Moving Out of California: DMV Checklist — License, Registration & Plates (2026)

1. The 3-Step Close-Out: How Leaving California Actually Works

Start by unlearning the phrase “cancel my California registration.” California has no cancellation transaction for a move. There is no form titled “leaving California,” no online button, and no office visit that closes your record. What the DMV actually gives you — on its own renewal-notice page, in plain language — is a two-sentence procedure for the car, plus a separate address-change duty for you. Everything in this guide hangs off those three steps.

That is the whole procedure for the common case: you, one car, moving to another state and registering it there. The rest of this guide is for the cases that are not the common one — the car you sell first, the car that stays behind, the insurance you must not cancel too early, the refund you may or may not get, and the leased car. But notice what step 3 implies: the California record closes when the DMV receives your mail-back, not when the new state registers your car. No official source says the new state notifies California for you, and this guide will not tell you to assume it does. The mail-back is cheap, it takes two minutes, and it is the only closing step the DMV itself describes.

One more thing before the detail: the order matters. Address change first, new-state registration second, insurance change last. Reverse the order — cancel the insurance first, or skip the address change — and you create the two most expensive failure modes in this guide: a suspended California registration (section 6) and a renewal notice you never saw because it went to an address you no longer live at. The DMV’s warning on that point is unusually blunt, and it is quoted verbatim in section 2.

2. Step 1: Change Your Address Within 10 Days — and Why Skipping It Costs Real Money

Two separate California statutes impose the same 10-day duty. Vehicle Code section 14600(a) covers your driver’s license: “Whenever any person after applying for or receiving a driver’s license moves to a new residence, or acquires a new mailing address different from the address shown in the application or in the license as issued, he or she shall within 10 days thereafter notify the department of both the old and new address.” Vehicle Code section 4159 imposes the identical 10-day duty for a vehicle’s registration. Ten days is short — shorter than most moves take to settle — so do it in the first week, not the fourth.

How to do it. The DMV’s renewal-notice page lists two routes: the online Change of Address system on dmv.ca.gov, or a paper Notice of Change of Address (DMV 14). The online route updates both your license record and your vehicle records; the paper form does the same by mail. Either way, keep the confirmation — a screenshot of the online confirmation page, or a copy of the mailed form with the mailing date. If a renewal notice or an insurance notice arrives later and you need to prove when you told the DMV, that confirmation is your evidence. The DMV’s phone line is 1-800-777-0133 if the online system will not accept your new out-of-state address.

Two different jobs: USPS forwarding is not a DMV change of address. Setting up mail forwarding with the post office does not update the DMV record, and updating the DMV record does not forward your mail. Do both. USPS forwarding catches the letters; the DMV change of address stops the DMV from generating new ones against your old address. And note the practical trap: some DMV mail is not forwardable, so a renewal notice sent to your old California address after you leave may simply never reach you — which is exactly how a registration lapses into penalties while you are living in another state, unaware. The address change is what prevents that.

What if you already moved and never told the DMV? Do it now. Late is better than never: file the change of address today, mail back any renewal notice you have with the date the car left California and the new state written on it, and file a REG 138 immediately if you sold the car (section 7). Then check whether anything has already gone wrong — a suspended registration for lapsed insurance, or a renewal in collections — by calling 1-800-777-0133 or checking the DMV’s online services. Do not assume silence means nothing happened: a notice sent to your old address counts as sent whether or not you saw it.

3. Step 2: Your New State’s Deadlines — Nine States, Verified on Their Official DMV Pages

Here is the fact that makes this page worth bookmarking: your new state’s license deadline and its registration deadline are usually two different numbers, and neither of them is California’s number. California gives new residents 10 days for a license and 20 days for registration — the shortest clocks in the country, and the pair this site has spent the most time correcting (license 10, registration 20, never reversed). Movers who learned those numbers often assume the same pair applies in reverse. It does not. Texas gives you 90 days for a license but only 30 for the car. Florida gives 30 for the license but only 10 for the car. Colorado gives 30 for the license and 90 for the car. Arizona gives no grace period at all.

