Vanity Plates

For new and renewal registration, please bring the Application for Vanity Plates to your Town/City clerk's office to process your registration and vanity plate application. You can also apply for a new vanity plate at any DMV office that processes registrations after processing the town/city portion of your registration. You may also mail the application, town portion of the registration and a check for the appropriate fees to the Concord DMV at:

NH Dept. of Safety
DMV - Registration Bureau
23 Hazen Drive
Concord NH 03305

If you are changing your plate anytime other than the time of your renewal, please bring the Application for Vanity Plates along with your current vehicle registration to either your Town/City clerk's office or to your nearest DMV location.

Approval or Denial

If your choice of Vanity Plate is approved, the plates will be mailed to you. If your choice of vanity plate is denied, you will receive a letter by mail along with a set of number plates and a new registration. A credit for the paid vanity fees will be credited to your customer account. You will have a choice of selecting a new plate or applying for a refund of the Vanity Plate fees.  Pursuant to Administrative Rule Saf-C 508.04, a person whose initial or vanity registration plate has been denied may submit a written request to the Director setting forth a detailed explanation as to the reasons why such an initial or vanity plate should be issued.

Fees

The cost is your town/city and state registration fees, plus $40.00 (for 12 months, prorated per month) for the Vanity Plate fee, plus the $8.00 plate fee (one-time fee). Please note: The following plates have an additional yearly non-prorated fee:

• Conservation (Moose) Plates $30.00
• State Park Plates $85.00
• Decal Plates (Passenger) $15.00
• Decal Plates (Veteran) $15.00

If you choose to change your plate before your next renewal, the cost will be $23.00 which includes the $8.00 one-time plate fee, and a $15.00 certified registration fee in addition to prorated vanity plate fees when applicable.

Compliance

All Vanity Plate requests shall comply with Administrative Rule, Saf-C 513.62(c):

(c)  An initial or vanity registration plate shall not:

1. Include a zero;
2. According to the plain and ordinary meaning of the characters on the vanity registration plate, expressly refers to or is commonly associated with any of the following subjects, in any language, whether read forward, backward, by mirror image or by phonetic spelling:
   • Intimate body parts or genitals;
   • Profane or vulgar sexual or excretory acts or functions;
   • Words or terms of profanity or obscenity;
   • Advocating violence;
   • Illegal activities;
   • Illegal drugs or intoxicants;
   • Gangs; or
   • Racial, ethnic, religious, gender or sexual orientation slur, discrimination, genocide, hatred or bigotry;
3. Have more than 7 characters;
4. Have more than 2 ampersands, plus signs, or minus signs, and which shall not be consecutive, such as &&;
5. Have any characters other than ampersands, numerals, plus signs, minus signs, or letters;
6. Have only numerals or only numerals and ampersands, plus signs, or minus signs; and
7. Have characters or combinations of characters which may cause difficulty of distinction or identification.

All vanity plates are centered by the graphic on the plate (Old Man, Flag, etc.), and not by the center of the plate.

You may check on the availability of a Vanity Plate by visiting our Vanity Plate Search. Please note that although this Vanity Plate Search feature may indicate that your plate choice is available, it cannot save the plate for you and as a result, the plate may not be available when you visit our office. Please note that the graphic showing how your plate will look in this search is not an accurate representation of the actual manufactured plate.

Plate Recall

Pursuant to Administrative Rule Saf-C 513.62(d) the Director may recall any initial or vanity registration plate that has been issued which has been found not to conform with the requirements.  Complaints regarding a plate that may not conform to the requirements of the Administrative Rules may be sent to the Director in letter form and must be signed, with an explanation of why the plate does not conform.  Anonymous letters will not be accepted.