After establishing your Montana presence, it’s time to provide some information about your vehicle.
When you open the Step 2 - Your Vehicle element, you'll see the following items:
Let's cover these items one by one.
Step 2a: Vehicle details
In order to register your vehicle, a few key pieces of information about the vehicle are required.
When you click the Vehicle Details element, you will see the required information:
Let's cover each of these pieces of information one at a time.
Vehicle type
Click the Vehicle Type dropdown to select your vehicle type:
If your vehicle is not a motorcycle, a motorhome, or a trailer, select Light Vehicle.
If your vehicle is a motorcycle or a UTV/side-by-side, select Motorcycle.
If your vehicle is currently titled as a motorhome (also known as a recreational vehicle, or RV), select Motorhome.
Note: A vehicle may only be registered as a motorhome if its prior title lists its vehicle type as a motorhome. If your vehicle's prior title lists the vehicle title as a van, truck, or other non-motorhome vehicle type, it must be physically inspected by Montana law enforcement before it can be converted to, and registered as, a motorhome vehicle type.
If your vehicle is a tow-behind trailer, such as a camper or fifth wheel, select Trailer.
VIN
Next up is the Vehicle Identification Number (or VIN). Type it into the VIN Number field.
Please type your vehicle's VIN carefully, as mistakes can lead to delays and/or additional costs.
Vehicles manufactured in 1981 and later have a 17-digit VIN. The letters I, O, and Q are never used to avoid confusion with the numerals 1, 0, and 9, respectively.
If your vehicle is a light vehicle or motorcycle model year 1981 or later, clicking the Autofill button will populate the year, manufacturer, and model fields below.
If your vehicle is a motorhome or trailer, the Autofill button will disappear and you’ll have to enter values in the year, manufacturer, and model fields manually.
Color
Next, select the color from the dropdown that most closely matches the primary color of your vehicle.
Year
Next, enter your vehicle’s year of manufacture.
For some motorhomes, the vehicle’s chassis may have been manufactured in one year, and converted to a motorhome in a later year.
Please enter the year printed on the vehicle’s title.
A mismatch between the year entered at this step and the year on your vehicle's title can lead to delays and/or additional costs.
Manufacturer
Next, enter the name of your vehicle’s manufacturer.
For some motorhomes, the vehicle’s chassis may have been built by one manufacturer, and converted to a motorhome in by another manufacturer.
Please enter the manufacturer printed on the vehicle’s title.
A mismatch between the manufacturer entered at this step and the manufacturer on your vehicle's title can lead to delays and/or additional costs.
Model
Next, enter your vehicle’s model name.
For some motorhomes, the vehicle’s chassis may have had one model name and the motorhome itself may have another model name.
Please enter the model name printed on the vehicle’s title.
A mismatch between the model name entered at this step and the model name on your vehicle's title can lead to delays and/or additional costs.
Fuel Type
Next, select the fuel type from the dropdown that most closely matches your vehicle’s fuel type.
Note: Electric and hybrid vehicles are subject to additional fees. If your vehicle uses one of these fuel types, payment of the fee will be due upon vehicle submission.
Motorhomes and trailers only
Motorhomes and trailers only
If your vehicle type is Motorhome or trailer, three additional fields are required:
Class
Motorhomes have three classes:
Class A motorhomes look like busses,
Class B motorhomes look like vans, and
Class C motorhomes look like trucks with an attached living quarters.
Please select the choice that reflects your motorhome's class.
Length
Please provide the length (in feet) of the motorhome or trailer.
Weight
Please provide the weight (in pounds) of the motorhome or trailer.
Motorcycles only
Motorcycles only
If your vehicle type is Motorhome or trailer, three additional fields are required:
Wheelbase
Provide the distance between the wheels (in inches) of the motorcycle.
Wheel diameter
Provide the diameter of the largest wheel (in inches) of the motorcycle.
Odometer reading
US law requires buyers and sellers to provide an odometer disclosure for all powered vehicles model year 2011 and later.
Non-powered vehicles (such as trailers), and vehicles model year 2010 and older, are exempt from odometer disclosure requirements.
Please enter your vehicle's current odometer reading, its indicator (actual, last known, etc.), and the odometer reading date, and check the box to certify the odometer reading.
Insurance acknowledgement
Before submitting your vehicle, you must acknowledge your understanding that using visitor.us' address for insurance purposes without explicit instructions from a licensed insurance agent can be considered fraud, which is why our Terms of Service prohibits it. Using our address as a mailing address is acceptable.
Click the checkbox to confirm your understanding of this.
Submit vehicle
After providing all of your vehicle's details and confirming the insurance acknowledgement, click the Submit Vehicle button to submit your vehicle and proceed to the next step.
(You can skip to Step 3: Temporary Registration!)
After submitting your vehicle’s details, you can IMMEDIATELY request 40-day printable Montana temp tags for your vehicle.
You do NOT need to complete the remaining actions in Step 2 - Your Vehicle to proceed to Step 3 - Temporary Registration.
