The absentee transfer is the process where court gives URA full authority to change motor vehicle names into current owner without conscent of the previous owner. In Uganda, the previous motor owner is one whose particulars are shown in the logbook thus indicating that without their approval, such performing a transfer becomes impossible.
In situations where one ends missing after selling his or her or their cars after failed traces, issues like death, rejecting to transfer or even missing with no clue, the Uganda laws authorizes the current vehicle owner (with of ownership including a physical car, agreements, etc to go through the courts of law in order to transfer the said vehicles, m/cycle, etc into his or her names.
This process which involves swearing an affidavit and issuance of a court order is what is referred to as an absentee transfer. If you are in such a situation, discover how to do such a transfer the legalized / accepted way.
Instructions to get perform an Absentee transfer
- Go to the Commissioner for Oaths, inquire about swearing an Affidavit and do as guided.
- You should then get the sworn in duly embossed Affidavit before the Commissioner for Oaths and present it to the licensing officer.
- The same should be accompanied by the a copy of a Public Notice ran in the daily newspapers declaring their intention to transfer the motor vehicle, and calling on the registered owner to declare their objection if any to the High Court within 2 weeks (should be done before the Oath).
- You should as well take a Court Order instructing the Licensing Officer to transfer the vehicle to their names.
- As the applicant, you should present yourself with their original identification documents to the Licensing Officer for physical identification.
- You should additionally take with you the original registration book with the transfer forms (Old Form 3) that were issued by the original owner in case they are all available.
- You should be willing to avail the motor vehicle to the Licensing Officer for inspection.
- You should present a paid up assessment which they should have picked from the Licensing office (Please note that this will not be available online).
And after all the above, the Licensing officer will then process and issue a new registration book in the names of the applicant (current owner) upon verifying all submitted documents and also having your court order certified.
The time frame it takes may vary depending on a number of reasons including where you did the court order from, submitting of all required documents, paying all required associated fees, etc. Usually, it can be between a month and three months after which your file will be cleared and be given a document to validate your vehicle in case of old logbooks.
This same process works for transfering agriculture tractors, motor cycles, motor vehicles, engineering plants, boats and all registered particulars with URA.
I am not happy with the URA service with due to work about my car transfer ownership name in form of absentee. 1,069,000/= i paid to Arua service center in the office since 28/08/2023, however, there is nothing to receive e-mails.how can you help me here
But such transfers are handled by MoWT Nakawa office.
Can I drive a car that is still undergoing validation?
Yes you can for as long as your insurance is still valid.
Greetings,
i am a foreighner in Kenya looking forward to buying a motor in Uganda. kindly advice on what i need to prepare myself with, id highly appreciate it.
regards,
tonie.
When you buy a car, the Ugandan law requires you to transfer it into your names. And in order for that to happen, you need a URA TIN number. So you need money to buy, get a TIN and do the transfer. This site has the URA TIN application process. Check out that post and see what you need. In case you are stranded, feel free to call me on +256752009001 and I will be glad to assist you.
How much should i pay for the whole process and how long can it take to finish the process?
The cost depends on many issues. Call 0752009001 for for some guide.
Attractive section of content. I just wanted to ask. How long does the absentee motor vehicle transfer with uganda revenue authority take? Thank you.
The process of transferring a vehicle with the current owner absent is tiresome. But this post helped me so much. Can you give me your URA phone number or toll free.
Looks tiresome but it helped. After reading your post, I was able to follow all URA procedures as mentioned above from news to court order to inspection and now the log good is in my names. I wish I knew you, I would give you some Kasimo of 100k shillings. Good work Adams.
is the court order a mandatory requirement in the absentee motor vehicle transfer process? i have all the requirements like the notice in the news papers, affidavit etc., but i want to know whether i can effect my transfer without that said court order. please reply.
Since you have some of the required details, the best way would be to take them to URA and see if they will be accepted which I guess yes. Alternatively, call the URA toll free number on 0800117000 and inquire.