Do You Need A Physical Address To Register A Car

If you're a full time vanlifer, RVer, or backpacker, you live out on the open route, free from the restrictions of a fixed location. Simply when you alive wherever you choose, that also means that yous don't really live anywhere – or at least, not how guild wants you to.

Unfortunately for people similar us, the legal organization is organized around its peons having a fixed location, a permanent address to call home. You lot demand a legal accost to do all sorts of required and non-required things, such as:

Get commuter's licenses, passports, and other identification
Obtain health insurance, auto insurance, and other forms of insurance
Sign upward for banking concern accounts and other financial accounts
Register vehicles
File and pay taxes
Register to vote
First a business

That'due south just a brief list of things that you demand a legal accost to do, only there are certainly more than. Just about annihilation of a legal nature requires you to have a legal residence, or domicile.

So what'south a nomad to do? Fortunately, information technology's entirely possible for vagabonds of all kinds to establish and maintain a legal residence without actually living in a fixed location. In this post, nosotros become over the nuts of establishing home as a full time traveller – and so you can hit the road and have one less thing to worry nearly!

Important Disclaimer

The decision to establish domicile in a certain place can be very complex, and there are many things that y'all need to consider before doing so. This post is based on our own best research and experience, only we are not attorneys and you lot should not take what we've written here as legal communication. Do your own research earlier making this type of determination, and seek out qualified professional communication if you experience like you lot don't fully understand what y'all're getting into.

What Does it Hateful to be Domiciled in a State?

Jayme sitting in the grass in front of the van, on the phone, typing at a computer, looking busy.

What is a home? Domicile is a legal term that refers to the place you intend to make your permanent home, and the place you intend to return to after temporary absences. Your dwelling house is the state where you "live," pay taxes, have a driver'due south license, obtain wellness insurance, register your vehicles, and conduct your cyberbanking. It is dissimilar from your residence – because while yous may accept multiple residences, you can only have one domicile.

The intent part is particularly of import here, particularly if you're thinking nigh changing your abode land. If you simply get a mailing accost in a new state only however maintain banking company accounts, a driver's license, and voter registration in your old country, it will exist tough to prove that y'all actually intend to switch your domicile.

In order to brand a solid case of your domicile intent, you lot need to practise much more than – obtain a driver's license, annals your vehicle, annals to vote, switch your banking over, get insurance, and ready as many personal and professional ties as possible. Y'all also demand to do everything you can to break whatever such ties to your old state.

Shouldn't I just Stay Domiciled in My "Home" State?

You already take dwelling established in the land where you currently (or near recently) lived. Why would you want to switch to some other state?

Well, you might not want to. The easiest option is to maintain dwelling in your current country. Your vehicle is probably already registered at that place, yous probably already have a commuter's license, you lot're (hopefully) already registered to vote, and you lot probably accept a network of friends and family that might be willing to permit you utilise their place as your "address," collect your mail, and forrad it on to yous.

Many nomads end up only sticking with their original land. This is what we did for our first 18 months on the road – we kept our domicile in Missouri, and used John'due south parents' address every bit our mailing and legal address.

Merely this option may non work out forever, and the longer you're on the route the less attractive this becomes. Your friend/family member may get tired of dealing with your mail service. Your state may have vehicle inspection or license renewal requirements that hateful you need to go back in that location more oftentimes than you'd like. And in that location may be college tax burdens in your state (considering why pay taxes somewhere you lot don't actually live?).

Considering all of this, information technology might make sense to store around for a new land that'southward more friendly to your situation.

What Steps Do You Need to Accept to Switch Your Domicile?

There are a few logistical steps that y'all'll need to have to get the brawl rolling on switching your dwelling:

Get a mailing accost in your new state. If you lot don't actually have a fixed dwelling, you can usually achieve this by signing up with a mail-forwarding service.
Switch your addresses over and file a modify of accost form with the Post Function.
Obtain automobile insurance, health insurance, and other insurance in your new state.
Go a driver's license and register your vehicle(southward). Doing this usually requires yous to travel to your new state.
Annals to vote in your new land, and unregister in your old state.