Step 2b: Registration Application
A signed Form MV1 - Montana Vehicle Registration Application is required to register any vehicle in Montana.
You can electronically sign Form MV1 within the visitor.us dashboard from anywhere in the world.
Populating your Form MV1 - Montana Vehicle Registration Application requires a couple of manual steps from the visitor.us team.
Therefore, Form MV1 might not be available for your electronic signature immediately.
You will receive an email notification when your Form MV1 is fully populated and available for your electronic signature.
When your Form MV1 is fully populated and available for your electronic signature, you will see the following Form MV1 element within the Registration Application section:
Click the Sign Form button to proceed with electronic signature.
Note: Safari browser users may experience issues with the electronic signature function. If you encounter issues, please try again with Chrome or another browser. We apologize for any inconvenience.
After clicking the Sign button, you'll be able to review Form MV1, and sign it electronically.
If you make a mistake with your signature, use the Clear button to start over.
After signing, click the Submit button, and you will be returned to the Order screen in the visitor.us dashboard.
Step 2c: Signature authorization
The buyer's section of a vehicle's prior title must be physically signed in order to complete registration.
The signature authorization step helps visitor.us determine whether you can sign the title yourself, or if you need to authorize visitor.us to sign the vehicle's title on your behalf.
A situation where you CAN physically sign the title yourself:
If you are collecting the vehicle directly from the seller, who will hand you the vehicle's title at the time of vehicle hand-over, you will be able to physically sign the title yourself.
In this situation, you do NOT need to authorize visitor.us to sign the vehicle's title on your behalf.
Two situations where you CANNOT physically sign the title yourself:
If you are buying the vehicle remotely, and want to arrange for the vehicle's seller to send the title directly to visitor.us for registration, or
If you are buying from a dealership, and the dealer cannot provide the title immediately at the time of vehicle handover.
In these situation, you DO need to authorize visitor.us to sign the vehicle's title on your behalf.
After providing your vehicle's details, the following element will become visible within the Signature authorization section:
Option 1: Physically sign the title yourself
Option 1: Physically sign the title yourself
If you ARE able to physically sign the vehicle's title - for example, you are collecting the vehicle's title when you collect the vehicle - click the Yes button:
If you will physically sign the vehicle's title yourself, please follow the steps in our prior title signing guide closely. Any errors may result in additional fines and/or delays.
After clicking the Yes button, proceed to Step 2d: Registration upgrades.
Sometimes plans change. If, after clicking the Yes button, you learn that you will be unable to physically sign the title, click the Switch to Power of Attorney button, and proceed with Option 2: Power of Attorney.
Option 2: Authorize visitor.us to sign your vehicle's title with a Power of Attorney
Option 2: Authorize visitor.us to sign your vehicle's title with a Power of Attorney
If you are NOT able to physically sign your vehicle's prior title, you can authorize visitor.us to sign on your behalf with a notarized power of attorney. Click the No button:
When you click the Generate POA button, a Power of Attorney (POA) form, populated with the details of your vehicle, will be generated. This POA authorizes visitor.us to sign your vehicle's prior title on your behalf, and gives visitor.us no other authority. See the blank example POA below:
A Montana POA MUST be notarized - witness and countersigned by a notary public or other designated official - in order to be valid.
Montana accepts two notarization methods:
a) physical notarization, and
b) remote online notarization.
Option 2a: Physically notarize the power of attorney form to authorize visitor.us to sign your vehicle's title
Option 2a: Physically notarize the power of attorney form to authorize visitor.us to sign your vehicle's title
The first way to have your POA notarized is to print it out and visit a notary public (or other designated official, such as justice of the peace) in person. The notary public will witness you sign the POA, and countersign and stamp the document.
Only an authentic physically notarized document - not a copy, photo, or scan of it - is accepted, so if you choose the physical notarization option, visitor.us provides a shipping label to send the document to our office.
When you are ready to send your notarized POA to visitor.us, click the Add Sender Address button, and provide the "from" address for the shipment.
After providing the "from" address, click the Generate Shipping Label button, and a pre-paid shipping label to send your notarized POA to visitor.us will be automatically generated. (Shipments from outside the US may incur an international shipping fee.)
When we receive your notarized power of attorney, we will upload it to autos.visitor.us within one business day and send you an email letting you know that we received it.
Option 2b: Notarize the power of attorney form via video conference (remote online notarization) to authorize visitor.us to sign your vehicle's title
Option 2b: Notarize the power of attorney form via video conference (remote online notarization) to authorize visitor.us to sign your vehicle's title
If you choose to have your POA notarized via the remote online notarization (video conference) option, visitor.us will submit your pre-populated power of attorney to our remote online notarization partner, NotaryCam.com, which will contact you to schedule a video conference notarization session at a time that’s convenient for you.
visitor.us charges $95 to cover the cost of the remote online notarization.
In order to proceed with the remote online notarization option, click the Proceed with online notary button.
When your notarization session is complete, NotaryCam.com will send your notarized POA to visitor.us automatically.
