Time to buy a new motorbike in HCM?

We offer several different options to help you navigate the complex process of buying a new motorbike in Vietnam

↑ The Extra Mile customer with his brand-new Yamaha WR 155

Who this service is for?

Motorbike ownership for foreigners in Vietnam has been increasingly difficult, and in recent years (2024-2025) it has become nightmarish. The system to register motorbikes for foreigners in Vietnam is pretty much broken and causes multiple issues. To avoid the infamous NN plates (licence plates for foreigners), we provide a service that allows foreigners to legally own a motorbike on a Vietnamese licence plate with a very clever and proven process.

Listed below, is the different kinds of people we can help!

• Foreigners who do not wish to have a foreigner plate (NN plate).
• Foreigners or Viet-kieu unable to register on their names due to a lack of documents required.
• Foreigners or locals wanting to have a Saigonese plate (59), but they do not have official residency in the city of HCM

Our service fees for buying new motorbikes

BIKES UNDER 125CC (A1 driving license required): 4,400,000 VND*

*VAT included.

From January 1^st 2025, the Vietnamese law has changed radically rending this service limited compared to previous years. As of now, The Extra Mile is only able to assist with motorbikes of budgets under 100,000,000 VND or possibly less depending on the motorbike and timing. Given the new legal limitations, we do no longer provide this service for large displacement motorbikes.

Additionally, we will only provide this service to customers carrying a valid Vietnamese driving licence. Unfortunately, IDP’s will not be sufficient since they are meant for tourism and short visits use, and not for residents (temporary or permanent.)

Note: The times indicated may vary if the date is near a holiday or a special public event that may affect government working hours.

Note 2: Customers are requested to understand that delays may happen due to issues with the corresponding government offices. Should there be frequent delays at one period of time, we will disclaim it to the customer before the purchase.

Review Service – Brand new Yamaha WR155R purchased by an expat in Da Nang

Why is this service useful?

Listed here are the problems with the NN plate, it should be convincing enough:

• NN plates have an expiry date based on the owner’s visa. As of 2024, NN plates are valid for only 1 year. Hence the motorbike must be re-registered every year, as opposed to matching the owner’s visa as it used to be.
• With the new laws, failure to register on time can result in fines and other penalties affecting future motorbike registrations of the same motorbike or even owner.
  Agents are no longer able to assist for any paperwork process for NN plates. It is absolutely required for the registrant to be present at each step of the process, and it is a tedious process.
• For the owner to legally sign over a transfer of ownership, he/she must have either a marriage certificate and sign together with his/her spouse at a notary office, OR for single owners, they must provide a certification from their embassy or country proving that they are single. All certifications whether for marriage or celibacy must be officially translated to Vietnamese and legalized by local authorities.
• It is very common for foreigners to get stuck with an NN plate bike for which they do not have sufficient documentation to legally re-sell. As a result the bikes are either sold with a big loss on their value or abandoned/donated.

Common ways around the NN number plate without using The Extra Mile services

Legally speaking, a rider must be able to prove ownership of the motorbike during a traffic control. A motorbike on a company name accompanied by the notarized documentation we provide is sufficient to prove ownership.

Usually, foreigners living in Vietnam will find a trusted Vietnamese friend, this can be a work colleague, someone you just met in a bar, or perhaps your new pickleball partner. If they are prepared to register the motorbike on your behalf under their name, then great, you are good to go! But, make sure that they remain as willing to support at the resale!

The Downsides

• Vietnam is difficult with paperwork in strange ways that only Vietnamese understand. Your friend who is helping you by using their name is actually taking legal liability and risk by doing so. In the old days this was fine, but laws have changed over time and the risk has increased.
• If you ever want to sell your motorbike, you will have to hope your friend is still your friend. They will need to do paperwork to help you sell it!

BENEFITS OF registering with the Extra Mile

The Extra Mile will register the motorbike under the company name. This gives you a long list of advantages that don’t really need listing here, but one of them is that we will help you with paperwork when the day comes to sell your motorbike!

Our brand-new bikes come with a local Saigonese registration (59) license plate. We complete extra paperwork to confirm that the motorbike belongs to you, not us. You can even hire professional insurance in your own name.

You do not need to go through any of the purchase and registration processes. It is a known hassle to buy a bike in Vietnam for foreigners due to language and culture barriers.

We will handle all paperwork from beginning to the end. We define “the end” as us helping you do paperwork to sell to the new owner when the time has come to sell your motorbike.

One final benefit of using The Extra Mile, is that we often get better prices from retailers because we buy a lot of motorbikes!

How does the process work for buying a new motorbike?

1. The customer indicates to us the model and colour desired. We will check with our sources to find the best deal at the moment and await confirmation from the customer before requesting the source to lock-in the bike for us.
2. We invoice the customer with the value of the bike plus our service to request the payment. For this matter we provide an invoice validated with our company stamp and tax code. Once the payment is made, we proceed to purchase the bike.
3. We handle the registration ourselves. The bike will be ready with license plate within 2 to 5 days.
4. We deliver the bike to the customer with the plate. We provide the compulsory insurance for 1 year.
5. We collect the registration (blue card) within 3-4 weeks after obtaining the license plate.
6. Once the registration in hand, we meet the customer at a notary office to sign a power of attorney to the customer, giving the full rights to use and sell the bike.
7. We will remain available to transfer the ownership once the customer decides to sell the bike.

Additional considerations:

_ The customer may choose to meet us at the dealership to pay the bike to the dealership directly.

If you would like to inquiry further, please fill out the form on our contact page!