Moving to Delaware: License, Title and Registration Within 60 Days, a 5.25% Document Fee, and Voter Registration

Delaware gives newcomers 60 days after becoming a resident to get a Delaware driver’s license and to title and register their vehicles [1]. All of it happens at the DMV, which has four offices: Greater Wilmington and Delaware City (both in New Castle), Dover and Georgetown [1]. The cost to watch is the 5.25% document fee on your car’s value [1]. Here’s the order that works.

1. Insure the car

Delaware requires every registered vehicle to carry insurance [4]. Your policy has to include at least:

The liability limits come from Delaware’s Financial Responsibility Law [5], and the personal injury protection minimums from Delaware’s insurance requirement for registered vehicles [4]. The DMV will need to see proof of insurance, such as your insurance ID card, which you can show on your phone; it doesn’t accept photocopies or printouts of the card [1].

Driving uninsured is expensive. The DMV lists a fine of at least $1,500 and/or 30 days in jail and a six-month license suspension [1]. Separately, its random audits charge $100 for 1 to 30 days without insurance on a registered vehicle, plus $5 a day after that [1].

2. Get the car inspected

Every vehicle with an out-of-state title has to go through a DMV inspection lane before Delaware will title it [1]. Depending on the model year and weight, that’s a full inspection or a VIN check, and every vehicle gets a safety inspection [1]. Bring your title or registration to the lane [1].

The DMV’s checklist includes lights, brakes, windows and windshield cracks, wiper blades, tires (at least 2/32 inch of tread, no bulges or bald spots), the horn, the exhaust, and no tint on the windshield or front side windows without an approved waiver [1].

3. Title and register your vehicle (within 60 days)

After inspection, apply at one of the four DMV offices [1]. Bring [1]:

• Your out-of-state title, which you’ll surrender. If a lender holds it, the DMV gives you a form (MV-35) to send to the lienholder.
• The Application for Certificate of Title (MV-212), signed by every owner, and the inspection report (MV-210) from the lane.
• Proof of insurance.

What you’ll pay [1]:

• Document fee: 5.25% of the vehicle’s value, at least $8, when a vehicle is brought into Delaware from another state. It’s waived if you show you paid another state’s sales tax, transfer tax or similar levy on the purchase and titled and registered the vehicle there within 90 days before registering in Delaware.
• Title: $35, or $55 if there’s a lien.
• Registration: $40 a year for a passenger vehicle.
• Alternative fuel vehicles: since October 1, 2025, an added yearly fee. For vehicles of 6,000 pounds gross weight or less, that’s $110 for an electric vehicle, $85 for a plug-in hybrid and $60 for a non-plug-in hybrid.

4. Get your Delaware driver’s license (within 60 days)

Apply in person at a DMV office within 60 days after taking up residence [1]. Bring [1]:

• Your out-of-state license or ID, which you’ll turn in. Without it, bring a certified copy of your driving record.
• Proof of legal presence, such as a U.S. birth certificate, passport or immigration documents.
• Proof of your Social Security number.
• Two proofs of Delaware residency.
• Proof of any legal name change, if your name differs.

Cost: $50 for a Class D license, good for eight years [1][2].

Military families: active-duty members and their dependents don’t need a Delaware license or registration until 60 days after leaving the service [1].

After that, keep your record current: Delaware requires you to report a change of address to the DMV within 30 days [1].

5. Register to vote

Delaware’s voter registration deadline is the fourth Saturday before a primary or general election, at 11:59 p.m. [3]. For the November 3, 2026 general election, it was Saturday, October 10 [3]. A mailed application postmarked by the deadline counts [3].

To register, you have to be a U.S. citizen, a Delaware resident, and 18 by the next general election [3]. You can register online at ivote.de.gov, by mail, email, fax or in person, and eligible residents are registered automatically when they apply for or renew a driver’s license or state ID [3].

6. Homeowners: know the senior credit rule

If you’re 65 or older and bought a home, Delaware’s Senior School Property Tax Credit is worth 50% of your regular school tax, up to $500 a year [6]. But if you became a Delaware domiciliary on or after January 1, 2018, you need 10 consecutive years here first [6]. See our guide to Delaware property tax relief.

Your first-60-days checklist

1. Make sure your auto insurance meets Delaware’s 25/50/10 limits and includes PIP [4][5].
2. Take each vehicle through a DMV inspection lane [1].
3. Title and register each vehicle; bring proof if you can avoid the 5.25% document fee [1].
4. Get your Delaware license at the same visit, and register to vote while you’re there [1][3].
5. Report any later address change to the DMV within 30 days [1].