Merger of provinces, renaming of administrative units: Do citizens need to change their license plates and vehicle registration certificates?
Following the decisions to merge provinces, change administrative boundaries, and rename administrative units, many people are wondering whether they need to renew their vehicle registration papers and license plates to reflect the new place names.
In recent days, news about the merger and renaming of many provinces and cities has attracted great attention from the public, especially those who own cars and motorbikes.
Most of the questions revolve around the issue: "If the province changes its name, do the old license plates have to be changed accordingly? If not, will there be fines or difficulties in traffic and transactions?"
Lawyer Le Hang from TAT Law Office affirmed: "The merger and renaming of provinces does not invalidate the current license plates and vehicle registration certificates. People can rest assured that they can continue to use their existing documents and license plates without needing to renew them for administrative reasons."
This regulation is based on Circular 79/2024/TT-BCA dated November 15, 2024, of the Ministry of Public Security, which regulates the issuance and revocation of vehicle registration certificates and license plates for motor vehicles and specialized vehicles (effective from January 1, 2025). This Circular has removed the mandatory requirement to change vehicle registration when changing residence addresses between provinces. Therefore, changing the name of a province or merging localities does not affect the validity of vehicle documents.
Although not mandatory, in certain specific cases, vehicle owners may still consider updating their vehicle registration documents. For example, when transferring ownership of a vehicle to a new owner, the transfer of ownership procedure is still carried out as usual, and the registration certificate will then be updated to the new address.
Citizens can also voluntarily change their vehicle registration certificate if they wish to update their residential address for convenience in future transactions. In cases where the vehicle owner's information changes (ID number, full name, etc.), or when the license plate or registration certificate is faded or damaged; or when the purpose of use changes from non-commercial to commercial (or vice versa), changing the documents is necessary.
Specifically, for commercial transport vehicles, owners are still required to change their white license plates to yellow license plates according to the regulations of the transport sector, which is completely unrelated to the provincial merger.
Lawyer Le Hang also stated that the procedure for changing vehicle registration documents is very simple. People only need to prepare their old vehicle registration papers, citizen identification card (CCCD), and documents proving the change of information (if any), and submit them to the vehicle registration agency or do it online through the Ministry of Public Security's Public Service Portal.
Notably, during the administrative transition period, many localities are implementing policies to provide fee exemptions and reductions to facilitate convenience for citizens.
Lawyer Le Hang emphasized: Old license plates and vehicle registration certificates are still legally recognized nationwide. When driving, buying, selling, or undergoing vehicle inspections, authorities use electronic data to verify information, regardless of the place name on the license plate or vehicle documents.
Therefore, lawyers advise people to remain calm and not redo documents simply because of rumors or unfounded concerns. They should monitor official announcements from authorities and only make changes to documents when absolutely necessary.
