Can I Pause My TLC Plates While I Travel Abroad?

Short answer: Yes, for up to 90 days. TLC's Short-Term FHV License Storage Program lets you put your FHV vehicle license ("TLC plates") on hold once in each two-year term, at no charge. You surrender the plates at DMV first, then request storage in TLC UP within 60 days. TLC says the program is meant for licensees "traveling overseas for an extended period." Your driver license is separate: it keeps running, and its yearly drug test still applies while you are away.

Before you leave: the plates

The full rules, including what storage does not cover, are in the FHV license storage guide.

Do not just turn in your plates and leave. Rule §59A-06(d) says an FHV license ends early if its plates are voluntarily surrendered, and an early-terminated license cannot be renewed or reinstated. Surrender the plates only as part of the storage steps, and file the storage request right away.

If your renewal date falls during the trip

Storage does not stop the clock. TLC's storage FAQ says that if the storage period passes your renewal date, you must complete all renewal requirements to come out, and if the license expires while stored, "you will not be able to renew your license and would have to apply for a wheelchair accessible vehicle license." Also, a license in renewal-pending status cannot enter storage.

The safest order: renew first, wait for the renewal to be approved, then surrender plates and enter storage. See renewing TLC plates.

Your TLC driver license while you're away

Storing the vehicle license does nothing for your driver license. Two dates matter:

• Annual drug test. TLC drivers must take and pass a drug test every year within 90 days before the license's interim (anniversary) date, "regardless if you drive or not" (TLC drug testing page). Missing it means suspension; tests taken 30 or more days late add a $200 fine. If your window falls during the trip, take the test before you leave if the 90-day window has opened.
• Renewal year. If your driver license expires while you are away and you can't be tested in the 90 days before expiry, rule §80-06(c) lets you ask TLC, once per term, on the proper form, to move your expiration to an earlier date ("advancement") so you can renew before you go. If you miss the date anyway, the driver license can be renewed up to 180 days late with a $25 fee, but it is not valid in the meantime.

When you come back

1. File the plate transfer in TLC UP (or a vehicle transfer if you changed cars) and pay the $25 fee in LARS.
2. Take the plate letter to a DMV office in the five boroughs for new TLC plates and registration.
3. File the Plate Notification Form; TLC emails an inspection date.
4. Pass inspection; the license is active within 48 hours.

If the trip is longer than 90 days

Storage can't stretch. A license still sitting idle after storage can be revoked for non-use (60+ days without a base, insurance or inspections; see non-use revocation). Your realistic option is to keep the car working through a written lease to another TLC driver for the time storage cannot cover. Storage needs the plates surrendered at DMV no more than 60 days before it starts, so timing it for the end of a long trip is hard to do from abroad; ask LicensingInquiries@tlc.nyc.gov before you book. For a broader plan, see taking a break from driving, TLC plates for FHVs and the FHV license cap, which explains why a lost license is hard to replace.