While these are the basics for setting yourself up in a new state, information technology's also a adept idea to fix as many legal, professional, and personal ties inside your new land every bit possible to help reinforce your domicile intent if it ever comes into question. Yous volition also want to sever any such ties in your onetime state to aid remove whatsoever claim that your old land may take on you.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Domicile Country

Van parked in a valley, looking out on some beautiful mountains

In that location are many things to think about when making this conclusion. To give you lot a starting point, hither are some questions to ask when because a country for your legal domicile:

How easy is it to establish domicile? Are there a lot of hoops to jump through?
Are in that location available mail forwarding services that yous tin apply as your legal address? Or, do you know someone who volition let you use their address?
How are the taxes? Are in that location state income taxes, belongings taxes, or sales taxes?
How like shooting fish in a barrel is it to register vehicles? Can you lot practice this remotely?
Are there required state vehicle inspections that force y'all to return to the state more oft than y'all would prefer?
How much are license and registration fees? Will y'all exist able to register your van as a not-commercial vehicle (commercial vehicles take much higher insurance costs)? If you lot drive a bus or large RV, do you need to become a special license?
How are auto insurance premiums compared to other states?
Are in that location health insurance options that work for you? These days it's tough to detect ACA-compliant wellness insurance with a national network in whatsoever state. If you need regular medical care, consider choosing a state that'south close to where you spend most of your fourth dimension.
Where is the state located? Is it convenient for you to become back there if yous demand to?
How easy is it to annals to vote and to vote absentee?
If you accept kids, what are the homeschooling laws similar?

Those are some of the most common questions you lot should be asking, simply in that location may be others depending on your situation.

Potential Risks

While changing your dwelling house as a nomad is perfectly legal, there are some risks and wrinkles to exist aware of:

Many motorcar insurance companies want you to accept a "garageable" address for your vehicle – then that either cuts downwards your options or forces you to fudge the fact that you are using a mail forwarding address. Some mail forwarding services (like America's Mailbox in S Dakota and Escapees in Texas) operate their own campgrounds, and yous may be able to argue that these are "garageable" addresses.
The Patriot Human action requires banks and other financial institutions to take a concrete address on file that is not a mail forwarding address. This is a security measure out to gainsay fraud and money laundering. You can still use your mail forwarding address every bit your mailing accost, just it's a adept idea to take the accost of a friend or family member to use for your physical address. If you lot use a postal service forwarding address and they find out, you could wake upwardly 1 mean solar day to find that your accounts are frozen.
Note on the higher up: If you use a physical accost that is not in the state where you are claiming domicile, this could crusade other bug for you and potentially open you upward for a domicile claiming. As we said, there are a lot of factors in play hither.

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The "Big Three" Dwelling States for Nomads

So what is the best state for nomads to plant domicile? There's no one right respond for everybody, and at that place are a lot of things to call up about – and so do your inquiry and choose wisely.

That said, there are three states that tend to exist common choices for full time travelers looking to establish a legal residence: Southward Dakota, Texas, and Florida. These states all have a killer combination of low/no taxes, available mail forwarding services, and nomad-friendly policies. Let's take a quick await at what each country offers!

South Dakota

The road leading to South Dakot's Badlands Rock Formations

S Dakota makes it easy for people living a vagabond lifestyle to become residents, obtain driver'southward licenses, and register vehicles. As a effect, this awesome state has attracted traveling residents of all kinds, from retired RVers to young vanlifers to full time backpackers – even diplomats who live overseas.

What makes South Dakota so peachy? Bated from the beautiful landscapes and amazing people (seriously, visit S Dakota if you become the adventure), SD has many benefits for total fourth dimension travellers, including:

No state income revenue enhancement!
No personal holding taxation!
Only a 4% excise tax on vehicle purchases
No land vehicle inspections
Easy to establish. You only demand to stay in SD for 1 night to go a commuter'southward license.
Y'all do non need to exist in state to register vehicles. Most mail service forwarding companies will take care of this for you for a pocket-sized fee.
Cheap driver's license fees ($xx for a regular license)
Some of the everyman auto insurance rates in the country.
Driver's licenses are good for five years – so that means you but demand to be in SD for 24 hours every 5 years to maintain a valid license!

While those are some pretty awesome benefits, there are some drawbacks depending on your situation:

South Dakota is a bit out of the way from where most nomads hang around, which tin go far inconvenient to get back there when you need to (although, it is smack dab in the eye of the country, then if you do a lot of coast-to-declension driving it shouldn't be too difficult to route your travels there as needed).
RV registration fees are calculated by weight, which adds up if you accept a large rig (non applicable to non-RV vans). Most counties in SD also assess a "wheel taxation," where they charge you a few dollars for each wheel on your vehicle. Seriously.
South Dakota has fewer ACA-compliant health insurance options than many other states, and none with a national network. If you need regular medical care, it'southward probably a good idea to domicile in a country that's close to where you spend most of your fourth dimension, or one that has a wider range of health insurance options.