Every deadline in the table below was verified on the destination state’s official DMV, DPS, DOL, or transportation-department page on October 31, 2026. The rule this site applies — and states openly — is that a state’s deadline is printed only if it was verified on that state’s official page. States not in the table (Utah among them) are not there because the deadline is unknown, not because it is unimportant: check your destination state’s official DMV site before you move, and book the appointment in your first week either way, because in busy areas the first available slot can be weeks out.

The order of operations differs by state, and it matters. In Texas, Nevada, and Washington, you register the car (or at least prove registration) before or as part of getting the license — show up for the license appointment without the registration and you will be turned away. In Florida, insurance comes before registration, and registration comes before the license appointment (your Florida registration doubles as proof of residency). In Oregon and Idaho, the two are separate visits but the same 30-day clock. The practical rule: handle the car first in Texas, Nevada, Washington, and Florida; handle both in parallel everywhere else. And in every state, bring the same documents California asked for when you arrived: the out-of-state title, current registration, proof of insurance in the new state, and proof of the new address.

What the new state does with your California title and plates. When you title the car in the new state, you surrender the California title — the new state keeps it and issues its own. Arizona states this expressly (“your out-of-state title and registration must be surrendered at the time of application”), and the practice is the same everywhere. The new state usually collects the California plates too (Colorado’s own guidance says you can surrender old plates at the county office or to your former jurisdiction). That is the new state’s process, not California’s — California never asked for the plates back. If you want to keep a California plate as a souvenir, ask at the counter before you hand it over; personalized plates are the ones worth keeping, and section 5 explains the retention fee.

4. Your License: Keep It, Then Surrender It at the New Counter

The question every mover asks — “do I have to give my California license back?” — has a short answer and a slightly longer explanation. The short answer: no, you do not mail it to California, and you do not surrender it before you leave. The longer explanation is the one-license rule, and it is worth understanding because it explains what actually happens at the new state’s counter.

One license only. Vehicle Code section 12511 states it in a single sentence: “No person shall have in his or her possession or otherwise under his or her control more than one driver’s license.” That is California’s version of a rule every state has. It is why the new state takes your California card when it issues the new one — and why Vehicle Code section 12805(a)(6) says the DMV “shall not issue” a license to a person who holds a valid license issued by a foreign jurisdiction “unless the license has been surrendered to the department, or is lost or destroyed.” Surrender is part of issuance, not a separate errand. You walk into the new state’s office with your California license; you walk out with a new-state license and, in most states, a hole punched in the old card or the old card retained.

Washington shows the mechanics. The Washington Department of Licensing describes it plainly: “Before you leave the licensing office, we’ll punch a hole in your out-of-state driver license or ID card and return it to you. You’ll get a temporary license that allows you to drive for 45 days.” The punched card is a souvenir and a record, not a license. Other states keep the card; the result is the same either way. The point for your planning is that you need the California license in hand at the appointment — it is both your identification and the document being surrendered — so do not destroy it, lose it, or mail it anywhere before then.

What if your California license is expired, suspended, or lost? An expired license still transfers in most states if it expired recently (the exact window varies — Texas treats a license expired more than two years as non-transferable, and Oregon requires testing if it has been expired more than a year). A suspended California license is a different problem: the new state checks nationally, and a hold in California will stop the transfer until it is cleared. A lost license is the easiest case — tell the new state it is lost or destroyed, which is the exception section 12805(a)(6) itself names. If any of these apply to you, clear the California issue before the move, not after: our license-status guide explains how to check for holds.

