Around 10,000 cars with Ukrainian license plates are on German roads. A re-registration deadline expires in April. Ukrainians could then be faced with a decision of conscience.
License plates from Ukraine – for many people from Ukraine currently living in Germany, this is also a piece of home that they have brought with them. (Source: J2R/depositphotos.com)
Since March 2022, there have been an increasing number of cars with Ukrainian country codes and Ukrainian license plates on German roads. The license plates differ visually significantly from EU license plates. Do these cars have to be re-registered and if so, are there deadlines that must be observed?
Normally, when you move to the country, there is a deadline for changing your registration and the associated procurement of new state license plates. For understandable reasons, a special regulation applies to Ukrainian citizens in Germany, but this will expire at the end of March 2024. Thereafter, there is a risk of fines of 70 euros and one point in Flensburg if the vehicle has been registered in Germany for more than a year, reports Süddeutsche Rundfunk.
The Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) also answers a similar question from a listener on its website. They wanted to know whether there was a grace period for Ukrainians currently living in Germany regarding this change of registration.
According to Gerald Praschl, board member of the German-Ukrainian Forum Association, around 10,000 people have entered Germany in their own cars since the start of the war. And they now have to act and re-register their vehicle. At least the Saxon State Office for Road Construction and Transport is not aware of any further grace periods for re-registration. The deadline expires in April. Praschl sees this as a possible problem.
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Many Ukrainians were worried about how the war would continue and would certainly like nothing more than to return home. “And I think we shouldn’t have to force them to make a fateful decision without necessity,” Praschl told MDR.
Because when they re-register their own car in Germany, refugees from Ukraine lose their old license plate, which for many certainly means a piece of home, simply because of the clearly visible country code.
The German-Ukrainian Forum therefore requests that the grace period be extended for Ukrainian citizens. “We would be happy if this current regulation, the exception regulation, which was very generous, would remain in place for a while,” says Praschl. You can read further reports from the field of mobility here on Netzwelt.
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