License plate renewal — Illinois Permit Test

As a courtesy an Illinois vehicle owner may receive a reminder postcard, email or renewal notice about 60 days before the registration expires.

It is a courtesy rather than a requirement, so a missing notice does not excuse a late renewal. Sixty days is the usual warning.

As a courtesy, about 60 days before your vehicle registration expires, you may receive a reminder postcard, an email, and/or a renewal notice from the Secretary of State’s office.

A renewal sticker should be fixed to the upper right side of the rear license plate straight away, because law enforcement may stop and ticket a vehicle whose displayed sticker has expired.

Buying the sticker is not the same as displaying it. Until it is on the plate an officer sees an expired registration.

You are encouraged to immediately affix the renewal sticker to the upper right side of the rear license plate. If you do not immediately display the renewal sticker and the current sticker has expired, law enforcement may stop your vehicle and issue a ticket.

Illinois law lets a driver use a vehicle without an up-to-date sticker displayed where they carry a receipt from the Secretary of State proving they bought one online before it expired, and that receipt is only valid for 30 days past the expiration.

Thirty days covers the mail, not a whole season of forgetting. After that the receipt proves nothing.

Illinois law allows you to drive without an up-to-date vehicle renewal sticker displayed on your license plate, provided you have a receipt in your vehicle from the Secretary of State proving you purchased a sticker online before expiration, but have not yet received it. The printed receipt is only valid as proof of registration for 30 days from the expiration of the registration sticker currently displayed on the license plate.

A member of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty or as a reservist who can show proof of service in a combat mission may have the standard vehicle registration fee waived for the renewal period right after returning to the United States.

It applies to one renewal period, not indefinitely, and the proof has to be shown at the time. Missing that renewal loses it.

Members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving in active duty or as a reservist who can show proof of service in a combat mission can have their standard vehicle registration fee waived for the renewal period immediately following their return to the United States. Proof must be shown at the time of registration renewal.

About how long before expiration does Illinois send a registration reminder?

60 days. It is a courtesy rather than a requirement, so a missing notice does not excuse a late renewal. Sixty days is the usual warning. Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, p.96: “As a courtesy, about 60 days before your vehicle registration expires, you may receive a reminder postcard, an email, and/or a renewal notice from the Secretary of State’s office.”