CERTIFICATES
8.1 What are certificates?
8.2 Requirements for the legalization of certificates
8.3 Requirements to take pets to Venezuela
8.4 Requirements to take a car and other belongings to Venezuela (Requirements for vehicles; household furnishings/items)
8.1 What are certificates?
In general, certificates are public documents relating to some sort of commercial, customs or for-profit activity. They include: Certificates of Origin, Certificates of Ageing, Phytosanitary Certificates, Quality Certificates, Certificates indicating Human Consumption, Certificates for Free Sale, Certificates of Purity, Animal Health Certificates, etc.
8.2 Requirements for the legalization of certificates
For a certificated to be legalized, the Consular Section requires:
• That the certificated be issued by a Health, Agriculture or otherwise appropriate Department, whatever the case calls for. The certificate should contain a signature from the agency as well as a seal.
• A money order for $70 for each certificate.
• If the process is done by mail, attach a stamped envelope in order to receive the legalized document.
Notes:
• Documents can only be legalized by a Consular Office when they are issued within the corresponding jurisdiction, and when the notary public or relevant authority is registered within the jurisdiction. The Consular Office as an archive of signatures and seals from corresponding authorities.
• For Study Documents, if the person is Venezuela, a document demonstrating citizenship will be asked for in order to the service to be free of charge.
8.3 Requirements to take pets to Venezuela
· Present a certificate of vaccination, issued at most six months earlier by a veterinarian, to the Agriculture or Animal Health Department for legalization. Dogs must be vaccinated against the Parvus virus.
· Present these documents to the Consulate of your jurisdiction. The cost is $70.
8.4 Requirements to take a car and other belongings to Venezuela (Regulation of passenger baggage, requirements for vehicles, requirements for household furnishings/items)
8.4.1 Regulation of Passenger Baggage
8.4.2 Vehicles
8.4.3 Household furnishings/items
8.4.1 Regulation of Passenger Baggage
People considered passengers are those nationals or residents of the country who enter or leave the national territory through places using customs offices aboard public or private transportation.
8.4.2 Vehicles
Requirements:
- Completing the Certificado de Uso de Vehículo form, signing it in the presence of a notary public, and then having the notary’s signature guaranteed at Court.
- 2 copies of the vehicle’s Title of Ownership, notarized and having the notary’s signature guaranteed at a Court.
- Original purchase receipt
- Original title which establishes that the vehicle has been the property of the requesting party for 11 months or more
- Valid original passport and a photocopy of the complete passport
- Cashier’s check or money order for seventy dollars ($70) made out to “Embajada de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela”. Cash and personal checks are not accepted.
The importing of used vehicles for the transportation of people, which enter under the regulation of passenger baggage, is regulated by Housing Ministry Regulation Number 924 of August 29, 1991, as published in Federal Registry Number 34,790 on September 3, 1991. This regulation states:
“Each passenger can only introduce one vehicle as part of their baggage, with no restrictions regarding make or model.”
“The passenger must be of age and must have resided abroad for a period of no less than one (1) year; this period may be interrupted by short exits and entries, as long as her or hi residency does not change.”.
“The vehicle must by the property and for the personal use of the passenger, and this must be supported by a license or original certificate of registration issued in the passenger’s name by the relevant authorities of the country of the vehicle’s origin. This certificate must be issued no less than eleven (11) months before entry into the country.”
“For the nationalization of the vehicle, the object of these regulations, the interest party must present duly legalized documentation to the Consul of Venezuela or whoever is in charge of those duties, which establish that the interested party has used the vehicle as its owner for a period of no less than eleven (11) months. This documentation should include an original receipt of purchase made by the passage or a substitute document from the originating country establishing the resale of the vehicle, as well as a completed copy of the corresponding form.
Cars used to the transportation of people who enter the country under these regulations are free from paying the Import Tax. They must pay the Customs Services Tax which is equivalent to 2% of the CIF value, as long as the value of the new car does not exceed the equivalent of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) in Venezuelan currency. If this is the case, the passenger must also pay a Customs Tariff of 35% ad valorem of the vehicle’s CIF value. For the vehicle to be free of taxes its price at the time it was available for sale should not exceed 20 thousand dollars.
NOTE 1: Vehicles that enter under these regulations cannot be ceded or transferred for a period of three (3) years, beginning at the time of the vehicle’s nationalization. Moreover, under these regulations a passenger will not be able to bring another vehicle into the country until three (3) years have passed.
NOTE 2: The original ownership title of the vehicle should be stamped with the Embassy’s round seal. This document should be presented to U.S. customs authorities with the rest of the documentation As such, for the preparation of the Certificate of use, a copy of the vehicle’s title of ownership containing an apostille should be included.
8.4.3 Household furnishings/items
Decree Number 3,175 of September 30, 1993, published in Federal Registry Number 35,313 on October 7, 1993, a regulation of the Organic Law of Customs over Regulations of Liberation, Suspension and Other Special Customs Regulations, states the following in Article 136:
- Household furnishings/items are free from paying customs taxes as long as they have been used by the passenger for a period of no less than six (6) months. The passenger must present documentation to this effect issued by the corresponding consular authority.
- The introduction of vehicles considered as baggage will be regulated by orders established by the Housing Ministry pending resolution.
Please call the Consular Office in your jurisdiction for more information about the process of repatriating personal goods and your vehicle.