Mail Forwarding Services: The most popular mail forwarding services in S Dakota are Your Best Address, Dakota Post, Escapees, and America's Mailbox.

Getting a Driver's License: Southward Dakota makes this very painless. You lot need a mail forwarding address, and a receipt for one night in a campground, RV park, hotel, or motel. Make sure the receipt lists your name(south) and mail forwarding address. You will besides need to sign a "nomad affidavit," which states that South Dakota is your abode and that you intend to return there whenever you're done traveling total time.

Vehicle Registration: Registering vehicles is also fairly unproblematic. You practice not fifty-fifty accept to be in the land – most post forwarding companies volition take intendance of this for you and post you your new plates (this usually takes about 4-6 weeks).

Voting: While you can get your commuter'due south license anywhere in the state, to register to vote you'll need to visit the County Accountant's office for the county where your mail forwarding address is located. You will also need to provide them with a campground receipt from the aforementioned county. So if you want to take care of your license and voter registration all at the same fourth dimension, make certain to programme your travels appropriately. You tin apply for an absentee ballot past mail.

For more information, cheque out these resources on setting up legal residency in Southward Dakota:

Setting Upwards South Dakota Residency for RVers (Interstellar Orchard)
Escapees Due south Dakota Habitation Page
Your Best Address has a ton of useful guides on all aspects of becoming a S Dakota resident.

Texas

Texas offers a slew of benefits that are attractive to total fourth dimension travelers. And, Texas is home to the crawly Escapees RV Gild, which is also the prime number postal service forwarding service in the state for RV and van travelers. Escapees operates their own campground in Livingston, TX, and county officials in that location are very used to Escapees members doing their dwelling house business organisation.

Here are some awesome reasons to cull Texas as your dwelling state:

No land income taxation!
No taxes on vehicle transfers.
Voter registration and obtaining absentee ballots can all exist done by post.
Although there is a required annual vehicle inspection, if you can't get back to Texas right away this can be deferred until you really render to the state. Once you enter Texas you volition need to have your vehicle inspected within thirty days.
Licenses are practiced for 6 years, and tin exist renewed online.
Dwelling to Escapees, which has a peachy reputation in the RV customs.

Here are some downsides to domiciling in Texas:

Almanac vehicle inspections (idea this can be deferred if yous are out of country)
6% sales taxation on new vehicle purchases.
May need a non-commercial Course A or B driver's license for bigger RVs and buses, which ways additional costs and requirements over a standard license.

Mail Forwarding Services: The almost pop by far is Escapees. Texas Home Base is some other selection.

Getting a Driver's License: Texas is a little more complicated than South Dakota. You'll need a postal service forwarding service, of course. You also need to provide two documents proving residency – and since your vehicle registration and vehicle insurance count for this, it commonly makes sense to register your vehicle and switch your insurance commencement.

Vehicle Registration: You lot can register vehicles online or in person, but you must get your vehicle inspected at a certified inspection station in Texas beginning. If you are registering a new vehicle, you may be able to defer the inspection until you lot enter Texas.

Voting: Once you have your commuter'south license, yous can easily register to vote past mail. Yous tin also apply for absentee ballots by mail.

For more information on domiciling in Texas check out these resources:

Changing Your Domicile: A 6 Step Guide for Achieving Texas Residency (Follow Your Detour)
Becoming Texans via Escapees RV Club (We're the Russos)
Escapees Texas Dwelling Page

Becoming Texas Residents:
Stephen and Meghan of Ubu the Van

When we were looking for our abode address, we narrowed it downwardly to the states that don't have personal State Income Tax. From hither, nosotros looked for a state that met the following criteria: nosotros might really have a reason to visit in case we ever needed to, friendly to RVers, and like shooting fish in a barrel to utilise a mail forwarding company. The hardest part was deciding which state to pick. We ended up choosing Texas considering it met all our criteria:

Nosotros had researched and learned that it had a reputation for being very friendly toward RVers (deferred state vehicle inspection, online vehicle registration, no ancillary taxes when transferring vehicle to Texas).
Since we needed a mail forwarding service, nosotros learned that Escapees has a large branch in Texas, and came with a solid reputation for cost and service. (In keeping with this reputation, they have often gone in a higher place and across for united states of america in terms of personal service and checking on mail arrival.)
We have dear friends who alive in San Antonio and and then have a cool place to visit when nosotros go "dwelling." bahahahaha

We joined Escapees online and now have an address on Rainbow Bulldoze. With the unicorns and leprechauns. Easy peasy.

