on gov.je’s list of countries whose licences exchange for a Jersey licence without retesting. The licence must be full and valid; provisional licences do not exchange, and not every category carries across. Licences from elsewhere vary — some exchange, some require a test.

There is no settling-in period for residents. gov.je is plain about it: if you become a permanent resident, or move here for more than 12 months, you must get a Jersey licence as soon as you move. The 12-month allowance people quote is for visitors.

Application forms are at your Parish Hall. Do it in the first week, alongside the registration card. You will also need the Jersey licence before the car can be registered, so leaving it holds up everything after it.

Importing a vehicle, and the tax

GST in Jersey is 5%, and on an imported car it is charged on the total value, freight and insurance included. That is the bill people fear. For most people moving house it does not arrive.

New residents can claim transfer-of-residence relief on their own household effects and private vehicles. The conditions, broadly: you have had the car at your former home for at least 6 months, you have lived outside Jersey for at least 12, and it keeps the same use here. Sell, hire out or give it away within 12 months and the tax becomes payable after all.

What relief does not cover is a car bought for the move, or one you have not owned long enough. Check the conditions against your dates before you book the shipping, not at the quay.

Registration and insurance

The car cannot be registered until Customs has cleared it, and you need your Jersey licence first. Driver and Vehicle Standards then inspects and registers it and issues Jersey plates. The fees were £46.10 for the inspection and £37.70 for registration (checked 2 October 2026), and Vehicle Emissions Duty is payable at first registration.

Insurance is arranged with an insurer writing Jersey risks — a smaller market than the UK, and worth getting quotes for before you ship rather than after.

Do you need the car you own?

Worth asking honestly. Jersey is nine miles by five. Distances are short, fuel spend is low, and a large vehicle is a liability on the lanes and in St Helier parking.

Public transport is good on the main routes into town and thin across the rural north, which is why households outside town often run two cars. The second one is often better bought here than shipped.

Driving here

The island maximum is 40 mph, and much of the network is lower. The Green Lanes — rural roads that give priority to pedestrians, cyclists and horses — carry a 15 mph limit.

The lanes are narrow, granite-walled and frequently blind. Filter in turn at junctions, which is a genuine local convention rather than an idea. Give it a month before you feel normal.