The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles states that if your NYS inspection sticker expires while you are out of state you should contact the motor vehicle authorities in that state to determine if an expired out of state inspection sticker is a violation of their motor vehicle laws. Thus you will need to contact the California DMV to find out if an expired New York inspection sticker could cause you to be ticketed.

New York State allows you to obtain a NYS inspection extension. This extension allows you 10 days from the date the vehicle returns to New York to get a NYS inspection done. So you will also need to ask the CA DMV if an inspection extension sticker from New York would be acceptable according to their laws. It may be that California will require you to obtain an inspection in CA until you get your NY inspection done. To the best of our knowledge the CA smog inspection certification is only required if you are registering your vehicle in California but it is best to check with the CA DMV to find out for certain.

If you believe you will need to request the NYS inspection extension then when you request it allow 14 days for the NYS DMV to process and mail your extension sticker. The NYS DMV notes that you should not put the extension sticker in your windshield while your vehicle is out of state. Keep the sticker and the instructions in your vehicle to show an out of state police officer. They also warn the extension sticker is not a guarantee that a police officer will not issue you a traffic ticket for an inspection violation if you are required to keep a current inspection account to that state’s laws.

The NYS DMV states that with an extension inspection sticker there will be no record of an inspection of their computerized registration files. In New York State you cannot renew the registration if there is no DMV computer record of an inspection within the last 12 months. If you must renew your car’s registration before you get a NYS inspection you should call 518-402-2111 to discuss your situation and make sure your New York registration does not get suspended.

When you return your car to New York you will need to write the date the vehicle returned to NYS on the extension sticker. Next attach the sticker to your windshield. Finally make sure to get a NYS inspection within 10 days.

From all of this information it appears that New York does not approve of other state’s inspection processes and thus you will need to request an extension sticker if yours will expire before you bring your car back to NYS for an inspection. If you need to renew your car’s registration before coming back to New York for the inspection then be sure to contact the DMV and discuss this with them so that your registration is not suspended.

Finally check with the CA DMV to make sure they do not require your vehicle with out of state registration to have a current inspection sticker. If they do require a current inspection sticker and will not accept the extension sticker than you may need to get an inspection in CA that would keep your car in good standing. A CA inspection would not be accepted by New York though so you would still need to get inspected when you return to your home state of New York.

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