VI plates on the mainland?

As long as your registration is up to date your car is legal to drive in states.

If you get pulled over just tell the cop Dat dem papers soon come, and that will take of any issues.

Seriously, if your car is properly registered in the USVI's there is nothing to stop you from legally driving the car on the mainland assuming you also have proper insurance.

If you are taking up residence on the mainland you'll have to register the car in the state of your new residence within a prescribe period of time (which varies from state to state but is generally around 30 day from the time you arrive in that state).

I took a vehicle from STX to Florida.

Florida has so many snow birds that no one even noticed. Canadians drive down to Florida for months for the winter and the police don't seem to care.

If you take the vehicle to some place where they don't see many out of state plates then you better pay attention and get your vehicle registered where you live.

Going to try tomorrow to get stateside plates
Using a vi drivers license. Just renewed vi
So don't want to mess with stateside one now.
Was told I could say I was a snowbird.
Anyone else try this?

When we moved to Georgia last year we had to get Ga License before we could register our car. And getting that was another story.

It depends on the state I'm sure, but I can't see why saying you're at your "vacation home" wouldn't work for registering a vehicle.

I grin at your comment about not "messing with getting a stateside license" now, DixieChick - it's hard to get over that thing of what a hassle getting a license/registration was in the VI, and realize it's so much easier in the states (for the most part). We got our licenses in Florida in about ten minutes from walking in the door of the DL office. I still find myself grinning constantly these days when things are so much easier than they were on STX to get done. Definitely a benefit of living stateside I didn't think about before we left.

I would say go ahead and get your stateside DL out of the way. You'll need it for a lot of stuff and it just makes life easier.

i know someone from california who was not legally allowed to have a car registered in two states. also, when i got a md drivers license a few years back, they do not allow cars registered in more than one state. Dont know if territory qualifies as a state but good info to know.

If you aren't going to domicile the vehicle in any state for more than 30 days you will likely be fine. The VI is the only place I know that requires you to register your car here within a day or so if you are driving it here. That policy could probably be challenged but why bother, it's not like people are driving vehicles here so if you do bring a car here it will be here for more than 30 days.

On a related note, I had a problem with a car that was located in DC a few years back. I no longer had a DC license so I couldn't re-register my car in DC. I tried to explain to them that I lived in the VI but my car lived at my property in DC. The supervisor at the DMV understood my situation but said they had no laws in place to deal with it in the district. She said I had to register the car in the VI. Of course that was also illegal because the car was parked at my place in DC which means it needed DC tags. Rock-hard place. It was also not possible as I would've had to ship the car to the VI for inspection and then back up to DC, not exactly a solution.

I couldn't believe a place as transient as DC didn't have any provision for people who lived in other states but kept a vehicle there. Think of all the government types that do this. Many jurisdictions are really behind the times when it comes to the way people live today, with multiple residences etc.

Fortunately, DC can be a lot like the VI and with the proper attitude and my pregnant wife by my side I was able to talk myself into a temporary registration in DC that lasted as long as I needed it to (until the baby came a few weeks later). Common sense prevailed and everything worked out.

Sean

I have a question.....We will be relocating to Saint Croix soon and would like to use our Kawasaki Teryx as street transportation only (no 4-wheeling). No blinkers or horn but these items can be installed. Do you think we will have any trouble getting this registered? I would appreciate any advise to make the transition a smoother one.

No one uses their signals here anyway. The horn however is a must.

Funny, they don't use them here in Colorado either! I appreciate the info.

I have a question.....We will be relocating to Saint Croix soon and would like to use our Kawasaki Teryx as street transportation only (no 4-wheeling). No blinkers or horn but these items can be installed. Do you think we will have any trouble getting this registered? I would appreciate any advise to make the transition a smoother one.

Best to call MVD and ask them directly.

I see unlicensed quad runners and dirt bikes on roads frequently now. I guess if its okay for the cops to drive them on the roads, its okay for the rest of us too.

I've seen a similar 4-wheeler being driven on St. Thomas with license plates -