Licensing, insurance and the law
You move to California bringing your car with you. How long do you have to register it here?
- 20 days from becoming a resident or getting a job in California. Correct answer
- 30 days from becoming a resident or getting a job in California.
- Five days from becoming a resident or getting a job in California.
Why
Twenty days, counted from becoming a resident or taking a job in California. The other two numbers are real, and both belong somewhere else. The 30 days are how long your vehicle can sit impounded if an unlicensed person is caught driving it. Five days is the deadline on the selling side, for filing a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability after you sell a vehicle. And registering here carries a condition of its own: every vehicle registered in California must meet California requirements, emission controls included, and DMV cannot register one that does not qualify.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is 20 days from becoming a resident or getting a job in California.
The rule behind this one
License, points and insurance in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on licensing, insurance and the law
- Your driver's license is about to expire and you are 72 years old. How must you renew it?
- A law enforcement officer pulls you over. Which documents must you, as the driver, produce?
- You lend your car to someone who turns out to have no driver's license, and they are stopped by police. What can happen to your car?
- A physician diagnoses a patient with a condition that can cause a lapse of consciousness. From what age must the physician report it to DMV?