A lot of people have asked us about how we keep our US-plated vehicle in Europe for so long without permanently importing it. We made a video to help explain the information we have found and what has worked for us in our last 2 years in Europe.

Please be aware that this is as of September 2020 and none of the information included here should be used as legal advice. These are simply our experiences in the last 24 months of us traveling across continental Europe.

The 27 EU countries (As of Sept 5th 2020)

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden

The 30 EEA countries (As of Sept 5th 2020)

  • The 27 EU member states plus
  • Liechtenstein
  • Iceland
  • Norway

The 26 Schengen countries (As of Sept 5th 2020)

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland

(The EU member states Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Croatia and Romania are not Schengen countries.)


Dan Lin

I am a modern nomad traveling full time around the world with my family since 2008. Currently in Europe living in our DIY Sprinter 4x4 Camper Van. You can find me sharing more about this lifestyle on Instagram or YouTube. For our travel content, check out malimish.com.

1 Comment

Lance · August 30, 2021 at 11:14 am

Dan, just viewed your video on extending a temporary vehicle permit in Europe. I am somewhat familiar with the process of shipping a vehicle as I’ve twice shipped a VW Camper to Europe and once to Australia. I think I had a year available to me in Australia. I briefly looked at buying a car in Europe and selling it a year or two later. Not having a European residence seemed to make this impossible, is that correct? Anyway, is there a better country to ship to for ease of transfer? I can ship from Canada or USA. Am I correct in saying that since England is no longer in the EU, that taking a ferry over to England from Europe or landing in England and taking the ferry to Europe – would give me another 180 days? Enough questions, yikes. I enjoyed your video and subscribed to your blog. Lance

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *