New Mandatory USVI 175th Emancipation Commemorative License Plates Available

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Director Barbara Jackson-McIntosh told the motoring public that the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Effective March 1, 2023, all vehicles with temporary plates that were issued by the BMV will be exchanged at no cost for the new mandatory VI 175th Emancipation Commemorative Plates. An appointment is required.

All other vehicles will be issued the new plates during the registration process only. In order to complete the registration, process the old plates must be removed and returned to the BMV, failure to do so, the registration process will not be completed.

If you are 65 and over the plate is free. Personalized plates will be charged $49 and Vanity plates will continue to be charged by the organization issuing the plates.

If you renew your registration online, you will be able to pay for the new plate, however you do not need an appointment to come in to return the old plates, and pick up your new plates, they will not be mailed to you!

Please email us at bmv.vi.gov if you need further information or need clarification. To make an appointment go to bmv.vi.gov, or email us at info@bmv.vi.gov, or call the offices: St Croix-340-713-4268, St Thomas-340-774-4268; St John –340-776-6262.

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.