licenses & feesstate

The Veteran Indicator — Free Duplicate If Your Licence Is Not Due

A resident veteran can have the word "Veteran" printed on a driver’s licence or ID card. There is no added fee for the indicator itself, and if the credential is not up for renewal the duplicate carrying it is issued at no fee. Only the long-form DD-214, a DD-215 or an Honorable Discharge form are accepted as proof.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: No added fee for the indicator, and no fee for the duplicate if the credential is not up for renewal

The renewal fee itself is still payable when the indicator is added at renewal. The Registry says so in terms.
The indicator is proof of status rather than a discount. What it is worth is whatever the accepting business or agency gives.

Who is entitled to it

The indicator goes on the credential of the person who served.
Your discharge is the one the Registry asks to see.
You live 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

1Go in person. The Registry says this transaction is completed in person at a Service Center or at one of the select AAA locations — it is not an online transaction.
2Bring the long form. The Registry accepts a DD-214 that indicates honorable discharge and states that only the long form, the full page, is acceptable.
3A DD-215 indicating honorable discharge, or an Honorable Discharge form, are the two alternatives the Registry names.
4Bring a completed licence and ID application with you rather than expecting to fill one in at the counter.
5If your licence is not up for renewal, ask for the duplicate — the Registry issues it with the Veteran’s Indicator for no fee.
6If it is up for renewal, expect to pay the renewal fee. There is no added fee for the indicator, but the renewal is charged as usual.
7If you are also 100% rated or deemed unemployable, ask about the HERO Act driver’s licence transaction fee exemption at the same visit — the two are administered by the same Registry and are not the same benefit.

Form: Completed licence and ID application, with the discharge document
File with: An RMV Service Center, or one of the select AAA locations
Documents you will need: dd214
At each renewal: Claimed again whenever the underlying licence or registration renews.

CorrectionThe long-form condition is the one that sends people home. A DD-214 short form, the version many veterans carry because it omits the discharge characterisation, is not accepted — the Registry asks for the full page and says so.

Worth knowingTiming decides whether you pay. Adding the indicator to a credential that is not due for renewal is free because the duplicate is issued at no fee; adding it at renewal costs the renewal fee you would have paid anyway.

Worth knowingThe Registry offers the indicator on an ID card as well as a driver’s licence, which matters for a veteran who does not drive.

Sources

authority · published policyExecutive Office of Veterans Services and Registry of Motor Vehicles — Veteran Status Licenses and Specialty Plates: the Veteran’s Indicator on a driver’s licence or ID card, no added fee for the indicator, a no-fee duplicate where the credential is not up for renewal, the renewal fee still payable, the in-person requirement at a Service Center or select AAA location, and the three accepted proofs with the long-form DD-214 condition

Why only one source type: malegislature.gov refused the connection to the browser and to curl throughout this session, so the statutory basis for the indicator could not be read, and the Registry publishes the whole procedure on one page rather than across several. That page is the instrument the counter applies.

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