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Free Vehicle Registration for Severely Disabled Veterans
Free registration on one vehicle at 100% — including 100% through unemployability. The plate fee is still charged.
Verified August 18, 2026
What this benefit is
Free registration on one vehicle at 100% — including 100% through unemployability. The plate fee is still charged.
What it's worth: Registration free on one qualifying vehicle
- ONE qualifying vehicle only — a passenger car or truck with a registered gross weight of 9,000 lbs or less.
- A veteran who lost a limb or an eye, or became partially paralysed in service, gets the processing fee treatment rather than the full exemption.
Who is entitled to it
- You served in the U.S. armed forces.
- Your service-connected disability is certified at 100%.
- You are paid at 100% through unemployability, which PennDOT accepts for the severely disabled veteran plate.
- You lost a limb or an eye, or became partially paralysed, while serving.
- You register a qualifying vehicle in Pennsylvania.
- Your home is in Pennsylvania.
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
- 1Submit form MV-371DV with certification of the disability from the VA or your service branch.
- 2Pick your vehicle deliberately — the exemption covers one, and it must be 9,000 lbs registered gross weight or less.
- 3Budget for the plate. Registration is what is waived; the licence plate fee is not.
- Form
- MV-371DV
- File with
- PennDOT Driver and Vehicle Services
- Documents you will need
- va benefit summary letter
- At each renewal
- Claimed again whenever the underlying licence or registration renews.
CorrectionPennDOT states plainly that licence plate fees still apply. "Free registration" is exactly that and no more, and a veteran expecting a free plate is told otherwise at the counter.
Worth knowingUnemployability counts. PennDOT names a veteran "being paid at 100% as a result of unemployability" alongside a 100% certification, so a veteran rated 70% and paid at the 100% rate should apply.
Sources
- authority · statute75 Pa.C.S. §1901
- operating · published policyPennDOT — Apply for Free Registration for Eligible Veterans
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.