VehiclesDB

Michigan license plate: Temporary

Issued today Documented since 2026. Temporary plates for car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, and trailer, issued by Michigan Department of State (Secretary of State). One of 7 Michigan license plates.

Michigan (United States) license plate, Temporary (documented since 2026), sample 298225
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Format, years and the law

Format
999999, for example 298225 (9 any digit)

The format above follows the issuing rules: a registration that fits it is one this series could have issued.

Years issued
Documented since 2026; the format is likely older than the first year documented. Still issued.
Vehicle class
Temporary: short-validity plates (transit, awaiting registration). Issued for car, van, truck, bus, motorcycle, and trailer.
About this plate
TEMPORARY REGISTRATION PLATE OR MARKER. Michigan legislates the temporary plate's LIFECYCLE, issue, note the number on the sale form, destroy on receipt of the regular plate, while legislating almost nothing about its appearance. The destruction duty is unusual enough to be worth carrying: it means a Michigan temporary marker is not merely expired but SUPPOSED NOT TO EXIST after the regular plate arrives, which is a different fact about the world than an expired plate sitting in a glovebox.
How long it is valid
THIRTY DAYS. MCL 257.226a issues the temporary plate 'for a period not to exceed 30 days pending receipt of regular registration plates', against Ohio's forty-five next door, which is the clearest single illustration in this group that temporary validity is a per-state variable.

Legal basis and sources

  1. MCL 257.226a: the 30-day maximum, the in-ink date and vehicle description, serial numbering with the number noted on the statement of vehicle sale, and the destruction requirement https://codes.findlaw.com/mi/chapter-257-motor-vehicles/mi-comp-laws-257-226a.html
  2. legislature.mi.gov https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-257-226a

This plate in your app

The series id is us-mi-temporary. The API returns its format, validation, colours and designs with the rest of Michigan's series:

curl -s https://vehiclesdb.com/api/v1/plates/us-mi \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VEHICLESDB_API_KEY" \
  | jq '.series[] | select(.id == "us-mi-temporary")'
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