After applying for the personalized vanity plates, you got a confirmation message of approval. Once your application got approved, now you have to wait for the final delivery of the plate. You know what; you can check the availability of your vanity plate. But the question is how to check vanity plate availability?
Quick overview of Vanity Plates
Before answering it, let’s have a quick overview of vanity plates’ features;
While applying for the vanity plate, you need to keep in mind that your plate must have a minimum of one character, including a letter or number. You can apply personalized plates for the non-commercial registered car, truck motor home. On the other hand, if you own a commercial vehicle such as a taxi or delivery van, you cannot apply for a personalized plate.
Up to seven characters are used for plates of cars, motor homes, or trucks, whereas up to six characters are used for motorcycles. Don’t ignore the space between characters, as it is also counted as one character. Remember, your characters must be used in an upright position without using any special characters, including @, #, $, %, etc.
As per the rule, your vanity plate must have two letters at the start. Your plate must have a maximum of 6 characters, and in the case of motorcycle plates, only five characters are recommended. Moreover, vanity plates are not allowed to have both letters and numbers at the same time.
If you apply for the first time and don’t have active registration plates, find an RMV Service Center to apply for your vanity plates. In this center, you will get temporary plates to use. Within 12 weeks after the approval, you will get plates and registration through the mail. Each vanity plate application is processed and approved by the Special Plates Department.
In case of rejection, you will be notified and refund within 4 to 6 weeks. Keep on checking the availability of your plates only if you receive a confirmation mail.
Requirements for Vanity Plates
- Minimum 2 letters are needed for each vanity plate.
- Up to 6 characters, including letters or numbers and at least two characters, are required to apply for vanity plates of Camper, Passenger, Commercial, Bus, and Livery.
- On the other hand, vanity plates for classic motor vehicles up to 4 characters and at least two characters are needed.
- For motorcycle vanity plates, you need up to 5 characters and at least two characters.
- The number must be at the end of the plate; avoid using it in the middle. For instance, DDD334 is a perfect example. Also, keep in mind that you cannot use 0 at the beginning of the character.
- Remember that using the letters “I,” “O,” “Q,” and “U” is not acceptable if the word is not cleared or spelled correctly. For instance, LOQ is not good because it is not spelled correctly.
- No special characters, including spaces, periods, or punctuation marks, are allowed to use.
- Using a mixture of letters and numbers in a sense that conveys a nasty message is not allowed.
- You cannot use letters or numbers in a different style used in an existing registration plate.
Eligibility Criteria for Plate
As mentioned earlier, you are not supposed to apply for a combination of letters and numbers that show an offensive message or a duplicate of an existing registration plate. The Registrar will not issue any such kind of registration if the characters have:
- Any vulgarity in terms of degrading, profanity, a curse word, or hatred for a specific community
- An offensive message that mocks someone clearly
- A combination of letters and numbers that show anything related to sex
- An expression of scorn, disrespect, or dominance of gender or race, disability, or political affiliation
- A look of aggressive words made for the arousal of anger and possibly results in violation of rules
Moreover, the Registrar can cancel a request of characters combination for many other reasons. If the Registrar finds that the variety of the characters would be against the state’s rules, your request gets rejected.
Reading the character combination from left to right or right to the left must be appropriate, and there should not be any hidden offensive message. Rules are strictly implemented because most of the time, people use a code, a foreign language, or any symbol used explicitly in a community.
All rights reserved to the Registrar, even if a vanity plate has been issued. If the Registrar realizes that the issued combination of letters and numbers is not fulfilling the state’s criteria, the registration gets canceled on the spot.
To avoid all kinds of issues related to vanity plate registration, you must have an authentic and reliable connection to link on. Though you can check vanity plate’s availability, however, you still need to pass on the phase of approving your character’s combination. Stay updated with the rules and continue your practice!