To remove the organ donor designation from your NJ license, fill out the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission’s Change of Status form and either mail it in or bring it to an MVC agency. Mailing it costs nothing and updates your driving record. Going in person costs $11 and gets you a new physical license without the heart symbol. If you also signed up through Donate Life New Jersey or the National Donate Life Registry, you have to remove yourself from those separately.
Mail the Form or Visit an Agency
Download the Change of Status form from the MVC website, check the box that reads “I wish to remove the organ donor designation from my driver record,” and mail it to New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, PO Box 137, Trenton, NJ 08666.1State of New Jersey. Organ Donor This updates your donor record with no fee and no office visit, but the license already in your wallet still shows the designation until it’s replaced at renewal.
If you want a clean physical card now, take the form to an MVC agency. The agency updates your record and issues a replacement license without the donor designation.2NJ.gov. Change of Status – Organ and Tissue Donation
What to Bring in Person
An in-person visit runs on the MVC’s 6-point ID verification system. You’ll need identification documents that add up to at least six points, plus proof of your current address.1State of New Jersey. Organ Donor Most people reach six points quickly with a U.S. passport or certified birth certificate (four points each) combined with something like a Social Security card and a bank statement (one point each). You can’t use more than two one-point documents.3NJ.gov. 6 Point ID Brochure Gather everything before you go; getting turned away for insufficient ID is a common frustration at MVC offices.
The Fee
If you request a replacement license at an agency, the MVC charges an $11 duplicate license fee.4State of New Jersey. License and Permit Fees Mailing the Change of Status form without requesting a new card costs nothing; the fee is triggered by issuing a duplicate, not by the donor change itself.1State of New Jersey. Organ Donor Make checks or money orders payable to “New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.”
How Long It Takes
At an agency, your donor record updates electronically on the spot. The replacement card usually arrives by mail within about two weeks, and the agency may hand you a temporary paper document to carry in the meantime. If the new card shows up still marked as a donor, call the MVC right away rather than waiting.
Mailed forms take longer. Your record should reflect the change well before your next renewal, and the MVC transmits updates electronically to the New Jersey Sharing Network, the state’s organ procurement organization.1State of New Jersey. Organ Donor
The MVC Form Doesn’t Reach the Registries
If you ever registered online through Donate Life New Jersey (donatelifenj.org) or the National Donate Life Registry (registerme.org), those signups stay active until you remove them yourself. Donation professionals check both the state and national registries at the time of death, and the most recent registration is treated as your legal document of gift.5Donate Life America. National Donate Life Registry
To pull yourself from the national registry, go to registerme.org, click “Access your registration,” and sign in. If a record exists, you’ll see options to edit or remove it, and once removed the registry does not retain it. Support is at [email protected].6Donate Life America. National Donate Life Registry and State Removal For the state registry, use donatelifenj.org.7Donate Life New Jersey. FAQs If you don’t remember where you originally signed up, remove yourself from both to be safe.
Revocation Is Not the Same as Refusal
New Jersey follows the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. Removing your donor designation counts as a “revocation” of your previous gift, but under the statute a revocation does not stop other authorized people, typically close family, from consenting to donation on your behalf after your death.8NJ Legislature. New Jersey Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, P.L. 2008 c.50
If you want to make sure no one can authorize donation of your organs or tissue, you need a formal “refusal”: a signed record that bars others from making an anatomical gift for you. That can be a signed written document, a provision in a will, or any other record that clearly states your intent. Taking the heart off your license alone leaves the family-consent door open.
You’ll Be Asked Again at Renewal
New Jersey requires you to answer the donation question every time you renew a license or ID.1State of New Jersey. Organ Donor The MVC doesn’t quietly carry a previous designation forward, so if paperwork ever fell through the cracks, renewal is a second chance to decline. Just answer no when prompted.
Tell Your Family
Whatever your license and the registries say, the people most likely to be asked in a crisis are your next of kin. Because family can legally authorize donation after a revocation unless you’ve filed a refusal, a short, direct conversation now matters more than the paperwork. If you’ve written a refusal or updated your advance directives, tell your closest relatives where those documents are kept.