How to get domicile in South Dakota for full-time RV (How we become South Dakota residents)

6 Reasons to Become a South Dakota Resident:
#1: Feasibility. When becoming a resident of most states, you have to prove you actually live there. However, South Dakota has processes set up for full time RVers. (https://dps.sd.gov/driver-licensing/r...)
#2: Convenient Driver’s License Process. As a South Dakota resident, you only have to return every 10 years to renew your driver’s license. Your license is good for 5 years, but they allow you to renew online or by mail every other renewal.
#3 Convenient Vehicle Registration Process. You can register your vehicles by mail and renew online, so no in person visits are required.
#4: No Vehicle Inspections or Emissions Testing. This means we don’t have to worry about making an annual or bi-annual trip to South Dakota.
#5: No State Income Tax. Yep! Self explanatory there.
#6: Lower Costs. Depending on where you’re moving from, you’ll likely save money on vehicle registration, titling and insurance.

Virtual Mailbox:
Unsure of what a virtual mailbox is? Check out this link for more information (https://www.anytimemailbox.com/). This address will be used on your South Dakota driver’s license. We chose to use Anytime Mailbox who is partnered with South Dakota Residency in Spearfish, SD (https://choosesd.com/). We chose them based on cost and the number of included scans. We worked with Lynne, and she was incredibly helpful with all of our questions.

Driver’s License:
For your drivers license, you have to go in person for the first visit. You can choose to visit any office in South Dakota, but we chose to go to the office in Spearfish because it is very close to the border and doesn’t require driving through the state to get there (Hudson Hall, 222 West Hudson St). Due to coronavirus pandemic, they are not currently offering walk-in appointments, so make sure to schedule an appointment before you go.

For information on what is needed for you driver's license, visit this link (https://dps.sd.gov/driver-licensing/r....

We used our current driver’s licenses and birth certificates for our 2 forms of ID. They will keep your old license, so don’t be alarmed when you don’t get it back. We used the receipts from Anytime Mailbox and our hotel for our 2 proofs of address. Make sure you name and virtual address are on both receipts! We forgot to bring the affidavit form, but they had some at the office for us. For all of the vets out there, we also brought our DD-214s to get veteran on our licenses.

Vehicle Registration:
Your vehicles must be registered through the treasurer's office in the same county as your virtual mailbox. Because we chose to go with AnyTime Mailbox, our address is in Lawrence County. As mentioned in the third benefit, you can register your vehicles through the mail. However, we opted to do this in person because the Lawrence County treasurer’s office is less than 20 minutes from the Spearfish driver’s license office. No appoint is needed for this process, so you can walk right in.

See the Lawrence County's website for more information (https://www.lawrence.sd.us/326/Titles.... They base their fees off the weight and year of your vehicles. They also require a 4% excise tax will be waived if you already paid more than 4% excise tax in another state.

We recommend calling the treasurer's office is you have any questions because everyone in the Lawrence County office was extremely helpful (https://www.lawrence.sd.us/152/Treasu....

And that’s it! The 6 benefits of getting domicile in South Dakota and how we did it. If you found this information helpful, let us know in the comments. Hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications. We hope to see you on the road!

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