Quote:
Originally posted by Hootie
First of all you have to get your car inspected before you can get in licensed. This may not be something new to you but it was to me coming from Nebraska. I didn't have the first clue about it and what was weird (and maybe this was an Austin thing) NO ONE could give me a straight answer on the procedure to licensing your car if you were from out of state. So, KNOW THIS...go to any gas station that has a sign that says they are registered to do State Inspections. Pay your $12.00 to get the car inspected. They'll fill out this green sheet. You then take that and all your info to whatever courthouse or place does the actual licensing. Don't forget that green sheet (or whatever color it is) cuz they won't license it without your proof of inspection. Then they'll give you your license plates. Then you get to get your picture ID (where I went I had to travel to a different place all together for that). But at any rate, I found it discouraging the lack of information there was about this proceedure so I hope this will help you out!
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If you live in certain counties in the metro area of Dallas-Fort Worth (Dallas, Collin, Tarrant, Denton, Rockwall) they now require your car to pass an emissions inspection along with the safety inspection. Total cost including state inspection is now about $40.
Whoa! Hold on a minute... before you can even submit your car for a safety and emissions inspection you will need to show proof that your vehicle is insured to the minimum requirements of the State of Texas; proof of this is by presenting a current Texas insurance card issued by your insurer. You can't even get your car inspected, registered, nor get a driver's license until you have that card!
The green sheet merely verifies the mileage, VIN number and that your car meets the safety and emissions requirements.
To register your vehicle you'll need to go to the county tax assessor's office (usually at the county courthouse, or other designated location). If you're registering a car from out of state, you'll need to pay a one-time tax (about $75-100) along with the registration and license tag fees. In total, you'll probably pay around $150; renewals are MUCH cheaper (around $50-60).
Getting your Texas drivers license is another story; as soon as you enter the facility you will be met by a DPS officer who will check to see if you have ALL the required paperwork (insurance, registration) before proceeding further. No problem surrendering an unexpired out of state D/L but you may be required to take a vision and/or a road rules test. Interesting little secret: if you have had a Texas driver license issued before and it has not expired (they're generally good for four years; safe driver renewals are good for six years) you can apply for a duplicate license. (It also depends on if you remember the drivers license number: mine's easy to remember because it is all odd numbers.)
You'll get your tags immediately at the tax assessor, while you may have to wait for about two weeks before you get your driver's license (you'll get a temporary slip in the meantime) in the mail from Austin.
Useful websites for Texas driver licensing and registration:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/ (vehicle inspection)
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/adminis...ol/dlindex.htm (drivers license)
http://www.txdot.state.tx.us/vtr/vtrreginfo.htm (vehicle registration)
New to Texas brochure (requires Adobe Acrobat):
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-...tr450forms.pdf