When we receive your notarized power of attorney, we will upload it to autos.visitor.us within one business day and notify you by email.
Step 2d: Registration upgrades
Within the Registration Upgrades section, you'll see that three registration upgrades are available:
Charity license plates,
Personalized license plates, and
Permanent registration (for vehicles 11 years or older).
Charity license plates
Montana offers a variety of license plate designs that support Montana non-profits.
You can support one of these organizations and obtain one of these beautiful plates. (See pricing here.)
(You will keep your plates at the end of your visit - Montana law requires plates to be removed from a vehicle upon sale.)
While Montana offers dozens of charity plate designs, we offer the four designs above at this time.
Personalized license plates
You can choose custom lettering for your license plates. (See pricing here.)
Applicants must submit three lettering choices, and the meaning of each.
The Montana DMV will check them against existing license plates and issue the first approved one, in order of submitted preference.
Unfortunately, we cannot check the availability of custom lettering ahead of time.
Custom lettering must follow the rules below:
Number of characters
Minimum: 2 alpha-numeric characters, cannot be all spaces or all numbers
Maximum:
Standard plate: 7 characters
Charity plate: 6 characters
Small plate (motorcycle and small trailer): 6
Miscellaneous requirements
The letter 'O' cannot be used. Instead, the number '0' may be used
The ampersand character (&) is allowed
Each space counts as a full character
Spaces cannot be used at the beginning or end of lettering choice
Montana has the right to refuse lettering
The department may refuse to issue any lettering that may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency, or which are misleading, or a duplication of license plates provided for elsewhere in Montana law statute.
Permanent registration
Permanent registrations never have to be renewed.
Registrations for motorcycle and trailer vehicle types are permanent by default.
All other vehicle registrations are annual by default.
Vehicles 11 years and older may be permanently registered for an additional fee. (See pricing here.)
Time limitations on registration upgrades
Registration upgrades will be available until we receive your vehicle’s prior title.
Step 2e: Your vehicle’s prior title
In order to register your vehicle, we must submit its authentic prior title, properly signed by the seller and buyer.
Copies, scans, or images of titles are NOT accepted for vehicle registration.
Your vehicle’s prior title assignment
Title assignment is when the seller signs over the vehicle's title to you, and you sign as the buyer.
The vehicle's seller must assign the vehicle's title before it is sent to visitor.us for registration.
Because title assignment errors can cause delays and extra costs, please consult our Prior Title Assignment Guide before writing anything on your vehicle’s prior title.
Shipping your vehicle’s prior title to visitor.us for registration
When you are ready to send your vehicle's title to visitor.us for registration, request a pre-paid shipping label for your prior title within the Your Vehicle's Prior Title section, seen below:
We offer a Fedex shipping label.
If Fedex is not a convenient shipper for your location, you are welcome to ship your prior title with a shipper of your choice.
If you don't use the Fedex shipping label that visitor.us provides, please click the Submit your own tracking number button and enter your shipment's tracking number.
After clicking the Add Sender Address button, you will see this Sender Address form:
Please provide the name and address that should be used in the "From" section of the shipping label.
If you are shipping your title from within the United States, the "From" address does not have to be the exact place where you will ship the package from.
For example, you can supply a "From" address in New York for the shipping label, and actually ship the document from California, 3,000 miles away - the shipment will arrive with visitor.us.
Supplying a "From" address in one country and actually shipping the document from another country will probably result in your shipment getting lost.
We understand that you’ll probably be on the road. So we WILL NOT automatically send your Montana plates, registration, and title to this “From” address.
Instead, when your items are ready, we will ask for a "To" address, which can be in a totally different state (or country) from the "From" address provided at this step.
The shipping label that we generate for you does not have an expiration date - it can be used at any time.
Additional charges are applicable to shipments from outside of the United States.
visitor.us receives your vehicle’s prior title
When we receive your vehicle’s prior title, we’ll upload an image of it to the visitor.us dashboard, and you'll receive an email notification that we have your title.
(We’re a small staff, serving a large client base, so it may take up to one business day after receiving your prior title for us to upload its image.)
Potential title issues
Because title assignment involves humans, ink, and paper, mistakes can happen.
Luckily, most mistakes can be resolved with an electronically signed document.
Here are some of the solutions that may be required:
Statement of Fact. A statement of fact can correct minor title errors, such as an incorrect spelling, or write-over. It must be signed by the person who made the error.
If you made the error, we will send a statement of fact to you to sign electronically, and
If the seller made the error, we will ask you for the seller’s email address, so that we can send a statement of fact to him or her to sign electronically.
Bill of sale. A handful of situations require a bill of sale in order to complete registration. If the seller didn’t sign the title, or signed it incorrectly, a bill of sale from him or her to you may be required.
Odometer disclosure. If a bill of sale is required, and the vehicle is model year 2011 or newer, an odometer disclosure may be required.
Potential fees for title correction
We reserve the right to charge fees to cover additional work that may be required to correct title issues, so please complete your vehicle’s prior title carefully!