A Trip to the DMV

It finally happened today. I became an official resident of New Jersey, replacing my Minnesota license and getting new plates for my car. It was a joyous occasion, to be sure, but as anyone will tell you, the DMV isn't all that much fun.

First of all, since New Jersey has to be contradictory and unique, it's not the DMV in this state. It's the MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION, or MVC. It's a little ways up I-295 in a city called Mount Holly, which was fairly easy to figure out with a little cellular assistance and Google Maps. Eventually I pulled in, noted down all the information about my car, and headed in.

Oh, that reminds me. New Jersey uses a "six point" identification system, which requires you to have documentation that "adds up" to six. For instance, a birth certificate/passport is four points, an out of state license is one, and a social security card is one. It took me about an hour and a half to finally find my birth certificate this morning, but with that done, I was off.

After getting everything processed, I was given the number 94 when they were on 79. Not so bad, and it didn't take that long, about forty-five minutes at most. I got called up, and the entire process took about forty-five more minutes thanks to the computers getting screwed up for a bit, and number 106 was called before I got done. Eventually I had to take the obligatory photo for my license, my title got transferred, and I was given new license plates. It surprised me - they gave me my actual license and plates right there in the DMV.

So now I guess I'm an official resident. I have to put my plates on and get my car inspected in the next two weeks and then I'm good for another year. This is really something I should have done a long time ago...