Your California REAL ID does not transfer. A REAL ID is a state-issued credential, and the new state issues its own. You will go through that state’s document check again — proof of identity, Social Security number, and two proofs of the new address — and you will leave with that state’s REAL ID or standard license, whichever you choose. Your California REAL ID card remains valid identification (for example, at the airport) until it expires, but it is not a license once the new state has issued yours, and it does not let you skip the new state’s document check. Bring the same folder of originals you brought to the California DMV: birth certificate or passport, Social Security card or W-2, and two proofs of the new address.

Tests: usually none, sometimes one. With a valid, unexpired California license, most states waive the knowledge and drive tests and check only your vision — Oregon states this expressly for transfers from any U.S. state. The exceptions are the usual ones: an expired license, a license from another country, or a state that tests everyone (check the new state’s page). California’s own arrival rule is the strict one here — new California residents must take the knowledge test — so movers leaving California are usually pleasantly surprised by how light the new state’s process is. Do not assume, though: confirm on the new state’s official page before you book.

5. Your Plates: California Does Not Want Them Back

This is the section where the most confident wrong advice lives. You will read, on moving blogs and forums, that you “must return your license plates” when you leave California, or that returning them is “required” when you sell. Both claims are false for California. The DMV’s moving-out procedure — quoted verbatim in section 1 — never mentions plates at all. There is no plate-return form, no plate-return address, and no penalty for keeping them. The only time plates enter a California move-out transaction is in the refund paperwork (section 9), where the ADM 399 instructions ask for the plates “if applicable” as supporting evidence — and even there, a Statement of Facts (REG 256) can explain why they cannot be returned.

What actually happens to the plates. In practice, the new state collects them when you register there — Arizona requires surrender of the out-of-state title and registration at application, Colorado’s guidance says you can surrender old plates at the county office or to your former jurisdiction, and the other states follow the same pattern. So the plates usually leave your hands at the new state’s counter, not at a California post office. If you would rather keep a California plate — a personalized plate with meaning, or just the plate the car wore for years — ask at the counter before you hand it over. In most states the clerk will let you keep it once the new plates are issued; in a few, surrender is mandatory. Ask first, hand over second.

Personalized and special-interest plates: keep them, but pay the retention fee. If your plate is a personalized or special-interest design (Environmental, Whale Tail, Collegiate, Veterans, Legacy), the configuration is yours to keep for future assignment — but the DMV’s renewal-notice page carries a warning most owners miss: “An annual retention fee for your ELP or special interest license plate may be required even if you do not register the vehicle (i.e., vehicle on PNO), or if you sold the vehicle and are keeping the plates for future assignment. Failure to pay the retention fee will result in plate cancellation and your plate configuration will be available for others to order.” In other words, the plate you designed can be lost by inattention while you are living in another state. If the configuration matters to you, keep the retention fee paid — the amount is on your renewal notice — or accept that someone else may order it.

And on a sale inside California, the plates stay with the car. Standard California plates are assigned to the vehicle, not the owner: when you sell privately in California, the plates go with the car to the buyer (personalized plates are the exception — the seller keeps those). That is why the “return your plates when you sell” advice is wrong twice over: there is nothing to return, and the buyer needs the plates to register. The form that matters on a sale is the REG 138, covered in section 7.

6. Insurance: Cancel LAST — the Suspension Trap

If this guide has one section to read twice, it is this one. The most expensive mistake a California mover makes is not a missed deadline or a forgotten form. It is cancelling the California insurance policy on moving day, weeks before the California record is closed — and then discovering, by mail, that the California DMV has suspended the registration.

Why it happens. California requires continuous liability insurance on every registered vehicle (Vehicle Code sections 4000.37, 16020, 16028, and 16056). Your insurer reports cancellations to the DMV electronically. When the DMV sees a registered vehicle with no insurance, it mails a notice demanding proof — and if no proof arrives, it suspends the registration. The suspension is not theoretical: a mover in a verified JustAnswer case was ticketed in Nevada after cancelling California insurance before re-registering, because the car was still California-registered and uninsured in California’s system. The sequence that creates the trap is ordinary — move, cancel the old policy, buy the new policy, register in the new state — but the order is wrong. The California record must be closed before the California policy ends, or the DMV must be told the car is not being used.

