Once you have established residency in Connecticut, the DMV says you have 90 days to transfer your out-of-state vehicle registration. The transfer is in person, by appointment, at a DMV hub or the branch in Enfield. Two things come before that appointment: an emissions test or a VIN verification, and proof of insurance that meets Connecticut's minimums. Those minimums, on the compliance page, are $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 per accident for property damage.
The same 90-day period appears on the page for a vehicle purchased in another state. That page says you have 90 days after the purchase, or 90 days from when you established residency if you are new to Connecticut.
What has to happen, in order
- Get the original out-of-state title. If a lienholder has it, send the DMV title-request form and have the title mailed to the Title Unit, Out of State Title, 60 State Street, Wethersfield, CT 06161. Wait five business days after delivery is confirmed before the appointment. If you do not finish within 90 days, the DMV returns the title to the lienholder and you start over.
- Go to an emissions test center. Vehicles older than four model years need the emissions test. Vehicles younger than four model years do not. Exempt vehicles still need a VIN verification at that center. You leave with a vehicle inspection report.
- Gather identification the DMV accepts, proof of insurance at the minimums above, form H-13B (application for registration and certificate of title), the inspection report, and payment. The transfer page says photocopies of ID are accepted, and that you can transfer your out-of-state driver license at the same visit.
- Book the appointment and complete the transfer. The DMV calculates the fees at the visit. The fees page is the source for the current schedule. This page does not copy a fee the fees page did not state in the materials opened on November 10, 2026.
Documents
An original title is required. A photocopy is not enough. A leased vehicle needs the original title and an original power of attorney from the leasing company. The proof-of-ownership page repeats the 90-day residency clock and the same emissions rule: a model year four years or older from the current year needs an emissions test, and exempt vehicles need VIN verification.
The leased-vehicle page still contains an older sentence that says you have 60 days to transfer a registration, and then states that effective October 1, 2021, new residents have 90 days. The transfer page and the out-of-state purchase page both say 90 days. Use 90 days, and ask the DMV if a leasing company tells you otherwise. The leasing company must have a leasing license on file with the Dealer and Repairers Division before the vehicle can be registered. The leased-vehicle page gives the phone number 860-263-5056 to check that license.
Inspections
The inspection is done at an emissions test center, not at the DMV window. You bring the vehicle, the current registration, and your driver license. The technician completes the vehicle inspection report. There is no separate statewide safety inspection described on the transfer page. The emissions program page linked from the compliance section is where late fees are described. The compliance page says a vehicle tested 30 days after the emissions deadline is charged a $20 late fee, payable online. That late fee is about a missed emissions deadline, not a substitute for the test.
Tax
The Department of Revenue Services, through the DMV sales-tax page, requires sales-tax information or the purchase price on form H-13B. Motor vehicles are also subject to a local property tax whether or not they are registered.
For an out-of-state purchase, you can get credit for sales tax paid to another state if you bring the purchase invoice and the tax receipt showing the tax was submitted to that state. If you paid less than 6.35 percent, or less than 7.75 percent on a vehicle over $50,000, you pay the difference at DMV. If the documents are not enough to allow the credit, you pay 6.35 percent, or 7.75 percent over $50,000, at registration, and you may ask the Department of Revenue Services for a refund on form CERT-106 or through myconneCT. A private sale of a passenger vehicle or light-duty truck is taxed at those same rates on the NADA average trade-in value or the bill of sale, whichever is higher.
If you are a Connecticut resident and you register a vehicle you bought in a foreign country, use tax is due even if you used the car abroad first. The base is the sales price plus foreign taxes, transportation, import duties, and other costs to bring the vehicle to the United States. Tax paid to a foreign jurisdiction is not credited.
Insurance and plates
Liability coverage has to continue for as long as the vehicle is registered. Insurers report uninsured motorists to DMV. The Insurance Department states the same $25,000, $50,000, and $25,000 figures and says uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident is also required. If you later move away, cancel the Connecticut registration and plates and keep the receipt so the insurer does not keep reporting a lapse.
A shipped car
If the car is not registered before it is transported to Connecticut, the out-of-state purchase page says you need an appointment and a temporary registration. It points readers to the requirements for a temporary registration for inspection purposes, then to the emissions or VIN step. A car that arrives on a truck is in that position: you cannot complete emissions until the car is here, and you may need the temporary registration to get it to the test center. See car shipping in Connecticut and the cost calculator. Lease permission from the leasing company is a separate question, covered in shipping a leased car.