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Free Metered Parking With No Time Limit — On a Certificate, Not on a Rating

A vehicle displaying the disability certificate or disability plates may park in a designated disabled space, in a metered space without paying the meter and without time restrictions unless separately posted, and without time limits in a restricted non-metered space. The test is a ten-part medical definition certified by a health professional, and it includes losing an arm or a leg without a usable artificial limb. A six-year or long-term certificate carries no fee.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: No meter fee and no time restriction; $5 only for organisation, temporary and short-term certificates

The fee subdivision charges $5 only for organisation, temporary and short-term certificates and their duplicates. It sets no fee for the six-year or long-term certificate.
This record is listed for everyone because the test is medical rather than military. It is here so a rated veteran does not assume the rating is the ticket.

Who is entitled to it

You are 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.

From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.

How to claim it

1Read the ten-part test in subdivision 2(f) before booking an appointment: cannot walk without significant risk of falling; cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest; cannot walk without another person, a walker, cane, crutches, braces, a prosthetic device or a wheelchair; a respiratory disease giving a one-second forced expiratory volume under one litre; arterial oxygen tension under 60 mm/Hg on room air at rest; uses portable oxygen; a cardiac condition classed III or IV on the American Heart Association scale; has lost an arm or a leg and does not have or cannot use an artificial limb; a disability that walking 200 feet would aggravate to a life-threatening extent; or legal blindness.
2The amputation limb is the one that reaches veterans most directly, and it turns on the artificial limb: having lost an arm or a leg AND not having, or not being able to use, a prosthesis.
3Five professions can sign the medical statement — a licensed physician, a licensed physician assistant, an advanced practice registered nurse, a licensed physical therapist, or a licensed chiropractor. The physical therapist and chiropractor routes are unusual and easy to miss.
4Ask whether you need the statement at all. Subdivision 2a lets the commissioner waive it if you have previously filed a statement certifying a PERMANENT physical disability.
5Ask for the 30-day permit at the counter. Subdivision 3 requires the commissioner to issue one immediately to an eligible applicant while the certificate itself is processed.
6Ask for two certificates if you have not been issued disability plates — subdivision 3 allows up to two in that case, which covers a second household vehicle.
7Use the meter privilege, which is the money in this record: a vehicle displaying the certificate parks in a metered space with no obligation to pay the meter fee and with no time restrictions unless a time restriction is separately posted on official signs.
8Hang it from the rearview mirror so it reads from front and rear, or put it on the dashboard if there is no mirror or your disability prevents using it; on a motorcycle or motorised bicycle it must be secured to the vehicle. No part may be obscured.

Form: Application with a health professional’s medical statement in the commissioner’s format
File with: Driver and Vehicle Services, Department of Public Safety
Documents you will need: va benefit summary letter
Periodic: Re-confirmed from time to time.

CorrectionA service-connected rating is not a disability parking certificate. Minn. Stat. 169.345 does not mention veterans, disability rating or the federal veterans department anywhere; the test is a health professional’s certificate against ten listed conditions.

Worth knowingThe free-meter privilege has a limit written into it. Time restrictions still bite where they are SEPARATELY POSTED on official signs, and the privilege never permits parking in a fire lane created by local ordinance or in a rush-hour no-parking zone.

Worth knowingThe certificate is for the disabled person, not for the car. Another driver may use it only while actually transporting that person for their sole benefit, and only where the space is a reasonable distance from the drop-off point. Misuse is a misdemeanour and a $500 fine.

Worth knowingPregnancy is expressly covered where it brings on one of the listed conditions, which subdivision 2(g) states in its own paragraph.

Sources

authority · statuteMinn. Stat. 169.345 — parking privilege for physically disabled: the three parking privileges including free metered parking with no time restrictions, the display rules, the ten-part definition of a physically disabled person, the five health professions that may certify, the waiver of a repeat statement for a permanent disability, the immediate 30-day permit, up to two certificates where no disability plates are held, the certificate terms from temporary through six-year, and the $5 fee limited to organisation, temporary and short-term certificates

Why only one source type: mn.gov renders only in a browser from this network and the Driver and Vehicle Services page for the certificate could not be reached this session. The section is unusually complete on its own — it states the privileges, the medical test, who may certify, the terms and the fees.

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