When you buy a new vehicle from a dealership in the United States, the dealership may handle Montana registration on your behalf, rather than allowing visitor.us to register your vehicle.
Why do some new dealerships have to handle registration?
Most new vehicles in the United States are sold through franchised dealerships, which have exclusive distribution agreements, called franchise agreements, with their manufacturers. These agreements include rules the dealership must follow when selling new vehicles.
In recent years, many manufacturers have added a rule to their franchise agreements requiring the dealership, not the buyer, to register new vehicles on the buyer's behalf. Before this rule, a buyer could receive the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO) at the time of purchase and register the vehicle themselves.
The rule was introduced largely to prevent flipping, which became common during Covid, when new vehicle supplies were extremely limited.
The practical effect is that when you buy a new vehicle from a dealership in the United States, the dealership will usually insist on handling the registration itself.
This applies to new vehicles only. Franchise agreements don't cover used vehicles, so if you're buying a used vehicle, you can receive the title from the seller and have visitor.us register the vehicle for you in the usual way.
This doesn't typically apply to motorcycles, trailers, and RV's. We have seen this rule apply more commonly with cars, trucks, and SUV's, but not motorcycles, trailers, or RV's.
Dealerships can register in Montana on your behalf
The good news: dealerships are generally able to register your new vehicle in Montana.
When you're working with visitor.us, you can ask the dealership to register your new vehicle to visitor.us' Bozeman address:
544 E Main St Suite B, Bozeman, MT 59715
Provide the dealership with your name exactly as it appears on your passport, since that's the name that must appear on the registration application and on your Montana title.
If a dealership pushes back initially, it's often because they haven't registered a vehicle out of state before and aren't sure of the process. In our experience, most dealerships are willing to complete the registration in Montana when asked.
Depending on the state where the dealership is located, registering your vehicle in Montana may also allow the dealer to exempt the sale from that state's sales tax, since the vehicle won't be registered in that state. Rules and paperwork vary by state, so confirm with the dealership directly.
How the flow works
Sign up with visitor.us and complete steps 1a: Verify Your Identity, 1b: Sign Lease, and 2a: Vehicle Details.
When you purchase the vehicle, ask the dealership to register it in Montana using visitor.us' address above. Provide your name as it appears on your passport.
The dealership completes the Montana registration on your behalf and submits the MCO to the state.
Because visitor.us is the registration address on file, the Montana title is mailed to our office once the state issues it (typically within 30 days of registration).
When we receive the title, we scan it, upload it to your visitor.us dashboard, and email you to let you know it's ready.
You'll then be prompted in the dashboard to supply a destination address, and we'll ship the title to you.
What if the dealership refuses to register in Montana?
This is uncommon. If you run into a dealership that won't allow visitor.us to register your vehicle, and won't complete the registration in Montana, email us at [email protected] with the details and we'll advise on the specific situation.