If you’re coming from overseas to take part in the Mongol Rally you may have further questions about how to get on board. There is a boatload more information available in the Team Handbook which you can access when you sign up but here's the essentials.

Hundreds Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Mexicans, South Koreans, Singaporeans, Hong Kongers have taken part in the rally so we have a bunch of knowledge and contacts that may save you some time on boring logistical stuff therefore giving you more time for things like charity fundraising and not planning your route to make sure you get lost.

If you can't simply up and move to the UK (where we get more holiday time anyway) we’ve prepared tips and advice and contacted past teams that have come from the States, Canada, Australia and other countries for their words of advice on how you can prepare for the Mongol Rally if you don’t happen to live near one of the start lines. 

If you live somewhere else but could do with a chinwag with a veteran rallier from your neck of the woods, just drop us a line. Participants form pretty much every corner of planet earth have taken part so we'll be able to put you in touch with one of your countrymen who knows about Mongol Rally pre launch gubbins.

Buying your steed in the EU

It would seem that getting hold of a small car in the Americas or antipodes is like looking for the Holy Grail in a greasy spoon cafe.

So some teams might like to buy their car near the start line.

We recommend to teams coming from afar choosing the UK start line. The UK is one of the easier corners of the EU to purchase a car if you’re not European and if you’re from one of the English speaking corners of the globe such as the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, people speak English here too (English English).

All you need is a UK mailing address to register your steed to – this can be a friend, relative or fellow Rallier who’s willing to help out. You will need to give yourself enough time to do this as registering the vehicle under your name could take a few months - so consider buying your vehicle remotely.

Shipping your steed to the start line

If you’d like to see your car before you set off on a 10,000 mile road trip, drive it a little, or, heaven forbid even make some preparations to your vehicle you might prefer to ship it to the start line.

This can be very expensive, but for those who’d prefer to ship your steed we’re taking the time to find out how this might be done without spending the equivalent of a small third world nation’s international debt.

Previous Rally teams have also experienced delays and vehicles delivered to incorrect ports as well as enormous port duties, so a bit of research here can avoid a lot of pain further down the line.

Insurance

We’re looking up insurance companies that might be prepared to insure non-Europeans on European roads. The Team Handbook will include more of this.

Visas

Procuring visas can be an awkward process. The Visa Machine will be able to dispense advice to you but will not be able to acquire some visas for non-Europeans. This means you’ll have to either find a local visa service or arrange to visit the embassies in person.

Do your research early. Timeframes for visa procurement could take many months.

Plan your route carefully. US citizens find it difficult to get Iranian visas without individual tailor made tours, and it is not much easier for Canadians. For Turkmenistan everyone has to go through The Visa Machine, in the past this has been at the specific request of the authorities. You'll get updates on this once you've signed up.

We'll be dispensing more nuggets of wisdom and handy information in the teams handbook which you can access after you've signed up. If we don't publish any particular advice that relates to a team in your locale then we'll try to help you by putting you in contact with teams that have already done it from your neck of the woods.