California Disabled Person Parking Placards and Plates in 2026

Who qualifies

A qualified permanently disabled person may obtain a disabled person parking placard or DP license plates for all of their vehicles at no additional fee, per the DMV's disabled person parking placards and plates page. The DMV's grounds are impaired mobility from any of these: loss of the use of one or more lower extremities, or of both hands; a diagnosed disease that substantially impairs or interferes with mobility; inability to move without the aid of an assistive device; or specific, documented visual problems including low vision or partial sightedness. A disabled veteran with a qualifying disability may be eligible for disabled veteran plates instead, which also exempt one vehicle from registration and license fees; the plates guide has that application.

Placards versus plates, and the four placards

Placards and DP plates grant the same parking privileges. The difference, in the DMV's words: plates must stay permanently affixed to the vehicle they were issued for, which suits a disabled driver's own car, while a placard can be moved from one vehicle to another, which suits a caregiver who transports a disabled person. The placards: a permanent placard for permanent disabilities, valid for two years and expiring on June 30 of every odd-numbered year, with only one allowed at a time; a temporary placard for temporary disabilities, valid up to 180 days or until the date the medical provider wrote on the application, whichever is shorter, and not renewable more than six times in a row; a travel placard for a California resident who already has a permanent placard, DP plates or DV plates, valid 30 days from issue; and a travel placard for nonresidents with a permanent disability or DV plates who plan to travel in California, valid up to 90 days or the provider's date, whichever is shorter. On the DMV's fee schedule a permanent placard is free, a temporary placard $6 (free for a permanent placard holder), a disabled veteran placard free and its replacement $20.

Applying

A placard is applied for online through the DMV's placard application, which asks you to upload a completed Application for Disabled Person Placard or Plates (REG 195) signed by your medical provider, plus a copy of one proof of true full name and date of birth (a state driver's license or ID card, a U.S. birth certificate, or a valid U.S. passport or passport card, with the DMV's document lists for other birth date and legal presence documents), and to pay any fee from a bank account or by card; or by mail or at an office with the signed REG 195, the fee for a temporary placard, and the original application mailed to the address on the form. DP plates take the signed REG 195, the current registration card in your name (or the documents to register the vehicle in your name), payment of the normal registration fees due, and surrender of the plates currently on the vehicle, and the DMV's placards and plates menu says disabled plates require an office visit with no appointment needed. The online application is only for a new placard; a lost placard or placard identification card is replaced through the separate online replacement.

The medical certification

The Medical Provider's Certification of Disability on the REG 195 must be completed and signed by a licensed physician, surgeon, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife who has knowledge of the disease or disability. A licensed chiropractor may certify a person who has lost the use of one or both lower extremities or has a significant limitation in their use; a licensed optometrist, or a physician or surgeon who specializes in eye diseases, may certify a visual disability. The DMV waives the certification in two cases: a person who has lost a lower extremity or both hands and appears in person at a DMV office with a completed REG 195; and a person who already holds a permanent California placard or has DP or DV plates on the vehicle, with the plate number entered in part A of the application. Once issued, a permanent placard needs no re-certification by the provider.

Where you may park, and where you may not

With a valid placard or DP plates the DMV says you may park in spaces with the International Symbol of Access (the wheelchair symbol), next to a blue curb authorized for disabled parking, next to a green curb (limited time parking) for as long as you wish, in an on-street metered space at no charge, and in an area that requires a resident or merchant permit; service stations must also refuel a disabled person's vehicle at self-service rates unless only one employee is on duty. You may not park in the crosshatched spaces next to an accessible space, which are for wheelchairs and wheelchair lifts, or next to red curbs (no stopping, standing or parking), yellow curbs (commercial loading) or white curbs (passenger loading and mail). Only the holder may use the placard or plates: lending a placard, using someone else's, forging a medical professional's signature, possessing or displaying a counterfeit placard or plates, giving false information to obtain one, or altering a placard or its identification card is illegal, can bring citations and fines, and can end in cancellation and revocation, under the Vehicle Code sections the DMV cites (1825, 4461, 4463, 21458, 22511.5 to 22511.7, 22511.55 and 22511.59) and Business and Professions Code section 13660.

