NJ MVC Custom Plates: Rules, Fees, and How to Apply

NJ custom license plates, which the Motor Vehicle Commission calls personalized plates, let you pick your own letter and number combination for a one-time $50 fee. You apply using Form SP-1, either through your MyMVC account online or by mail to the Special Plate Unit in Trenton. The MVC decides what combinations it will issue, and the rules on both characters and content are stricter than most applicants expect.

Character Rules for Your Combination

Every personalized plate must have at least three letters and no more than seven total characters. You can mix letters and numbers, but an all-number combination is not allowed.¹ A blank space counts as a full character position, and punctuation and symbols are not permitted.

Motorcycle plates cap out at five characters. If you want the same combination on more than one vehicle you own, the MVC will issue duplicate sets as long as the combination is six characters or fewer; each extra set gets a dash number after the text, such as FRANK-2 or FRANK-3.²

What the MVC Will Not Approve

The Chief Administrator has broad authority to deny a personalized plate application or recall plates already in use. N.J.A.C. 13:20-34.3 lists thirteen categories of prohibited combinations, and the review considers both the literal text and any implied meaning. Form SP-1 asks you to explain what your chosen characters mean, and that explanation feeds the decision.³

The MVC will reject any combination that is:

Misleading to law enforcement or suggests the vehicle is tied to a government entity
Profane, obscene, or vulgar
Sexual in nature, including innuendo or connotation
A reference to excretory functions
A slur based on race, ethnicity, religion, lifestyle, or gender
Related to illegal drugs or illegal activity
Libelous, slanderous, or likely to incite violence
Too similar to an existing plate or reserved for another plate class

Gray-area combinations go to the Chief Administrator for a final call. The regulation is written broadly on purpose, so coded references and clever workarounds get flagged more often than applicants anticipate.⁴

How to Apply

You have two ways to submit a request. The faster route is the MVC’s online portal through your MyMVC account, which takes payment and sends confirmation in one step. Leased vehicles are the one exception: if you lease, you have to call the Special Plates Unit at 609-633-8857 instead of using the online system.¹

The alternative is to download Form SP-1, fill it out, and mail it with a $50 check or money order payable to NJMVC. Send the application, payment, a copy of your ID, and any supporting documents to:

New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission
Special Plate Unit
PO Box 15
Trenton, NJ 08666-0015²

Either way, have your Vehicle Identification Number (on your registration certificate or dashboard), your current plate number, and your driver’s license number ready. The form asks for your preferred combination plus ranked alternatives. If your first pick is taken, the MVC moves down your list instead of denying the application outright.

What You Will Pay

A personalized plate costs a one-time $50 fee on top of your regular registration. There is no separate annual surcharge for a standard personalized plate; you keep renewing your registration as usual and the personalization stays active.¹

Two situations trigger additional $50 charges. If your registration lapses for more than two years, bringing the personalized plates back into active status costs $50.² Reissuing the plates to a different person, such as a spouse taking over the car, also costs $50.¹

Don’t confuse personalized plates with dedicated plates, which support a specific cause or organization (Shore to Please, Animal Friendly, USS New Jersey Battleship, and others). Dedicated plates carry a $50 initial fee plus a $10 annual renewal. You can combine the two by putting a custom combination on a dedicated design, but the personalization fee doubles to $100, the character limit drops to five, and you apply with Form SP-100D rather than SP-1.⁵

Processing Time and Delivery

Personalized plates are custom-made, so delivery takes roughly eight to twelve weeks from the date you submit the application. The MVC mails the finished plates to the address on your registration along with an updated registration certificate. Mount them on your vehicle as soon as they arrive.

Online applicants can track status through MyMVC. If you applied by mail, call the Special Plates Unit at 609-633-8857 for updates.

Moving Your Plates to a New Vehicle

You can transfer personalized plates to a new car instead of ordering a new set. The new vehicle has to be the same type as the old one, meaning passenger to passenger or truck to truck, and both registrations must be in your name. The transfer fee is $4.50, and you may owe the difference in registration cost if the new vehicle sits in a heavier weight class. Bring the old registration, the new title, and your ID to any MVC agency.

Replacing Lost or Damaged Plates

If the plates are lost, stolen, or no longer readable, order a remake with Form SP-89. Attach a photocopy of your current registration, a photo of the plate if you still have it, and an $11 check or money order payable to NJMVC. One timing trap: if your registration expires within 60 days, renew it first, or the MVC will reject the remake request. Remakes are custom-manufactured like the originals, so expect ten to twelve weeks.⁶

Which Vehicles Qualify

Personalized plates are available for passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles with codes 11 and 15, and the vehicle has to be currently registered with the MVC. Limousine, omnibus, and municipal or county government plates follow different formatting: they carry a stacked prefix before your personalized characters and allow a maximum of six added characters rather than seven.²

1
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Personalized Plates
2
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Application for Personalized License Plates
3
Legal Information Institute. NJ Administrative Code 13:20-34.3 – Registration Numbers Excluded
4
NJ.gov. NJ Administrative Code 13:20-34.3 – Registration Numbers Excluded
5
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Dedicated Plates
6
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Application to Remake an Existing License Plate