The correct order. Buy the new state’s policy first. Register the car in the new state. Mail back the California renewal notice (step 3). Then cancel the California policy — and tell your California insurer the date the car was registered in the new state, so the cancellation is backdated correctly and any unearned premium is refunded. The DMV’s own system gives you a cushion for a clean switch: “If the new insurance information is received by DMV within 45 days of the cancellation of the first policy, a notice will not be sent.” A clean insurer-to-insurer switch inside 45 days never triggers a notice. A bare cancellation with no replacement policy does.

The off-ramp for a car that stays behind: the Affidavit of Non-Use (REG 5090). If the car is staying in California — stored, or simply not being driven — and you want to cancel its insurance, the DMV’s Affidavit of Non-Use page gives you the tool: “If your vehicle is currently registered and you decide not to use it, you must maintain insurance or notify DMV that you will not be using it by completing an Affidavit of Non-Use (REG 5090). Upon receipt of a REG 5090, DMV will cancel the registration. The vehicle cannot be driven or parked on California streets, roads, or highway until proof of insurance is received by the department. A reinstatement fee is not due when the registration is cancelled.” Three conditions from the form itself: the vehicle must be currently registered (a valid tag on the plate); the form must reach the DMV before the suspension date (it is not accepted if the registration is already suspended); and it is not accepted if the registration expires within 75 days of submission — in that window, file a PNO instead (section 8). Filed online, you must allow 3 business days before you can remove an ANU. And the page adds the reassurance that matters: “Vehicles with a PNO or ANU on record are not subject to suspension.”

The NRL shield. If you sold the car before leaving, the REG 138 (section 7) protects you a second way: “A notice requesting insurance will not be sent if the vehicle record shows that a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability is on file.” File the REG 138 within 5 days of the sale and the insurance-notice machinery stops for that vehicle. A missing or illegible REG 138 is, in the DMV’s own words, the usual reason renewal notices keep coming — and insurance notices follow the same record.

New-state minimums are different — buy the right limits. California’s minimums are 30/60/15 (bodily injury $30,000 per person / $60,000 per accident, property damage $15,000) since SB 1107 took effect on January 1, 2025. The old 15/30/5 figures are still printed all over the internet — including on pages about moving — and they are wrong. Your new state’s minimums are its own: Florida requires $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 in Property Damage Liability (FLHSMV); Texas requires 30/60/25; Colorado and Idaho both require 25/50/15. Do not carry California limits into the new state on assumption, and do not assume the new state’s minimums are enough for you — minimums are a legal floor, not a recommendation, and most movers buy above them. Tell your insurer the move date and the new garaging address the day you move; a policy priced for a California garage does not automatically cover a car garaged in another state.

7. Selling Before You Leave: the 5-Day Form Everyone Forgets

If you are selling the car rather than taking it with you, the move-out checklist gets shorter in one way and stricter in another. Shorter, because a sold car needs no new-state registration from you and no PNO. Stricter, because California gives you exactly five days to file the one form that ends your liability — and the DMV says a missing or illegible copy of that form is the usual reason renewal notices keep arriving after a sale.

The Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (REG 138) — within 5 days. Vehicle Code section 5602 requires the seller to file a REG 138 within five days of selling, giving away, donating, or otherwise disposing of a vehicle. The DMV’s renewal-notice page states it twice over: “You must submit a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (NRL) for the vehicle record to be updated. A NRL must be submitted within five (5) days from the date you sell, give away, donate, or otherwise dispose of a vehicle.” It applies even when the buyer lives out of state — selling to an out-of-state buyer does not exempt you. File it online on dmv.ca.gov the day of the sale, not the day you move; the 5-day clock runs from the sale date, and the moving truck does not pause it. Keep the confirmation. And remember the insurance shield from section 6: “A notice requesting insurance will not be sent if the vehicle record shows that a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability is on file.” The REG 138 is what stops both the renewal notices and the insurance notices.

