Vehicle Registration

Multi-Year Registration

A multi-year registration may extend from two to five years. All regular registration fees are due at the time of issuance. There are no refunds for any unused portion of the registration.

Vehicles eligible for multi-year registration:

• Passenger cars
• Non-commercial trucks and trailers
• Motor homes and house vehicles
• Motorcycles and mopeds

License plate types eligible for multi-year registration:

• System assigned
• Initial reserve
• Personalized

Methods for Registration

First-time Registration

• In person at a deputy registrar license agency
• If you are temporarily out-of-state, use the Application for Registration by Mail (form BMV 4625)

Renewal Registration

• In person at a deputy registrar license agency
• Online at OPLATES.com
• By mail, please contact the BMV for further assistance

Ohio Revised Code: 4503.103

Multi-Year and Permanent Registration for Trailers and Semi-Trailers

Commercial trailers and semi-trailers can be registered from one to eight years at any deputy registrar license agency.

Multi-year registrations may transfer from one commercial trailer to another. The following transactions can be completed under the multi-year process:

• New
• New/renew
• Replace/renew
• Renew
• Transfer/renew
• Replace/renew/transfer

For fleets of at least 100 registered commercial trailers, universal validation stickers without specific plate numbers are available at no additional cost. Weight stickers are not issued.

Permanent Registration Plates

Customers may pay eight years of registration fees to receive a non-transferable, permanent registration plate.

• Only new registrations can be completed as a permanent plate.
• Permanent registration is not eligible for a class transfer from commercial trailer to non-commercial trailer.
• Permanent plates have “permanent” printed between the bolt holes and “no exp” (no expiration) printed in the bottom right corner to indicate no validation sticker is required.
• You will receive a 30-day trailer temporary window card until the arrival of your permanent license plate by mail within 10-14 business days from the date of purchase.

Methods for Registration

In person at any deputy registrar license agency.

International Registration Plan

For more information, please see our IRP registration for commercial trailers section.

Ohio Revised Code: 4503.103

Staggered Registration

Staggered registration assigns a new primary expiration month for commercial vehicles based on the last two numbers of the carrier’s tax ID number (TIN) or Social Security number (SSN).

• Staggered registration allows carriers to choose the best plan for their company.
• The carrier may split fleets into predetermined months.

Fleet Vehicle Chart

*The secondary month is six months from the primary month.

• All registrations will expire on the last day of the month.
• All registrations are eligible for renewal 90 days prior to expiration.
• During the transition period only, some registrations may exceed 12 months.
• Required documents must be presented at renewal or when applying for a new commercial registration.

Staggered Registration Chart

TIN or SSN	Primary Month	Two Divisions	Three Divisions*	Four Divisions
00-07	January	January July	January July April or October	January July April October
08-14	February	February August	February August May or November	February August May November
15-22	March	March September	March September June or December	March September June December
23-30	April	April October	April October July or January	April October July January
31-39	May	May November	May November August or February	May November August February
40-48	June	June December	June December September or March	June December September March
49-57	July	July January	July January October or April	July January October April
58-65	August	August February	August February November or May	August February November May
66-73	September	September March	September March December or June	September March December June
74-82	October	October April	October April January or July	October April January July
83-90	November	November May	November May February or August	November May February August
91-99	December	December June	December June March or September	December June March September

Ohio Administrative Code: 4501:1-7-03, 4501:1-7-05, 4501:1-7-06