How to Get a Disabled Veteran License Plate in NC

To get a disabled veteran license plate in NC, you need a 100% service-connected VA disability rating (or Individual Unemployability paid at the 100% rate), a completed Form MVR-33A certified by a North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs service officer, and the supporting documents to prove your status. The plate is issued under N.C. General Statute § 20-79.4(b)(64), and eligible veterans pay nothing for the plate itself and nothing for the annual registration fee.¹

Who Qualifies

The statute covers “a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States who suffered a 100% service-connected disability.”¹ The NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) reads that to include two groups: veterans with a combined VA disability rating of 100%, and veterans receiving Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (IU) who are compensated at the 100% rate.²

The IU piece matters. Plenty of veterans never reach a combined 100% schedular rating but are unable to work because of their service-connected conditions. If the VA has granted you IU and is paying you at the 100% rate, you qualify on equal footing with a veteran holding a schedular 100%.

The plate is available for a motor vehicle or a motorcycle, and each eligible veteran can receive one free plate per year.² A personalized version carries an additional $30 fee.

Documents You’ll Need

The application is Form MVR-33A, the Military/Veteran’s Registration Plate Application. You can download it from the NCDMV website or pick one up at a local license plate agency.³ Along with the form itself, gather:

Your DD-214 covering all periods of military service. The DMVA uses this to verify your veteran status.²
A current VA rating letter or Summary of Benefits showing your combined disability rating. The letter cannot be more than one year old, must include a date, and the veteran’s name has to appear on the same page as the combined rating.²
Vehicle information for the form: your name as it appears on your title or registration, your address, your NC driver’s license number, your current plate number, and the year, make, model, and VIN of the vehicle receiving the plate.³

The most common snag is the age of the VA letter. If your most recent benefits letter is older than a year, request a fresh one before you apply. You can generate a current letter through the VA’s eBenefits portal or by contacting your regional VA office.

Get Section 6 Certified by a Service Officer

You cannot send the MVR-33A straight to the DMV. Fill out Sections 1 through 5, then take the form to a North Carolina DMVA Accredited Service Officer to certify Section 6.³ Only a county or state veteran service officer can complete this certification, per N.C.G.S. § 20-79.4.²

Every North Carolina county has a County Veteran Service Officer. Find yours through the DMVA website or by calling your county government office. Bring the partially completed MVR-33A, your DD-214, and your current VA rating letter. The service officer reviews the documents, confirms your eligibility, and signs Section 6. The certification is free and usually takes a single visit, though scheduling an appointment ahead of time avoids a wasted trip.

Submitting the Application to NCDMV

Once Section 6 is signed, submit the completed package to the NCDMV. You can bring it in person to a local license plate agency, or mail it to the NCDMV at 3155 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27697-3155.³

In-person visits generally get processed faster. If you mail the packet, keep copies of everything. The NCDMV does not publish a guaranteed processing time for military plates, so expect a wait, particularly during peak renewal season. Keep using your current plates until the new ones arrive.

What It Costs and What Stays Waived

The Disabled Veteran plate is one of the few North Carolina plates where both the plate cost and the annual registration fee are waived. The DMVA lists Disabled Veteran plates among those that are “free, and the license plate fee waived.”² You pay nothing for the initial plate and nothing at annual renewal for the registration portion.

The waiver applies to the state registration fee, not to every charge on the renewal notice. County vehicle property taxes and regional transportation taxes are assessed separately, and whether they apply depends on your county.

Parking in Handicapped Spaces

The plate itself authorizes handicapped parking. Under N.C.G.S. § 20-37.6, a vehicle displaying a disabled veteran registration plate issued under G.S. 20-79.4 may legally park in spaces designated for persons with disabilities.⁴ No separate placard is required. Enforcement officers look at the plate on the vehicle actually parked in the space, so if you drive a different vehicle that doesn’t carry your disabled veteran plate, you’d need a removable placard for that one.

Renewal and Moving the Plate to a New Vehicle

All North Carolina plates, including Disabled Veteran plates, renew annually.⁵ Your renewal notice will arrive before the expiration date. Because the registration fee is waived, the amount due may be zero or limited to any applicable local taxes.

If you sell or replace the vehicle, the plate stays with you. Remove it before the car changes hands. You can transfer it to a replacement vehicle at a local NCDMV office; the standard plate transfer fee is $25.50.⁶ Bring your registration card and the new vehicle’s title or registration so the DMV can update your record.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 20-79.4 – Special Registration Plates
2
North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Military and Veteran License Plates
3
North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. Military/Veteran’s Registration Plate Application
4
North Carolina General Assembly. Session Law 2016-25
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 20-66 – Renewal of Vehicle Registration
6
NCDMV. Official NCDMV – Fees