The seller’s smog certificate. In a private-party California sale, the seller provides the smog certificate (Vehicle Code section 4000.1), with statutory exceptions for transfers to family members and a few other cases. The certificate is valid for 90 days. If you sell before you move, get the smog check done before the sale — the buyer cannot register the car without a valid certificate, and a buyer who cannot register is a buyer who comes back to you. Our sell-your-car guide walks through the full private-party process, and title transfer covers the REG 262 bill of sale and odometer statement. Two timing notes: the buyer has 10 days to transfer the title, with penalties after 30 days; and the smog certificate you hand over must still be within its 90-day validity on the day the buyer registers.

Plates stay with the car; the title goes to the buyer. Standard California plates are assigned to the vehicle — the buyer keeps them (personalized plates are the exception, and the seller keeps those; see section 5). Sign the title over, complete the REG 262, file the REG 138, and hand the buyer the smog certificate. That is the whole sale. What you must not do is what sellers do most often: hand over the keys, take the money, and “file the form later.” Later is when the parking tickets, tolls, and renewal notices start arriving in your name — and the REG 138 filed after the fact does not retroactively erase the ones already issued.

Donating or giving the car away counts as a sale for this purpose. The 5-day REG 138 duty covers selling, giving away, donating, or “otherwise disposing” of a vehicle. A donated car with no REG 138 on file is still your car in the DMV’s system, with the same renewal and liability consequences. File the form with the charity’s name and address as the buyer.

8. The Car Stays Behind: PNO for $28 Beats Letting It Lapse

Not every car leaves with you. Sometimes the second car stays in the garage, sometimes a car stays with family, sometimes the plan is “I’ll come back for it.” California gives you two lawful options for a car that stays behind and will not be driven, and one unlawful default. The default — doing nothing and letting the registration lapse — is the expensive one.

Option 1: keep it registered and insured. If someone will drive the car in California, or if you will be back for it within the registration year, renew it and keep California insurance on it. The registration and the insurance rule stay in force exactly as before — the car is still a California car, and the change-of-address duty (section 2) still applies to you. This is the right option for a car a family member will actually use.

Option 2: Planned Non-Operation (PNO) — REG 102, $28. If the car will not be driven, towed, stored, or parked on any public road for the entire registration year, file a Planned Non-Operation certification under penalty of perjury (Vehicle Code section 4604, form REG 102). The filing fee is $28 — verified on the DMV’s own Appendix 1F fee schedule, which lists “Planned Nonoperation (PNO) (all vehicles/OHV) (VC §4604) | Fee $28.” The DMV’s manual gives the filing windows precisely: a PNO may be filed up to 60 days before the current registration expiration date; it must be filed by midnight of the expiration date to avoid a penalty; and it may be filed up to 90 days after the expiration date if the vehicle has not been operated in any manner — but the PNO penalty is then due. After 90 days, PNO is no longer an option at all, and full registration fees plus all accumulated penalties become due. PNO is not a one-time filing: it covers one registration year, and you must refile (and pay again) before each expiration date to stay on PNO. You are responsible for filing on time even if no billing notice arrives.

A PNO car cannot be driven — including to your new state. If a vehicle with PNO status is operated, parked, towed, or left standing on a public street or highway, it may be cited or impounded and full fees and penalties for the year become due immediately. The DMV’s own page says: “Contact DMV before moving your PNO vehicle; a moving permit may be issued for certain purposes.” That permit is the Vehicle Moving Permit (REG 172), a one-day permit issued at a DMV office. Do not drive a PNO car to the new state on the theory that you are “leaving anyway” — the drive itself is the violation. Either register the car first, or get the moving permit, or ship it.

