North Carolina program
Temporary disabled parking placard
A temporary disabled-parking placard can shorten the walk when a clinician certifies a qualifying limitation.
What it is
A temporary disabled-parking placard can shorten the walk when a clinician certifies a qualifying limitation.
Treatment can make walking from a distant parking space difficult. A clinician checks the listed mobility criteria for a temporary placard. A parent may sign for a child.
Eligibility rules
- A doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner at the clinic can sign the form; you sign as the parent.
What you get
- $5 for each temporary placard, valid one to six months.
- Disabled-parking access during the certified period.
What the help covers
- Up to two placards can be issued, with a $5 fee for each.
If you decide to apply
- Ask the clinic to assess the walking limitation and complete form MVR-37A.
- Sign for your child and take the certified form and $5 to a license plate agency.
NC Division of Motor Vehicles · Official page ↗
If you decide to apply
- A temporary placard lasts one to six months. When it expires, continued need requires a new application and medical certification; it is not automatically renewed. The July 2026 form lists the accepted certifiers, and a parent can sign for a minor.
Good to know
The placard depends on your child’s walking or other qualifying functional limitation, not whether treatment is finished. The social worker can help ask the clinician whether the current DMV criteria fit.
Other details
- One functional criterion is being unable to walk 200 feet without resting. A cancer diagnosis alone does not establish a qualifying limitation.
“Would our child’s walking limitation meet the placard rules? Could the clinic assess it and help with the form if a shorter walk would help?”
Why I’m asking: I want clinic trips to be easier when walking becomes difficult.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Sign for the child and take the form in.
Your social worker
The clinic completes the certification.
The care team
A clinician certifies which criterion the child meets.
- Who decides
- NC Division of Motor Vehicles.
- Ask your social worker
- “Can someone sign the parking placard form at the next clinic visit?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the clinic to complete form MVR-37A at the next visit.
- Ask the clinic to complete form MVR-37A at the next visit.
- Take it to a licence plate agency with $5.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Take the certified form MVR-37A to a licence plate agency.
What to gather
- The completed form
- $5
- The child’s details
How long: Issued at a licence plate agency, valid one to six months.
What a yes looks like
A placard for the dates the clinician certified.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask which criterion the clinician marked and whether another fits better.
Watch out
- A cancer diagnosis alone is not the test: a listed mobility criterion has to be met.
- It expires. A new one needs a new application and fresh certification.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
A $5 placard valid for one to six months.
- $5 — Fee for each placard
- $6 — Longest a temporary placard runs
Covers: Disabled parking while the placard lasts
What it costs the family: $5 per placard, up to two.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Criteria
- one of the listed mobility criteria, such as being unable to walk 200 feet without stopping to rest
- Signature
- a parent may sign for a minor
- Certifier
- physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner
The trap: A cancer diagnosis is not the test. One of the listed criteria has to be met, such as not being able to walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, and a clinician has to certify it.
Where I read this
- MVR-37A Application for Disability Parking Placard — NC Division of Motor Vehicles, read September 10, 2026
- Disability Placards and Plates — NC Division of Motor Vehicles, read September 10, 2026