We are heading Southeast for the Winter, so why go West to South Dakota you ask? Well, one who sells everything and is now living on the road needs a place to call ‘Home’. So why not Sioux Falls, SD? South Dakota is one of the states that make it easy for nomads to domicile. Two others being Florida and Texas. For us South Dakota made sense given we will likely frequent back to Minnesota to see family and friends making it convenient to swing on over to Sioux Falls as needed.

A couple months ago we chose Your Best Address for our Mail Forwarding Service which is located in Sioux Falls. This is our new home address. Now that we had an address, the next step was to stay in South Dakota for at least 24 hours. This is required to become a resident of South Dakota. We simply asked our campground for a printed receipt with our full names, our SD address, and the number of days stayed documented. Next, the dreaded venture to the Drivers License Center (DLC) to get our new drivers licenses.

About three months ago Nick had great intentions and was going to book our appointment at the DLC for the week we would be in SD. Unfortunately, the booking system did not go out that far at the time. So, when I asked two weeks ago “hey we don’t need an appointment or anything for South Dakota, do we?” well let’s just say Nick was not happy. We had totally forgotten about this task over the last month as we figured out life on the road. So, we had to take our chances with a walk-in to the DLC. As you can imagine the center was packed the first day we stopped in, but the check-in folks were super friendly and helpful suggesting we not sit around today waiting up to a couple hours, but rather come back tomorrow at 7 am to try and get in first thing in the morning with minimal wait.

We were determined to get there early and get in line. So 6:45 am we arrive and go straight to the door to be first in line when they open at 7 am. And thank goodness we did, not five minutes later there had to be 20 people in line behind us. The doors open and in we go, back to the nice check-in folks from the day before. They checked our applications, ensured we had our social security cards, birth certificates, the campground receipt, a copy of our contract with the Mail Forwarding Service (our new address), plus two pieces of mail with our current South Dakota address on them. And, don’t forget the marriage license. Despite being told we did not need the two pieces of mail because we had the Mail Forwarding Service contract, they did ask for two pieces for each of us. So, when in doubt, bring more documentation than you think you will need. After getting checked in, we were called up in just a few minutes…30 minutes later we had our new South Dakota driver’s licenses in hand. Yes, Minnesota friends, they print them on the spot, it was amazing – no waiting for four weeks to get it in the mail.

Next up, was the Treasurer’s Office to register our home on wheels. Given Nick’s experience with titles and the DMV in Minnesota, we were not very optimistic that this would go quickly or smoothly. Boy were we wrong. First of all, we had a wonderful gal named Katie who helped us. She welcomed us with a smile, was friendly, funny and super knowledgeable on the process. Important to note for registering the fifth wheel you need to provide documentation of the dry weight of the RV. This was not on our purchase papers that we had brought with us, but we were able to find the information online, take a screen grab of it and email to Katie to print and include with our documentation. Easy peasy. We moved onto the truck next, and then the motorcycle. All three titles transferred and new license plates in hand in 30 minutes. Nick was ecstatic. He made a point to thank Katie and share with her how amazing she was and what a wonderful experience we just had with her.

So needless to say, we have much appreciation for the kind people and efficient process we experienced in Sioux Falls this week. We were really stressing about this process and a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders having it all completed with such ease. Now onto simply enjoying all that Sioux Falls and South Dakota have to offer.  Proud to officially be South Dakotans.

If anyone wants to learn more about the domicile process please feel free to reach out. We are happy to share more of our learnings.