PNO vs the Affidavit of Non-Use — do not confuse them. PNO (REG 102) is filed around the renewal cycle, costs $28, and covers a full registration year. The Affidavit of Non-Use (REG 5090, section 6) is for cancelling insurance mid-year on a currently registered car, costs nothing to file, and is not accepted if the registration expires within 75 days of submission — in that window, file a PNO instead. Both end the insurance obligation; only PNO is tied to the renewal cycle. If you are unsure which one fits, the deciding question is the calendar: near a renewal date, PNO; mid-year with months of registration left, ANU.

9. Refunds: the Narrow ADM 399 Window (and Why Most Movers Get Nothing)

Every mover who paid a renewal shortly before leaving asks the same question: can I get the unused registration back? The honest answer is usually no — but the exception is real, narrow, and worth knowing exactly, because the DMV’s own manual spells it out in a way no competitor page quotes.

The rule, from the DMV’s Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual, section 26.045 (Vehicle Code section 4604). “A refund of renewal fees may be considered when renewal fees are paid, but the vehicle is not used because it is no longer located in California.” Then the manual draws the line that decides almost every case: a refund “is not due for a vehicle that left California during the registration period for which renewal fees were paid” — but it “may be issued for a vehicle that left California before the effective date of the registration period for which renewal fees were paid.” In plain English: if you paid the renewal early and the car left California before the new registration year started, you may get that renewal back. If the car left during the year you already paid for — the usual case, a move in March on a registration that runs to next January — there is no refund. The state does not pro-rate a registration year you have already started using.

What to submit, if you qualify. An Application for Refund (ADM 399) showing the date the vehicle left California, plus the registration card and the unused sticker — the manual warns that “if these items are not submitted with the ADM 399, the refund may be refused.” In practice the DMV also wants proof the vehicle was registered in the other state before the California registration expired, such as the new state’s current registration. If the card, sticker, or plates cannot be returned, a Statement of Facts (REG 256) explaining why can substitute. The DMV decides each request on its own facts, and this guide prints no refund dollar figure anywhere — there is no fee schedule for refunds, and any page that quotes one is inventing it. File the ADM 399 as soon as the new-state registration is in hand; do not wait for the renewal notice to arrive.

Two things that are not refundable. A smog certificate you already paid for is a service already performed — there is no DMV refund path for it. And a registration year you already drove on is used, not unused, however many months are left in it. Both facts disappoint movers; both are worth stating plainly rather than letting a reader file an ADM 399 that the manual says will be refused.

10. The Rest of the Checklist: Voter Registration, Tolls, Mail, Leased Cars, Military

The DMV is the hard part of leaving California. The rest is administration, but it is administration with deadlines of its own — and the same principle applies: the record that is not updated keeps generating consequences.

Voter registration. Register to vote in your new state, and cancel your California registration through the California Secretary of State. This matters more than it looks: California’s Motor Voter law automatically registers eligible customers who complete a license or change-of-address transaction unless they opt out, so the California rolls may hold you as a voter long after you leave. A cancelled California registration and a fresh registration in the new state is the clean pair; being registered in two states is the kind of record problem that surfaces at the worst time.

FasTrak, tolls, and tickets. Update or close your FasTrak account and remove the California plate from it — a transponder or plate left on an account you no longer check will keep charging. Pay any outstanding tolls and parking tickets before you leave. Unpaid tickets do not stay in California; they follow the owner through collections, and the DMV’s own warning about collections, wage garnishments, and bank levies (section 2) applies to unpaid DMV-adjacent balances too. If a ticket arrives after you move, pay it or contest it — do not ignore it because the address is old.

Mail. Set up USPS mail forwarding and do the DMV change of address (section 2). They are two different jobs: forwarding catches the letters, the DMV change stops the DMV from generating new ones against the old address. Give the post office your new address before the truck leaves, and give the DMV the same address within 10 days.

Leased car: call the lessor before anything else. The lessor holds the title, and most lease agreements require the lessor’s permission to move the car out of state — and the new state needs the lessor’s cooperation to title and register it. Do not assume the lease travels with you. The full treatment, including the out-of-state title and lienholder mechanics, is on Moving a Leased Car Out of California, which publishes later today.

