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To drive a vehicle on Swiss roads, you need a vehicle registration certificate and number plates. These are obtained from the Road Traffic Office, where the vehicle must be registered. Essentially, it is the number plates that show you are authorised to drive on Swiss roads. In Switzerland, the canton of residence is responsible for vehicle registration. You can find the location of the Road Traffic Office for your canton of residence here (website in German, French and Italian only).
To complete the registration process, you may need to complete certain tasks beforehand or supply different documents, depending on your situation. To help ensure a smooth registration process, we have listed what you need to provide in the different possible scenarios:
Note: If you are registering a vehicle for the first time, you will always need:
Otherwise, you will need to take the old number plates with you to invalidate the the vehicle registration certificate.
Tip: If you need a vertical number plate (16x30cm) rather than a traditional horizontal one (11x50cm), you should inform the Road Traffic Office before you register.
Lost your vehicle registration certificate? Been summoned for a vehicle inspection? Or do you just need more information about the Road Traffic Office? We recommend you take a look at this page.
First contact your local Road Traffic Office.
If your vehicle is brand new, it won't usually have a vehicle registration certificate. Instead, you need the following documents to register:
First contact your local Road Traffic Office.
For used cars, a vehicle registration certificate already exists in the name of the previous owner. If the certificate has not yet been invalidated, you need to do so, to take the car off the road under these plates. To register the vehicle, you need the following documents:
If you move to a new canton, you cannot simply call the Road Traffic Office to notify them of a change of address. You have 14 days in which to visit the Road Traffic Office for your new place of residence. You will need to supply the following documents:
Tip: You can also submit the documents to the Road Traffic Office online or post them. The plates can be swapped at your local post office.
Remember that prices vary between cantons.
If you purchased the vehicle abroad without living in that country for more than one year, you must register this vehicle in Switzerland within one month of the date of import. If you planned to register the vehicle at a Swiss Road Traffic Office at a later date, you must invalidate the plates at the foreign registration office.
To bring the vehicle through customs, you need the following documents:
For new cars registered abroad less than 6 months previously (date of customs declaration applies), you must request a CO2 emissions certificate from the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) (page in German, French and Italian only).
The vehicle must also undergo a technical inspection in Switzerland, for which you will need to submit the following documents to the Road Traffic Office:
Once the vehicle has passed its technical inspection, you will be issued with the number plates, or the vehicle can be registered under the existing number plates.
If you have moved to Switzerland and want to import your vehicle from abroad, there are certain tasks you should complete beforehand. You can find out all you need to know here.
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