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The Disabled Veteran Plate Does Not Park — What Actually Does

There are two disabled veteran plates here and only one of them carries parking privileges. The plate on a 50% service-connected rating alone does not park. The parking permit itself is free and lasts five years, but it is a health practitioner who signs for it, not the VA.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: No charge for the permit or either veteran plate; permanent permits run five years

The division states there is no charge for a disability parking permit.
A permit for a permanent disability is valid five years and is renewable online every five years. A permit for a temporary disability may be issued for up to six months, with the expiration date set by the practitioner on the application.
Form 861 is completed and signed by a qualified health practitioner. That is the instrument for the permit, and the VA rating does not substitute for it.
Two veteran plates exist. Disabled Veteran without parking privileges needs proof of a service-related disability of a combined 50% or more. Disabled Veteran with parking privileges needs Form 861 AND the VA notice of a combined service-related disability rating of 50% or more.
The state veterans office states in terms that disabled veteran licence plates do not automatically come with parking privileges, and that Form 861 must be submitted to add them.
Both veteran disability plates carry an initial price of $0 and a renewal fee of $0. Personalising either costs $30.
The disabled veteran plates are available in small size as personalized plates only.

Who is entitled to it

This record is about the person who served.
Your combined rating is at or above the level the veteran plates key on.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Decide which of the two veteran plates you actually want before you apply. Ordering the one without parking privileges and discovering the gap in a car park is the common and avoidable mistake.
2Get Form 861 signed by a qualified health practitioner if you want to park. The VA rating letter proves the disability is service connected; it does not prove the mobility impairment the parking permit turns on.
3Send both documents together for the parking-privileged plate. The division names Form 861 and the VA notice as an AND, not an either.
4Consider the free permit on its own. It costs nothing, runs five years and travels between vehicles, which suits a veteran who is often a passenger rather than the driver.
5Renew the permanent permit online at the five-year mark rather than letting it lapse and starting the practitioner step again.

Form: Form 861 — Disability Parking Application
File with: Division of Motor Vehicles
Documents you will need: va benefit summary letter
Periodic: Re-confirmed from time to time.

CorrectionIn several states a disabled veteran plate carries the parking privilege by force of statute. Here it does not, and the veterans office says so itself. A veteran who moves in with that assumption will park illegally on a plate that looks like it should be enough.

Worth knowingThe permit and the plate are not competitors. A veteran can hold the free plate for the fee saving and the free permit for the parking, and the permit is the more portable of the two because it hangs in whichever vehicle is carrying the person.

Sources

authority · published policyDivision of Motor Vehicles — Disability Parking Permits & Plates
operating · published policyOffice of Veterans Affairs — License and License Plates

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.