You have just bought a new vehicle or are contemplating buying one in New Jersey. But before experiencing all the joys and practicality of driving one, you need to get it registered with proper license plates. Available for motor vehicles of all types, the New Jersey license plates are authorized and designed by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC).

These plates are identification marks of your vehicle and compliance with traffic laws while preventing unwanted violations. We have compiled all the necessary information you need to know about the New Jersey license plates, including their formats and rules of usage.

What Do The Letters On License Plates Of New Jersey Mean: The Format

Every standard license plate for passenger vehicles in New Jersey includes:

• Prefix: One alphabet followed by two digits.
• Suffix: Three alphabets.

Prefix:

• Assigned through an automated process by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
• Example: A23.

Suffix:

• The first letter of the suffix serves as the root digit.
  • Current root digit: ‘U’; Every new license plate issued for passenger vehicles since January 2024 has ‘U’ as the first letter, followed by the next two characters alphabetically.
  • Example sequence: UAA, UAB, UAC, etc.

One should also note that not every possible combination for the suffix as per the norm mentioned above is used. There are special rules for specific letters or groups of letters for the suffixes on the license plates.

For example, here are some letters that are never used as the first letter of the suffix for passenger vehicles, as they are reserved for specific categories of vehicles:

• ‘I’: Not used to avoid confusion with the number ‘1.’
• ‘Q’: Reserved for historic and vintage cars.
• ‘T’: Reserved for trailers.
• ‘X’: Reserved for commercial vehicles.
• ‘O’: Reserved for omnibus vehicles.

Categories Of New Jersey License Plates

Based on the format mentioned above and the configurations around it, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission issues the following types of license plates for vehicles:

Standard License Plates

These are the most generic and commonly issued license plate types. These have a standard design that includes the state name in the prefix part and a combination of letters and numbers in the suffix part. These also have a yellow background and ‘New Jersey’ lettering at the top.

Personalized License Plates

The overall format of personalized license plates was the same as standard ones. However, in the case of customized plates, the vehicle owner has the freedom to choose a unique combination of seven characters under some specific rules. The order of these characters can be anything as per the vehicle owner’s preferences, provided they meet NJMVC guidelines and are not offensive to read. The initial issuance fee for personalized license plates is $50.

Dedicated License Plates

The dedicated license plates (also known as specialty license plates) are designed to support social initiatives. They feature a unique design and require an issuance fee of $50 and an annual renewal fee of $10. The exceptions for these plates include a $15 annual renewal fee for the USS New Jersey Battleship and no annual renewal fee for agriculture, which required a lower initial issuance fee of $20.

These plates require dedicated symbols or messages depicting the initiative, such as environmental causes, breast cancer awareness, autism awareness, and animal welfare.

Organizational License Plates

The organizational license plates are designed similarly to the dedicated license plates, except that the social initiatives here are replaced by authorized organizations in New Jersey. The list of these organizations includes colleges and universities, sports teams, and veteran plates.

Just like in the case of dedicated plates, where the funds generated go to that particular charity or social initiative, the funds generated by organizational plates go to that organization.

Sports License Plates

A special category of dedicated license plates, sports plates are for those who wish to support a particular sports team, thereby contributing to their special causes. The sports license plates have a logo or designated colors of a sports team, such as MLB (Major League Baseball), NHL (National Hockey League), NBA (National Basketball Association), NFL (National Football League), and NASCAR.

An additional fee of $50 has to be paid at the time of issuance of sports license plates, apart from an additional annual renewal fee of $50. These fees eventually go to the social initiatives of that particular sports team. For these plates, the vehicle owner should be affiliated with that team or can even be a fan or supporter of it.

Historic And Street Rod License Plates

The historic license plates are designed specifically for classic cars older than 25 years and are pristinely maintained. Vehicles with historic license plates are not fit for regular daily driving but are used exclusively for exhibition and parade activities. These plates have ‘Historic’ written on them.

On the other hand, hot rod license plates are designated for modified vehicles with extensive tweaks. The base vehicle should be older than 25 years and modified according to the permitted standards for resto-mods for these plates. These plates have ‘hot rod’ words mentioned on them. Vehicles with hot rod plates are allowed for regular usage, provided they meet the safety and emission parameters of NJMVC and aren’t used as primary modes of transportation.

Historic and hot rod license plates have reduced issuance and renewal fees compared to other plates, with their issuance fee even lesser than standard plates due to their limited usage.

How To Transfer Old License Plates On A New Vehicle?

If you sell a vehicle and get a new one, you can retain the license plates of your older car for the new vehicle you buy. In such a case, you need to visit any of the motor vehicle agencies authorized by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and present the newly assigned title and registration of the new vehicle.

You should note that the transferring of license plates from an old to a new vehicle is only possible if both vehicles are registered under the same name and belong to the same class.

How To Replace Damaged New Jersey License Plates?

If the license plates of your current vehicle are damaged or deformed, you can replace them with new ones at any of the motor vehicle agencies authorized by NJMVC. All you need to do is surrender the old, damaged plates and present the required identification proof. There’s a fee of $6 for the issuance of new replacement plates, but if they are dedicated or special-interest plates, a higher issuance fee of $11 has to be paid.

How To Replace Lost Or Stolen New Jersey License Plates?

In case the license plates of a vehicle currently in use get lost or stolen, you have to first register a report with the local police. After reporting it, a copy of the report has to be submitted to any authorized motor vehicle agency, where you can obtain a replacement of the stolen plate(s) after filling out the form BA-1 at the agency.

While notifying the NJMVC about stolen plates, make sure that you save the verification report as proof that you have notified the agency about the lost or stolen plates. There’s an issuance fee of $6 for the new plates in case the older ones are lost or stolen. This fee goes up to $11 in the case of special/dedicated license plates.

How To Surrender License Plates That Are Not In Use?

If you are not using the old license plates assigned by NJMVC, you can surrender those plates to any motor vehicle agencies authorized by NJMVC. A ‘drop box’ is placed outside all the motor vehicle agencies in New Jersey, where you can deposit the older plates.

On doing so, you will receive a receipt in your mail after a few days as proof that you surrendered your old plates at the agency. However, you should note that NJMVC doesn’t accept license plates from other states.

How Long Can You Drive A Newly-Purchased Vehicle Without License Plates?

If you have just bought a new vehicle from an authorized dealership in New Jersey, you do receive a temporary tag for the vehicle, which is usually valid up to 30 days. Within this duration, you have to register and obtain the permanent license plates from NJMVC.

In case you buy a vehicle privately, you have to visit any of the motor vehicle agency authorized by NJMVC and obtain a temporary vehicle registration tag from there.