When we bought Ubu in Illinois, it was super easy to register it by phone in Texas. Afterward a telephone call to our county of residence in Texas, our plates arrived within weeks. Nosotros were told by the canton assessor that since it was an empty cargo van, it would be registered equally a "passenger van" and that we simply needed to change its registration when we arrived in Texas in person. Additionally, we could easily re-register it yearly online and they would waive the required country inspection until nosotros physically entered the Land. Thank you Texas; we love you, even though we secretly wish that we didn't have TX plates.

When we were in Texas recently, we trekked on up to Polk County and got Ubu re-registered as an RV. They asked for pictures of the inside to ensure that it had, indeed, go a livable space, and we took intendance of this paperwork and State inspection in an afternoon. The only kind of pitiful bit was that we did have to become to Polk County, Texas. In person. Merely all was not lost equally it gave us the chance to meet the unicorns and get library cards – yay for online ebook borrowing once again!

Florida

Florida is another state that is popular with travellers. Since it has such a big population of retired snowbirds (many of whom cull to live and travel in RVs), the state does a lot to cater to the needs of total fourth dimension RVers. If you spend most of your time on the East coast, Florida could be a good option.

Here are the benefits of beingness domiciled in Florida:

No state income tax!
No holding tax for RVs!
Wider range of health insurance options than SD or Texas.
Driver's license is valid for eight years, and tin exist renewed one time online.
Relatively inexpensive vehicle registration fees.
No state vehicle inspections.
Convenient for nomads who spend a lot of time on the East Declension.

Merely in that location are some downsides:

Takes some pre-planning. Most people who take done this recommend getting the process started a month in advance to make sure all your paperwork is squared abroad.
Florida has some of the highest motorcar insurance rates in the country.
No remote vehicle registration.

Mail service Forwarding Services: The 2 most popular are Escapees (again!) and St. Brendan'southward Island.

Getting a Driver'due south License: Like Texas, Florida requires that yous nowadays ii documents proving your residential address. Yous'll desire to sign up for mail forwarding and switch address on your insurance and banking alee of fourth dimension, so you can provide statements with your Florida accost.

Vehicle Registration: Yous must be physically present to register a new vehicle in Florida. However, you can renew your registration online.

Voting: Once you take a Florida commuter's license, you can register to vote online. You can request absentee ballots via mail, email, fax, or phone.

For more information, here are some helpful resource for domiciling in Florida:

Setting Up a Florida Domicile as a Total Time Rver (Roamin' Ryans)
Why We Chose Florida as Our Domicile Land (WinnebaGoLife)
Setting Up Domicile in Florida every bit a Full Time RVer (Technomadia)
Escapees Florida Habitation Page

Nevada is Some other Option!

A road through red rock formations in Nevada

If you spend most of your fourth dimension out W, Nevada may be worth a await every bit a potential domicile country. It's a bit tougher to get established than the other states on this list, but once you're set up it offers many of the aforementioned benefits. Nevada has no state income tax and no state vehicle inspections. There are plenty of mail forwarding services bachelor, and it is very primal to the Western states where many nomads spend their time.

Only, Nevada does take some drawbacks. In order to establish residency, you must stay in a campground or RV park for 30 days (way longer than South Dakota's 24 hours). They have higher auto insurance rates than many other states (but this varies widely by county). If you have a newer vehicle, registration fees are much higher than the other states on this listing (fees are based on new MSRP value of the vehicle minus depreciation. This is much less of an outcome for older vehicles).

Check out this commodity for more information on domiciling in Nevada.

No Permanent Address, No Problem!

Merely because you don't live in a fixed habitation doesn't mean you tin't accept a legal address – which you demand to exercise many bones things in today's society. Luckily, there are several forward-thinking states that are accommodating the needs of nomads and travelers everywhere. If y'all're a full-timer, establishing yourself in one of these states can be a great option that can salve yous a lot of money and hassle.

Again, this can be a complex legal decision, and y'all should do your own research before taking the plunge. Only even if you don't live anywhere in the traditional sense, information technology is entirely possible to get yourself set up up legally in a way that works with your lifestyle!

For more than vanlife tips and build guides, be certain to follow us on Instagram @gnomad_home and on Facebook . Thank you!

John is the co-founder of Gnomad Abode. He researches and writes the in depth guides on our site, and his goal is to make vanlife, alternative living, and dream chasing accessible to all through the democratizing power of free information. He's also passionate well-nigh creating, both easily on and digitally - he's the driving force behind our vehicle builds, and he's also in charge of the web design/development effectually here.