Moving to California: Insurance, Registration and License Deadlines
New residents usually face two different deadlines handled by two different agencies.
- Register your vehicle within
- 20 days
Registration fees on a vehicle last registered out of state are due within 20 days of the date they become due — in practice, 20 days after you become a resident. File on time even if the title or smog certificate is not ready yet, or penalties start.
- Get a state license within
- 10 days
You may drive on your out-of-state licence for no more than 10 days after establishing residency. Driving for employment requires a California licence from day one.
- Safety inspection
- None
California runs no periodic safety inspection. Registering an out-of-state vehicle needs a VIN verification (REG 31) and, for most vehicles, a smog certificate — but no safety check.
- Emissions inspection
- Required for most out-of-state vehicles
A California smog certification is required for gasoline models 1976 and newer, diesel models 1998 and newer under 14,001 lbs GVWR, and natural gas or propane vehicles under 14,001 lbs. At renewal, whether a smog check is due depends on the vehicle's model year and where it is registered.
- Handled by separate agencies
- No
DMV handles both the registration and the licence, but they are still two separate deadlines: 20 days for the vehicle, 10 days for the licence.
What changed
January 1, 2019
Smog abatement fee replaced the inspection for newer vehicles
Since January 1, 2019, owners of vehicles less than four model years old pay a smog abatement fee at registration instead of obtaining a smog inspection, and gasoline vehicles remain exempt from inspection for their first eight model years. This does not exempt an out-of-state vehicle being registered in California for the first time, which still needs a California smog certification unless it falls into an age or fuel-type exemption.
California DMV — Smog Inspections