Temporary Registration Permit in Texas

Instrument 1: the Vehicle Transit Permit

The Vehicle Transit Permit, under section 502.492, serves the buyer of a car or light truck whose seller kept the Texas plates: the buyer prints the permit to drive home or to the county tax office, and plates are issued by the county when the vehicle is titled and registered. The permit requires an active email address and Adobe Acrobat Reader, allows only one permit per vehicle, covers passenger cars and light trucks only, is valid five calendar days from issuance with the start date as the issue date, requires the VIN to match or no permit issues, requires minimum Texas liability insurance to be maintained, and excludes salvage and nonrepairable vehicles. Out-of-state travel requires verifying validity in the other state, reprinting is allowed before expiry, and falsifying the application is a third-degree felony. The HB 718 page adds that the permit is valid for one trip between the point of origin and the destination plus intermediate points. There are no fees for obtaining a Vehicle Transit Permit, as the TxDMV Temporary Registration page states. The permit may only be used on passenger vehicles of 6,000 pounds or less and light trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less, and the start date is the day the permit is printed. The permit receipt must be carried in the vehicle at all times during the period in which the permit is valid; no plate-fastening rule applies to this permit.

Instrument 2: one-trip and 30-day metal plates

Section 502.095, as amended by HB 718, authorizes a temporary metal license plate in lieu of registration. The one-trip plate covers one trip from origin to destination plus intermediate points in the application or receipt, for transit only, with no passengers or property except a charter bus not covered by a reciprocity agreement, and a maximum of 15 days from the effective registration date. The 30-day plate covers only a passenger vehicle, private bus, trailer or semitrailer up to 10,000 pounds gross weight, light truck, or light commercial vehicle over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight operating unladen; a person may request an extension of the 30-day period under the current text, and the old texts' "multiple 30-day permits" language is superseded and never carried. Plates are obtained from the county assessor-collector of the county of first highway operation, the department in Austin, or a vehicle title and registration regional office, for a fee of $5 for a one-trip plate and $25 per 30-day plate, with evidence of financial responsibility, the plate design set by department rule, the registration receipt carried in the vehicle at all times, and department refusal for abuse of the privilege. The plate must be securely fastened to the exterior rear of the vehicle in an upright horizontal position, not less than 12 inches from the ground, and must be clearly visible, readable, and legible. The vehicle with this plate is exempt from Chapter 548 inspection. Since July 1, 2025, counties and TxDMV Regional Service Centers issue metal Temporary Registration License Plates with an expiration sticker. One-trip and 30-day plates are obtained in person only, at a county tax assessor-collector office or a TxDMV Regional Service Center; no online purchase is listed for them. A 30-day plate may be purchased up to 60 calendar days before its effective date. The extension rule is a single sentence on the TxDMV page — a person may request an extension of the period a 30-day license plate is valid — with no duration, limit, or procedure stated there.

Instrument 3: 72-hour and 144-hour commercial permits

Section 502.094 authorizes a temporary registration permit for a commercial motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or motor bus owned by a resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, subject to Texas registration, and unauthorized for lack of registration or reciprocity. The permit is valid for the period stated on it from the date and time on the receipt, for a fee of $25 for 72 hours and $50 for 144 hours plus a $4.75 non-refundable processing and handling fee assessed per permit, with evidence of financial responsibility and a copy of the applicable federal declaration form for importation. A service charge may be included on card purchases. These permits are available online, at a county tax assessor-collector office, or at a TxDMV Regional Service Center, and a valid USDOT number is required to obtain either one. A vehicle displaying a 72-hour or 144-hour permit must pass a Texas Safety Inspection before being operated on the highways, unless it displays current out-of-state license plates or is mobile drilling or servicing equipment used in the production of gas or crude petroleum oil — not inspection-exempt by default, unlike the section 502.095 plates. Several permits may be obtained at one time with validity running sequentially, each taking effect when the preceding one expires. A commercial vehicle apprehended for a registration violation may not be issued this permit, and operating with an expired permit is operating an unregistered vehicle with all prescribed penalties. The 72-hour and 144-hour permits continue as paper after July 1, 2025.

