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Gold Star Plates — $0 a Year, and Not in the Code of Virginia At All

The Department of Motor Vehicles issues a Gold Star plate at no annual fee on a certification form of its own, the Gold Star or Next of Kin License Plate Applicant Certification (VSA 10A). The special licence plate article of the Code of Virginia was read end to end this session and contains no Gold Star section, which is why the Department is the authority here.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The Department of Motor Vehicles issues a Gold Star plate at no annual fee on a certification form of its own, the Gold Star or Next of Kin License Plate Applicant Certification (VSA 10A). The special licence plate article of the Code of Virginia was read end to end this session and contains no Gold Star section, which is why the Department is the authority here.

What it's worth: $0 a year for the standard Gold Star plate; $10 a year if you personalise it

  • The Department lists the Gold Star plate at "$0 Annually" for the standard plate and "$10 Annually" for a personalised one, in addition to ordinary registration fees.
  • The Department requires "a copy of the DMV Gold Star Or Next of Kin License Plate Applicant Certification Form (VSA 10A)".
  • The Department states the plate permits personalisation and offers a disabled symbol option on request.
  • Article 10 of Title 46.2 of the Code of Virginia — the special licence plate article, §§ 46.2-725 through 46.2-749.134 — was retrieved in full and searched this session. The phrase "Gold Star" does not appear anywhere in it, and neither does "killed in action". No statutory Gold Star plate exists.
  • Where the Code does speak to bereaved families in the plate article it does so through the unremarried surviving spouse provisions attached to individual decoration plates — § 46.2-742 for the Purple Heart, § 46.2-742.1 for the Bronze and Silver Star, § 46.2-742.2 for the Navy Cross and other crosses, § 46.2-745 for the Medal of Honor — each of which lets the unremarried surviving spouse of an eligible person hold the same plate.
  • Va. Code § 46.2-739(A) separately allows a DV plate to be transferred on the veteran’s death to the unremarried surviving spouse, and subsection C carries the free registration with it.

Who is entitled to it

  • The plate belongs to the family of a service member who died.
  • Your home is in Virginia.

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

  1. 1Ask for the plate by the form number, VSA 10A. It is the certification the Department names, and its title covers both the Gold Star plate and the next of kin plate.
  2. 2Expect to pay registration but not a plate surcharge. The Department lists the standard Gold Star plate at $0 a year on top of registration.
  3. 3Skip the personalisation if cost matters. Personalising the plate reinstates a $10 annual charge.
  4. 4Ask for the disabled symbol option at the same time if you need it — the Department offers it on this plate on request rather than as a separate application.
  5. 5Do not go looking for a Gold Star statute. There is not one. The plate article of the Code was read end to end this session and does not contain the words.
  6. 6If you are the unremarried surviving spouse of a decorated veteran, ask about the decoration plate as well. Those routes are statutory and each carries an unremarried surviving spouse provision.
Form
Gold Star or Next of Kin License Plate Applicant Certification (VSA 10A)
File with
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles
Annual
Claimed once a year.
CorrectionLooking for the authority for this plate in the Code of Virginia is wasted effort. The special plate article was retrieved whole this session and the words are not in it. The plate is a departmental one, and the Department’s own page is the thing to quote at a customer service centre.
Known gapThe VSA 10A form itself was retrieved but its printed eligibility text could not be extracted, so no list of which relatives qualify, and no statement of whether remarriage ends eligibility, is published here. Ask the Department before assuming either way.
Worth knowingThe form is titled for two plates at once — Gold Star or Next of Kin. Families of a service member whose death does not meet the Gold Star criteria should ask about the next of kin plate on the same form rather than starting again.

Sources

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