Rekna

I currently live and Utah and will be moving to California at the beginning of January. My wife and I just bought a new vehicle last week and had to pay registration fees. In addition, my vehicle registration is expiring this month and I will have to renew the registration on it also.

My question is this, when do I have to register the vehicle in the new state? I would hate to have to do it right away and have to pay the registration fees all over again. Can I have a Utah registration for the first year or will I get in trouble for that? Can I transfer the registration and avoid paying it the first year? Or does California pro-rate the registration? From what I understand Utah does not offer refunds on the registration.

Fotzlid

New Vehicles or Vehicles Never Registered in California

maybe this will help?

ZombieSquirrel

I wouldn't say do what I did, but maybe you can learn from what I did. Different state, but may still hold some promise.

I really don't know what's legal, but when I moved from Ohio to Oregon I didn't get my registration or my license renewed until a few days before my bday (when it all expired). It wasn't the brightest thing as it took 8 weeks for the paper for my registration to all go through. I don't own the title since I am financing my car so I had to write to the financial services that had my title and have them fill out paper work to send to the Oregon DMV. I had to get temp tags that only lasted 21 days. So then I had to renew those and pay $30.

It was a hassle. You may not have to do it RIGHT away, but I recommend doing it earlier than when

I still haven't put my new plates on. BLUSH It's been dark every time I come home from work. That and I still can't find some of my tools. I think they're in a box I still haven't unpacked. I was hoping there were just wing nuts holding them onto my car....nope. Gotta find my tools.

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PonyPotato

Usually, you must register your vehicle (and get your new driver's license) within 30-60 days of moving to a new state. You'll need to check out California's rules for that.

You could try getting temporary (21 or 30 day tags) instead of renewing your registration. Some states, though, will refund the rest of your registration for the year if you move, provided you mail your license plates back to them. Check out Utah's rules for more information on that.

Your best bet would be to call both California and Utah's DMV/BMV and find out.. then you'll know what papers you need to bring with you, too! That was a huge hassle for me when I moved to Virginia. You'll also find out if you need to take a written or in-car test for your driver's license, too.

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