New Jersey Disabled Veteran Plates, Free Registration and Parking

New Jersey's vehicle benefits come in four tiers with four different tests. Disabled Vet plate, any rating. N.J.S.A. 39:3-27.15 lets the Motor Vehicle Commission issue a "Disabled Vet" plate to a resident honorably discharged from active service whom VA has declared to have "a service-connected disability". There is no percentage. N.J.S.A. 39:3-27.16 sets the plate fee at $15 on top of the ordinary registration fee. Free meters for 24 hours. N.J.S.A. 39:4-207.10 exempts a disabled veteran or a Purple Heart recipient from municipal parking meter fees when the vehicle is owned by him or her, displays the Disabled Vet or Purple Heart plate or an MVC placard (form SP-47), and the veteran is the driver or a passenger. The exemption ends after 24 hours in one spot, and it applies to municipal meters only, not to private lots or state facilities. Disability parking at 100 percent permanent. N.J.S.A. 39:4-204(b), added by P.L.2017, c.166, makes a resident honorably discharged from active service whom VA has adjudicated "permanently 100 percent disabled" a person with a disability for the wheelchair-symbol placard and plates, without a physician's certification. N.J.S.A. 39:4-205, as amended by P.L.2023, c.40, lets that veteran submit VA's statement instead of a doctor's, and not resubmit it at renewal once the MVC has scanned it. The statute does not mention individual unemployability; a veteran paid at the total rate through unemployability can still qualify through a physician's certification of limited mobility. Free registration, narrow. N.J.S.A. 39:3-27.1 waives the registration fee for one passenger vehicle, not for hire, owned by a resident alone or with a spouse who is (1) receiving the state blind veterans' allowance for loss of sight in wartime service, (2) qualified for VA's automobile grant under the 1946 and 1951 federal laws, with a New Jersey licence and a vehicle equipped with the adaptive devices the MVC requires, or (3) a holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor, who also receives distinctive plates. Apply to the MVC's government unit at 609-292-6500 extension 5076 with a certification sealed by VA. The MVC's veterans page lists the first two routes and not the Medal of Honor. Other plates. Purple Heart, former prisoner of war, Gold Star family and dozens of service and organization plates are issued through the MVC's special plate unit and sponsoring organizations.