Want To Get Irish Number Plates Soon? Here’s How To

For car owners, the prospect of permanently moving to a new country can be daunting since you might need to do a lot of paperwork, including new registrations for your vehicle.

In Ireland, getting officially approved Irish number plates is necessary after registering your imported car.

The quick read below contains the most vital details regarding Irish registration plates.

How Does The Irish Car Registration System Work?

When importing your car from another country into Ireland, you are expected to complete the entire vehicle registration process within 30 days of arrival.

Registration is done at a National Car Test (NCT) centre. You can contact the NCT online to book an appointment and this should be done within 7 days after your car arrives.

Before registration, you need to have a Certificate of Conformity, which certifies that your vehicle is compliant with transport regulations.

EUROCOC can help you order a Certificate of Conformity online and deliver it to your doorstep without delay.

Your Certificate of Conformity needs to be registered online with Ireland’s Revenue before going to the NCT centre.

You might also need to pay a Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), and its value will be determined by the classification of your vehicle. Whether or not you pay a Value Added Tax (VAT) depends on the age and distance travelled by your vehicle.

Other documents that are necessary for vehicle registration are:

• Proof of identity, name, address, and PPS (Personal Public Service) number
• Vehicle logbook (V5C)
• Certificate of Conformity for new vehicles
• Vehicle Purchase Details (VRTVPD2 form)
• An invoice showing the purchase date

How To Apply For Irish Number Plates

After registering your vehicle, you are required to display your registration number on a license plate within 3 days. You can buy an Irish number plate at an NCT centre or from vehicle accessory dealers.

How Much For Car Registration In Ireland?

In Ireland, there are no fees for getting a registration number the normal way, unless you decide to reserve a number for yourself, which costs €1000.

Purchasing license plates can cost you around €15 to €20.

You should ensure that your plates stick to the official format of registration plates or you can be fined up to €5000.

What Do Irish Car Number Plates Look Like?

Republic of Ireland number plates are often made of metal or plastic (usually aluminium or acrylic) and have black characters (letters and numbers) on a reflective white background.

The characters include the vehicle registration number and the Irish name of the county where the car was registered (located above the registration number).

There are two common dimensions of an Irish plate:

• 520 mm x 110 mm (20.5 inches x 4.3 inches) or;
• 340 mm x 220 mm (13.4 inches x 8.7 inches).

On the left of an Irish reg plate is the EU flag – a blue background containing 12 yellows stars in a circle. On the blue background and below the yellow stars, ‘IRL’ is written in white, denoting Ireland’s International Vehicle Registration Code.

Format Of Irish Number Plates

The current format of an Irish number plate is AAA-BB-CCCCCC. Here is a breakdown of each component of the number.

• AAA – Registration Year

The first three characters of an Irish registration plate are numbers, signifying a vehicle’s registration year, rather than its year of manufacture.

For used imported vehicles, the registration number corresponds with when they were first registered in the original country.

For vehicles registered from 1987 to 2012, the year is represented by two digits (AA) rather than three (AAA).

• BB – County Code

The next group of characters (either one or two letters) represents the Irish county where the vehicle is registered.

You can view the complete list of Irish counties and their license plate samples here.

• CCCCCC – Serial Number

The final set of characters ranges from one to six digits. It is a serial number that is given to vehicles in the order in which they are registered in a county for a given year.

What Types Of Irish License Plates Exist?

Apart from the regular Irish license plates for civilian residents, there are special plates for the Irish Defence Forces that have a black background, silver characters, and no county name in the Irish language.

There are also Trade plates with a dark-green background and white characters. Diplomatic plates are identical to the regular civilian format, but ‘CD’ is stamped between the County Code and Serial Number.

Irish Custom Number Plates

The closest you can come to customizing number plates in Ireland is reserving numbers for yourself. Otherwise, it is illegal to write whatever you want on an Irish number plate.

EUROCOC: Europe’s Leading Provider of Certificates of Conformity

In an increasingly complex regulatory environment, choosing the right partner to get COC documentation is essential. As the trusted leader in COC Europe, EUROCOC makes obtaining a COC certificate simple, secure, and fully compliant. With a streamlined COC online process, customers can order a COC certificate online quickly, knowing every European Certificate of Conformity is officially issued and legally valid. Whether you need a certificate of conformity car document for a single import or high-volume fleet registration, EUROCOC delivers speed, authenticity, and peace of mind — setting the benchmark for automotive compliance across Europe through every certificate of conformity issued.

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