Renewing a permanent placard

Permanent placard holders used to receive a new placard automatically every two years. Beginning in 2023, under Senate Bill 611 of 2017, the DMV must send renewal notices every six years or before the third renewal, and holders who have had a placard for six or more years must provide a signature before a new placard is mailed, per the DMV's placard renewal page. The DMV mails a renewal notice to those who must renew; the fastest route is online at dmv.ca.gov/dpp, by scanning the notice's QR code with the phone camera's own reader (the DMV warns that downloaded QR apps may be malware) or by entering the renewal identification number, and the notice can also be signed and mailed back with postage. Renewal is free, no payment information is asked for, the address can be updated during the renewal, and a holder without the notice renews online with name, date of birth and placard number from the placard identification card, or by mail or in person on an Application for Permanent Disabled Person Placard Renewal (REG 195 A). A business renewing a placard is not asked for a date of birth. Without the signature no new placard is issued. The DMV's page on the 2025 cycle says about 260,000 holders who received their original placard between June 2019 and December 2020 had to sign, those who signed in 2023 did not, holders issued after December 2020 received the new placard automatically before the June 30, 2025 expiration, the new placards expire in June 2027, and a renewed placard arrives two to four weeks after the DMV receives the signature. Temporary placards and DP plates are not affected by the signature rule.

Replacements, address changes and window decals

A lost, stolen or damaged placard, permanent or temporary, is replaced with the Application for Replacement Plates, Stickers, Documents (REG 156), surrendering a damaged placard, with a fee for a temporary placard only (the DMV charges nothing to replace permanent and travel placards), by appointment at a DMV office or by mail to DMV Placard, PO Box 942869, Sacramento, CA 94269-0001, with the placard arriving in about two to four weeks; the DMV's online replacement covers a placard or a placard identification card, generates the application automatically, and needs the holder's signature when someone else files it. An address is updated during a renewal, or otherwise on a mailed Change of Address (DMV 14) or the DMV's placard change of address service; a DP plate address can be changed online. Placard holders may buy sequential or personalized special interest plates, but a vehicle cannot carry both DP or DV plates and special interest plates. For a vehicle whose wheelchair lift or carrier blocks the rear plate, the DMV issues a free rear window decal, white with black characters matching the plate, to a placard holder, a person who transports placard holders, or a vehicle with DP or DV plates; the request is a Statement of Facts (REG 256) mailed to the Special Processing Unit, PO Box 932345, Mail Station D238, Sacramento, CA 94232-3450, never to an office, and the decal arrives in six to eight weeks.

Help at the DMV office

The DMV's people with disabilities page lists its accommodations. Every office has a Start Here sign for appointments and persons with disabilities, where assistance or an accommodation is requested, a disability service counter with priority tickets after check-in, and an office manager trained to help with disability needs; Driver Safety Office listings include a map of accessible parking and building access. By phone the contact center is 1-800-777-0133 and the TTY line 1-800-368-4327, which accepts typed messages from another TTY; online chat is the alternative. Interpreters, including ASL interpreters, are provided at no cost: the DMV asks to be told so an appointment can be scheduled when one is available, through the California Relay Service at 1-800-735-2929 from TDD phones or 1-800-735-2922 from voice phones. Knowledge tests can be taken online, on paper, by audio, person to person or with a pre-recorded ASL DVD. Service animals are welcome in every office; staff may ask only whether the animal is a service animal and what tasks it is trained to perform, may not ask about the disability or for certification, and may ask the animal to leave only if it is out of control or a direct threat, in which case the business continues without it.

Questions about California disabled parking placards and plates

What does a disabled person placard cost?

A permanent placard is free, per the DMV's fee schedule; a temporary placard is $6, and free for a permanent placard holder. Renewing a permanent placard is free, and the DMV says no card or payment information is asked for.

How long is a placard valid?

A permanent placard is valid two years and expires on June 30 of every odd-numbered year; a temporary placard up to 180 days or the date the medical provider wrote, whichever is shorter; a resident travel placard 30 days; a nonresident travel placard up to 90 days or the provider's date.

Do I need a doctor's signature?

Usually yes, from a licensed physician, surgeon, chiropractor, optometrist, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife who knows the disability. The DMV waives it for a person who has lost a lower extremity or both hands and applies in person, and for a person who already holds a permanent California placard or DP or DV plates and enters the number in part A of the REG 195.

Do I have to renew a permanent placard?

Since 2023, holders who have had a placard for six or more years must give a signature, online at dmv.ca.gov/dpp, by scanning the QR code on the mailed renewal notice, or by mail, before a new placard is mailed; newer holders receive the new placard automatically. No new medical certification is required.

Can a caregiver use my placard?

The DMV says a placard can be moved from one vehicle to another, which makes it a good option for a caregiver who transports a disabled person, and that you are the only person who can use it: lending it, using someone else's, forging a signature, displaying a counterfeit, giving false information or altering a placard is illegal and can mean cancellation, revocation and penalties.

Placard or plates, which should I get?

They carry the same parking privileges. The DMV says plates stay on the one vehicle they are issued to, which suits a disabled driver, while a placard moves between vehicles, which suits a caregiver who transports a disabled person. A vehicle cannot carry both DP or DV plates and special interest plates.