For New District Residents

New District Residents - How to Complete Your DMV Transaction in One Visit

If you live in the District for 30 days or more and operate a vehicle in public space, DC law requires you to obtain a District of Columbia Driver license, unless you are eligible for reciprocity (students, military, members of Congress, government appointee, diplomats). 

 "No Wait" Appointments

Once again, we are offering a limited number of new resident appointments for you to obtain your DC driver license/ID and/or to title and register your vehicle without the wait time.  Although this is still a pilot program, we have made slight adjustments based on prior customer feedback.  We kindly ask that you cancel any appointment that you cannot make so that others may take advantage of your appointment timeslot.

 Driver License and Non-Driver ID

Below are tips which will ensure your DMV transactions are successfully completed in the first visit.

1. Proof of identity, proof of social security and proof of residency are required to obtain a driver license or non-driver identification. For licenses, we also require proof of ability to drive. Use the Document Verification Guide to determine what documents are needed by the DMV for new driver license/ID transactions.

2. Applicants must bring original documents. Photocopies, altered documents or notarized copies will not be accepted. Documents with expiration dates, such as passports, must still be valid in order to be accepted.

3. A single document cannot be used for multiple proofs. For example, your out-of-state license cannot be used as a secondary source for your name and birth (i.e., as the document issued by a government agency) if you are also using it as the proof of your ability to drive.

Vehicle Registration and Inspection

Use the Document Verification Guide to determine what documents are needed by the DMV for new vehicle title/registration transactions.

1. A District license or non-driver ID is required to register a vehicle in the District of Columbia.

District law requires that you obtain a District of Columbia license prior to registering a vehicle. Both of these transactions can be done in one visit if you have all the necessary paperwork to complete both transactions. Therefore, it is important for you not to wait until your out-of-state license or vehicle registration is about to expire in order to start the process for converting to District of Columbia credentials. Vehicle registration fees are based on the weight of your vehicle.

2. DMV must receive the vehicle title to register your vehicle in the District.

If there is no lien on the vehicle and you do not have a copy of title, you will need to obtain a duplicate title from the DMV in the jurisdiction in which the vehicle is still titled.

If there is a lien on the vehicle, you must request that the lienholder send the title to the District DMV. The DMV Lienholder Out-of-State Title Request form [PDF] can be downloaded and mailed to your lienholder. You can check online to see if we have received your out-of-state title from your lienholder. If the vehicle is newly purchased, you must bring the lienholder information to the DMV so we can record the lien on the new DC title. There are additional title and lien recordation fees.

If the title is not in your name already, then you will owe excise tax on the vehicle since it will be a change of ownership.

3. The District requires vehicle inspection prior to registration. All vehicles registered in the District must have a valid DC inspection sticker. Valid inspection stickers from other jurisdictions are not accepted. Inspection fees are not paid at the Inspection Station, but they are paid at the time of vehicle registration.

You may make an inspection appointment online; however, it is not necessary to have an appointment to have your vehicle inspected. You can use your current out-of-state tags to take your vehicle through inspection. If your tags have expired, you will need to visit a DMV service center, with your title and proof of DC insurance, to obtain a temporary DC registration to take the vehicle through inspection.

4. Your vehicle must be insured prior to vehicle registration. You must maintain continuous insurance on your vehicle for as long as it is registered in the District.

District law requires proof of valid DC insurance for the vehicle prior to registration in the District. The proof of insurance document must contain valid coverage dates, the VIN of the vehicle and your District address. If you do not receive your proof of DC insurance prior to visiting the DMV office, you can call the insurance company to have the information faxed to us.

Failure to maintain vehicle insurance will result in insurance lapse fees up to $2,500. If you will not be driving your vehicle for a significant length of time, we encourage you to surrender your tag to avoid insurance fees or tickets.

5. If you live in a residential parking area and need to obtain a residential parking permit, you will be able to do so at the time of vehicle registration. There is an additional fee for residential parking.

6. Outstanding tickets (i.e., tickets older than 60 days) must be paid prior to obtaining a District license, non-driver ID or vehicle registration.

District tickets will remain on your record until they are paid, regardless of when the ticket was issued. Tickets cannot be adjudicated 120 days after they were issued

Renewals

• Driver licenses, IDs and vehicle registrations can be renewed online.
• Vehicle registrations cannot be renewed in-person; they can only be renewed online or by mail.
• Your driver license and ID can be renewed online for every other renewal period.
• Learn more about our various options for driver license and ID renewal.

Not what you're looking for?

• See additional information on driver licenses.
• See additional information on identification cards.
• See driver license fee information.