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Vehicle owners who still have 2011-format license plates will have one more year to use them, after the Legislative Assembly approved an extension of their validity until august 31, 2027. The measure aims to prevent drivers from having to bear the cost of replacing their license plates for the time being.
The extension was approved with 59 votes during the 119th plenary session, through reforms to the Law on Fiscal Rights for Vehicle Circulation. With this decision, the deadline, which was set for August 31, 2026, is extended by one year.
According to the legislators, the objective of the reform is to protect the finances of salvadoran families by avoiding an additional expense related to changing license plates. Furthermore, they pointed out that this is the third time the regulations have been modified to extend the validity of license plates with the 2011 format.
The measure will allow motorists to continue legally driving with these plates until August 31, 2027, without needing to complete the replacement process during that period.
According to data from the Viceministerio de Transporte (VMT), as of december 2025, there were 2,022,026 valid license plates in the country. Of that total, 1,204,510 correspond to private vehicles, 704,340 to motorcycles, and 65,404 to heavy trucks, reflecting the large number of owners who could benefit from the extension.
With this reform, the authorities seek to alleviate the financial burden on thousands of drivers, giving them more time before it becomes mandatory to replace the 2011 format plates.
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