Active-duty military: different rules apply. Nonresident military stationed in California may keep their home-state plates under Vehicle Code section 6701, and a Vehicle License Fee exemption is available through REG 5045; the transition on discharge runs through Vehicle Code section 6703. If you are moving on PCS orders, read PCS Orders to California first — the military rules are exemptions from the ordinary clocks, not just different deadlines.

11. Five Mistakes That Cost Movers Real Money

Every mistake below is printed somewhere on the internet as advice. Each one is wrong, and each one has a specific cost. This section exists so that when a reader meets one of these claims elsewhere, they recognise it.

One more, for the record: the old insurance minimums. Pages about moving still quote 15/30/5 for California. The minimums have been 30/60/15 since SB 1107 took effect on January 1, 2025. Any guide that prints 15/30/5 as current California law is stale, and its other figures deserve the same suspicion.

12. Sources

Every load-bearing fact on this page traces to one of these sources, all read on October 31, 2026 unless noted. Where a deadline belongs to another state, the source is that state’s official DMV page — never a secondary roundup.

1. California DMV — “Important Vehicle Information” (renewal-notice page: the move-out mail-back procedure, REG 138 5-day rule, PNO note, special-plate retention fee, insurance, collections warning). dmv.ca.gov/portal/important-vehicle-information/
2. California DMV — Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual §26.045, “Refunds on Unused Vehicles” (Vehicle Code §4604); §3.055, “Planned Non-Operation Certification (PNO — REG 102)”; Appendix 1F, “Fees” (PNO $28). dmv.ca.gov (handbook pages).
3. California DMV — “Affidavit of Non-Use (REG 5090)” online service page (cancellation on receipt, no reinstatement fee, 3-business-day removal, 45-day rule, NRL shield). qr.dmv.ca.gov.
4. California DMV — Application for Refund (ADM 399) instructions (what to submit, hard limits, 3-year rule). qr.dmv.ca.gov.
5. California Legislative Information — Vehicle Code §§12505(c), 12511, 12805(a)(6), 14600(a), 4152.5, 4159, 4604, 5602. leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
6. Texas Department of Public Safety / Texas DMV — “Moving to Texas” (90-day license, 30-day registration), corroborated via Bell, Williamson, and Travis County tax offices. dps.texas.gov / txdmv.gov.
7. Arizona Department of Transportation — “New to AZ” and “Title and Registration Topics” (immediately on residency; out-of-state title/registration surrendered at application). azdot.gov.
8. Nevada DMV — “Do I Have to Register My Car in Nevada?” (new residents: license and registration within 30 days). dmv.nv.gov.
9. Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles — “New Resident — Welcome to Florida!” (license within 30 days; Florida insurance + title/register within 10 days). flhsmv.gov.
10. Oregon DMV — “New to Oregon” (license and title/registration within 30 days; most transfers without testing). oregon.gov.
11. Washington Department of Licensing — “Moving to Washington” (license and registration within 30 days; license first; hole-punched old license returned). dol.wa.gov; RCW 46.16A.140.
12. Colorado DMV — “Welcome to Colorado” (license within 30 days; title/register within 90 days; minimums 25/50/15). dmv.colorado.gov.
13. Idaho Transportation Department — “New to Idaho” (license within 30 days; title/register within 30 days; minimums 25/50/15). itd.idaho.gov.
14. New York DMV — “Moving to or from New York State” (license within 30 days; surrender of registration and plates required when leaving). dmv.ny.gov.
15. Internal guides: New Residents, Out-of-State Registration, Change of Address, Registration Renewal, Sell Your Car, Title Transfer, PCS Orders to California, Moving a Leased Car Out of California (publishes today), Check License Status.

Related Guides

Last verified against dmv.ca.gov: October 31, 2026. Requirements change — confirm current rules with the DMV before you move.