County practice vs. statute: stated in separate lanes

The Travis County Tax Office page, a county-official source, states operational rules that differ from the statute in ways this page records without merging. County rules: insurance of $30,000, $60,000, and $25,000 covering the entire permit length; photo ID matching the insurance name; cash only at the tax office, no cards; disqualification for vehicles impounded for expired registration or with junk, salvage, or non-repairable titles. One-trip county rules: empty vehicle or trailer, Texas-only travel, buyer need not be Texan, origin-to-destination in Texas, no inspection, a maximum of three one-trip permits per vehicle (county practice only — no 'maximum three' wording appears anywhere on the TxDMV Temporary Registration page), fee $9.75 cash. Thirty-day county rules: cargo or passenger movement, 30 calendar days from the purchase date, maximum three per vehicle (county practice only, as above), not available online, a completed Form VTR-66 (Application for Timed Temporary Permits, Rev. 04/2022) plus insurance plus photo ID matching the policyholder or listed driver, fee $29.75 cash, and an eligibility list including motorcycles and commercial vehicles over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight — broader than the statute's list. The form states the 30-day fee as $25 plus the $4.75 processing and handling fee, purchase up to 60 days before the effective date, and proof of insurance, a passing vehicle inspection current for the permit duration, and a current government-issued photo ID among its requirements. The TxDMV Temporary Registration page matches the statute on eligibility — a commercial vehicle over 10,000 pounds is eligible only if operating unladen — so the broader list is Travis County's alone. The 72-hour and 144-hour county fees are $29.75 and $54.75, available online from TxDMV, at regional offices, through title-service companies at an extra private fee, and at county offices for cash. The fee arithmetic is consistent — statute fees plus a $4.75 processing assessment equal the county cash totals. The $4.75 fee is assessed per permit on the TxDMV page without a channel limit, and a service charge may be included on card purchases, so a 72-hour or 144-hour permit bought online carries the $25 or $50 fee plus $4.75, plus any card service charge. One-trip and 30-day plates have no online channel, so their county cash totals are in-person totals.

The HB 718 system around the permits

HB 718 created four limited-use metal plates, shown in five-row tables on the TxDMV page that count the General Issue plate as the first row: Buyer Provisional, a short-term plate where the dealer lacks the plate type in inventory, valid until seven days after a permanent plate is assigned; Dealer Temporary, for dealer business only — test drives, loaners, transport — with no personal use and no delivery of vehicles to buyers, securely displayed on the rear of the vehicle, not in the window, with month and year expiration stickers; Out-of-State Buyer, for non-Texas buyers, valid for 60 days, securely displayed on the rear; and the Temporary Registration Plate above. The two durations and the Dealer Temporary display wording appear in the Law Enforcement tab's table; the Dealers tab's table states no duration for either plate, so the durations are cited from the Law Enforcement tab only. Senate Bill 1902 (89th Legislature, 2025) removed dealer trade-in general-issue plates, allowing reassignment to a same-class vehicle sold within 10 days and destruction if unassigned in 10 days, while specialty and personalized plates stay with the customer. Paper tags issued before July 1, 2025 remain valid until expiration. Paper still issued after that date: the 72-hour and 144-hour permits, Vehicle Transit Permits, Temporary Registration Insignia for Specialty Plates, and Factory Delivery Permits (30 days, factory to dealer or point of sale). Private sales are unchanged: the seller removes the plates and registration sticker, may transfer plates to another owned vehicle through the county office if class-appropriate, and submits a Vehicle Transfer Notification within 30 days — a late notification does not guarantee release from liability — while the buyer submits the title and registration application at the county office and obtains new plates within 30 days of purchase.

Source

Vehicle Transit Permit portal page, HB 718 Implementation page (all six tabs, including Law Enforcement and Resources, read live 2026-10-30), and Temporary Registration page (all four tabs read live 2026-10-30) (TxDMV); TxDMV news release June 10, 2025. Statute texts for sections 502.094, 502.095, and 502.492: Texas Legislature Online current texts as read for backlog row A388 (2026-10-30), corroborated this run by FindLaw current texts and the HB 718 enrolled-bill analysis. Form VTR-66 (Rev. 04/2022) form text. County operational rules from the Travis County Tax Office temporary-permits page, opened 2026-10-30 (county-scoped; max-three caps are county practice only, unattested by TxDMV or statute; the broader 30-day eligibility list is Travis County's alone). All first-opens named in backlog row A388 are now closed. This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to your state motor vehicle agency or court.