In order to register a vehicle in Montana, you need a presence in Montana.
What counts as a presence in Montana?
Montana vehicle registration law allows nonresidents "with an interest in real property [in Montana]" to register a vehicle in Montana.
A lease at visitor.us' Bozeman, Montana office counts as an interest in real property in Montana, allowing a vehicle to be registered in your name in Montana.
To learn more about the Montana vehicle registration law, check out this blog post.
The lease agreement can be signed electronically from anywhere in the world.
After completing Step 1a: Identity Verification, you'll see the Rental Agreement element appear within the Sign Lease section:
The lease is very simple; you can see the template below:
Click the Sign button to electronically sign the populated lease agreement.
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If you make a mistake with your signature, use the Clear button to start over.
After signing, click the Submit button, and you will see the Rental Agreement's status set to "Pending..."
At this point, your action on the Rental Agreement is done, so the status of the step will display as Completed.
visitor.us needs to countersign the Rental Agreement, and we will do so within 24 hours of your signature.
You can move forward with the process while visitor.us' signature on the Rental Agreement is pending.
After visitor.us signs your Rental Agreement, you will receive an email notification, the element will turn Green, and you will be able to download a copy of the countersigned Rental Agreement for your records.
Note regarding the lease term: The lease agreement begins when signed and terminates on the last day of the month, one year after your first vehicle registration.
Montana does not need to see evidence of interest in real property (i.e., a new lease agreement) to renew an existing vehicle registration, which is why the lease only lasts for about a year. Even if your lease with visitor.us is expired, your vehicle’s registration can be renewed.
And, of course, whether or not the lease is expired doesn’t have any impact on your ownership of the vehicle, which is documented with your Montana title, which visitor.us sends to you after registration.