The only route out of a Virginia registration that pays anything back. Surrendering plates online is faster and gives up the refund entirely; handing them in at a counter or posting them with this form keeps it alive. The catch is arithmetic rather than paperwork - refunds are worked out in whole six-month blocks, and a registration with less than six full months left is worth nothing back.
Written against FMS 210 (07/01/2022), issued under Va. Code 46.2-688.
The choice between the three surrender routes is made before you touch this form, and only one of them leaves the refund available. DMV's own page ranks Online Plate Surrender as the fastest and says in the same breath that you will not be eligible for a refund on the cost of registration fees for this vehicle. If there is more than six months on the plate, that speed is expensive.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank FMS 210 from the dmv.virginia.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual FMS 210, rendered from the PDF the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
A registration with more than six full months left on it, so the refund is worth applying for. The four representative boxes underneath stay empty - they are for somebody signing on an owner's behalf, usually after a death.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The plate and the vehicle
Plate number, title number, make, year and the registration expiration date.
Watch out: Check the expiry before filling anything else in. It is what decides whether this form is worth posting at all.
2
You fill this in
Applicant information
Name, identification number and the address the cheque should reach.
Watch out: The note in the instructions is blunt: update your address with DMV before submitting, because the refund goes to the address on the system rather than the one on this page.
3
You fill this in
The certification
Read the single sentence above the signature - sold, disposed of, or not to be used on Virginia roads without proper registration.
Watch out: It covers more than a sale. A car going into long storage qualifies, and so does one leaving the state.
4
You fill this in
Owner signature and date
Sign and date, with the co-owner row completed where the registration is in two names.
Watch out: The date matters less than the postmark - refunds are calculated from full months remaining when the plates reach DMV.
5
You fill this in
The representative boxes
Executor, power of attorney, legal heir or administrator of estate, with a further signature underneath.
Watch out: Left empty by an owner signing for themselves. They exist so an estate can surrender plates without a court order.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle information
Plate number, title number, make, year and the registration expiration date.
Applicant information
Name, an EIN, driver licence number or SSN, and a mailing address with city, state and ZIP code.
Certification
One printed sentence: that this vehicle has been sold, disposed of, and/or will not be used on the roads and highways of Virginia without proper registration - then the standard Virginia affirmation under penalty of perjury.
Owner and co-owner signatures
Two signature rows with dates, for a registration held in two names.
The representative tick
Four boxes - executor, power of attorney, legal heir, administrator of estate - with a further signature line underneath, for somebody signing on an owner's behalf.
Registration refund information
Printed at the foot. Where to write if the cheque does not arrive within 30 days; that refund amounts are based on each 6 full months remaining in the registration period; that no refunds are made if less than 6 full months remain; that Highway Use Fee refunds are included when applicable; and that a $5.00 processing fee is deducted if none of the registration period has passed.
What gets this one rejected
•Sending the form without the plates. The instruction is to submit this form and your license plates, and a refund application with nothing attached is not a surrender.
•Applying with under six full months left. The rule is printed twice on the form and it is not prorated below that point.
•Using it after an online plate surrender. The plate page states that the refund does not apply where Online Plate Surrender was used, and the plates are already given up.
•An out-of-date address. The note warns that the refund is mailed to the address DMV holds, and asks you to update it before submitting.
•One signature on a two-name registration. Both owners have a row, and both are asked for.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It goes to a different work centre. Not the titling counter. The form names the Special Registration Work Center, and posting it with a title application sends it to the wrong desk.
•Local fees are not DMV's. The instructions tell you to contact your local county, city or town for information about refunds of local licence fees - those are billed separately and refunded separately.
•Estates have their own tick. Executor, power of attorney, legal heir and administrator each appear as a box, which is what lets a family surrender plates on a vehicle whose owner has died.
Every line here was read off FMS 210 (07/01/2022) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
