Articles within Step 2: Your Vehicle
Jump to → 2a: Vehicle details · 2b: Registration application · 2c: Sign your prior title · 2d: Optional upgrades · Step 2e: Send Your Prior Title to visitor.us
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In order to register your vehicle, we must submit its authentic prior title, properly signed by the seller and buyer.
Copies, scans, or images of titles are NOT accepted for vehicle registration.
Your vehicle’s prior title assignment
Title assignment is when the seller signs over the vehicle's title to you, and you sign as the buyer.
The vehicle's seller must assign the vehicle's title before it is sent to visitor.us for registration.
Because title assignment errors can cause delays and extra costs, please consult our Prior Title Assignment Guide before writing anything on your vehicle’s prior title.
New vehicles: Manufacturer's Statement / Certificate of Origin (MCO / MSO)
If you're registering a brand-new vehicle that you bought from a dealership, your ownership document is typically a Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO) or Manufacturer's Statement of Origin (MSO) rather than a title.
An MCO/MSO is equivalent to a title for the purpose of registering your vehicle, with two important differences:
No odometer disclosure section on the MCO/MSO itself. For new vehicles model year 2011 or newer (excluding trailers), U.S. federal law still requires an odometer disclosure, but it comes from the dealership as a separate document that you sign alongside the MCO/MSO. Be sure to receive and sign that separate odometer disclosure at purchase.
No buyer signature field on the MCO/MSO itself. You don't sign the MCO/MSO as the buyer - only the seller (dealer) signs to release ownership. Send the MCO/MSO to visitor.us as-is along with your signed odometer disclosure.
If you're not sure whether your vehicle's documents are correct, email a photo to [email protected] before sending the originals.
Shipping your vehicle’s prior title to visitor.us for registration
visitor.us generates a shipping label for you
When you are ready to send your vehicle's title to visitor.us for registration, you are welcome to request a pre-paid shipping label for your prior title within the Your Vehicle's Prior Title section, seen below:
We offer a Fedex shipping label for shipments from within the US and Canada, and a DHL shipping label for shipments from all other countries.
After clicking the Add Sender Address button, you will see this Sender Address form:
After you enter your address, a Confirm Address modal will appear with two options:
Use Original (the address as you entered it) or
Use Validated (the address normalized against the carrier's database).
Use Validated is recommended - it catches small typos and standardizes the format so your shipment is less likely to be mis-delivered.
Once you confirm the address and we generate your shipping label, the sender address is locked and can't be changed. Please double-check the name and address before clicking Confirm.
If you are shipping your title from within the United States, the "From" address does not have to be the exact place where you will ship the package from.
For example, you can supply a "From" address in New York for the shipping label, and actually ship the document from California, 3,000 miles away - the shipment will arrive with visitor.us.
Supplying a "From" address in one country and actually shipping the document from another country will probably result in your shipment getting lost.
We understand that you’ll probably be on the road. So we WILL NOT automatically send your Montana plates, registration, and title to this “From” address.
Instead, when your items are ready, we will ask for a "To" address, which can be in a totally different state (or country) from the "From" address provided at this step.
The shipping label that we generate for you does not have an expiration date - it can be used at any time.
A $95 international shipping fee applies to shipments from outside of the United States.
How to send your shipment via FedEx
If you've requested a FedEx shipping label from visitor.us and you aren't sure where to drop your shipment, most FedEx locations are set up to handle this for you.
To find a FedEx location near you:
Search "FedEx near me" on Google Maps or Apple Maps, or
Visit local.fedex.com and enter your zip code or address.
At the FedEx location, the staff can:
Provide a FedEx envelope suitable for your vehicle's prior title,
Print the shipping label that visitor.us generated for you (just show them the label from your phone, or bring a printed copy), and
Either accept the sealed envelope directly or direct you to the on-site drop box.
Place your vehicle's prior title inside the envelope, attach the shipping label, and hand it to the staff or deposit it in the drop box.
If you're shipping from outside of the United States, your nearest FedEx or DHL location can help, and an international shipping fee will apply.
Use your own shipment
If you'd rather use a carrier of your own choice - or if your seller is shipping the title to us with their own carrier and tracking number - you can submit the tracking number to visitor.us instead of requesting our pre-paid shipping label.
Click the Submit your own tracking number button (below the FROM/TO panels in Step 2e). A modal will appear with two fields:
Carrier - choose from the supported list: Australia Post, Canada Post, DHL, DHL Express, DHL Paket, FedEx, FedEx Ground Economy, Loomis Express, UPS, UPS Mail Innovations, USPS.
Tracking Number - enter the alphanumeric tracking number assigned by your carrier.
Click Submit. Your shipment will then appear in your dashboard with a status pill of Awaiting prior title, and visitor.us will use the tracking number to monitor the shipment's arrival at our office.
A Track shipment button on the resulting Shipment Details panel opens the carrier's tracking page in a new tab.
If you need to change a submitted tracking number (for example, you reshipped via a different carrier), please email [email protected] - the dashboard doesn't currently support editing a submitted tracking number.
visitor.us receives your vehicle’s prior title
When we receive your vehicle’s prior title, we’ll upload an image of it to the visitor.us dashboard, and you'll receive an email notification that we have your title.
(We’re a small staff, serving a large client base, so it may take up to one business day after receiving your prior title for us to upload its image.)
Will I get my prior title back after registration?
No. When you register your vehicle in Montana, your prior title is submitted to the state as part of the title-transfer record and is retained by Montana. This is standard practice across all U.S. state DMVs — the destination state keeps the prior title as evidence of the transfer.
You'll receive a new Montana title approximately 30 days after registration. That document becomes your official ownership record going forward.
For your records, visitor.us uploads a scanned image of your prior title to your dashboard when we receive it.
Potential title issues
Because title assignment involves humans, ink, and paper, mistakes can happen.
Luckily, most mistakes can be resolved with an electronically signed document.
Here are some of the solutions that may be required:
Statement of Fact. A statement of fact can correct minor title errors, such as an incorrect spelling, or write-over. It must be signed by the person who made the error.
If you made the error, we will send a statement of fact to you to sign electronically, and
If the seller made the error, we will ask you for the seller’s email address, so that we can send a statement of fact to him or her to sign electronically.
Bill of sale. A handful of situations require a bill of sale in order to complete registration. If the seller didn’t sign the title, or signed it incorrectly, a bill of sale from him or her to you may be required.
Odometer disclosure. If a bill of sale is required, and the vehicle is model year 2011 or newer, an odometer disclosure may be required.
Potential fees for title correction
We reserve the right to charge fees to cover additional work that may be required to correct title issues, so please complete your vehicle’s prior title carefully!
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