Before you start

California residency, and 20 days from it for the vehicle
Your original, unexpired foreign or out-of-state licence
Two proofs of California residency
California insurance
A Smog Check certificate, unless the vehicle is exempt

Step-by-step

1
Register the vehicle within 20 days
The DMV is explicit: a vehicle previously registered elsewhere must be registered within 20 days of becoming a resident or bringing it into the state. Bring the title, the out-of-state registration, proof of insurance and a Smog Check certificate if the vehicle needs one. Note that California registration includes a value-based Vehicle Licence Fee, so it costs more than a flat-fee state.
In personWho: YouWithin 20 days
2
Apply for the California licence and book the appointment early
Fresno-area DMV appointments can run weeks out in busy periods. Whether you sit a knowledge or driving test depends on the licence you hold — confirm your own country's position with the DMV rather than assuming reciprocity, and bring identity documents, your Social Security number and two proofs of California residency.
In personWho: You
3
Get the Smog Check when it is due
Required every other year to renew registration and on a change of ownership. Exempt: gasoline, hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles from model year 1975 and earlier, diesels from 1997 and earlier, electric vehicles, motorcycles, and vehicles eight model years old or newer at renewal — four or newer at transfer. The certificate fee is fixed at USD 8.25; the inspection price is not regulated, so ring round.
In personWho: YouUSD 8.25 certificate fee plus the station's inspection price
4
Learn to drive in tule fog before your first November
Dense radiation fog sits on the Valley floor from November to February and does not lift for days. It is the direct cause of the multi-vehicle collisions Highway 99 is known for. Slow well below the limit, use low beams — high beams reflect straight back — increase your following distance dramatically, and never stop in a live lane. If it is bad, leave later or take a different route. This is the most dangerous ordinary thing about driving here.
In personWho: YouNovember to February
5
Prepare the car for a Valley summer
Six weeks above 38°C is hard on a car. Check the coolant and the battery before June — heat kills batteries faster than cold does — watch tyre pressures, and never leave a child or an animal in a parked car for even a few minutes. Fresno afternoons regularly make a closed car lethal, and it happens here every summer.
In personWho: YouBefore June
6
Check whether the free-ish bus network covers you
FAX, the city bus network, charges USD 1.00 a ride and USD 36 for a 31-day pass, with children 12 and under, veterans and active military riding free. Coverage is best along the Blackstone, Shaw and Ventura corridors and thin elsewhere; Fresno is a car city. But for a one-car household or a student it is a genuine option, and it is cheap by any standard.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Original, unexpired foreign or out-of-state driver licence
Vehicle title and out-of-state registration
Two proofs of California residency
Proof of California insurance
Smog Check certificate, unless the vehicle is exempt

Things most newcomers don’t know

Tule fog is the local driving hazard, and it is nothing like coastal fog.

This is dense radiation fog forming on the Valley floor under a winter inversion. Visibility can drop to a few metres and stay there for days, and because the Valley is dead flat there is no elevation to climb out of it. The pile-ups on Highway 99 are the consequence. Drivers arriving from San Francisco assume they know fog; sea fog burns off by eleven and this does not.

Source: National Weather Service — Hanford

California's registration bill is partly a tax on the car's value.

The Vehicle Licence Fee inside the annual registration is calculated on the vehicle's value, which makes registering a newer car here a different proposition from a flat-fee state. It is a California-wide rule, not a Fresno one, but it lands alongside every other first-month cost and it is one of the reasons the state's headline affordability gap is smaller than the rent difference suggests.

Source: California DMV

The Smog Check certificate fee is fixed and the inspection price is not.

The Bureau of Automotive Repair sets the USD 8.25 certificate fee and explicitly does not regulate what a station charges to inspect. Prices between stations in the same city vary by a factor of two or more, and BAR's own advice is to shop around. Nobody tells you this at the first station you walk into.

Source: California Bureau of Automotive Repair — Smog Check

Twenty days for the vehicle, and residency starts earlier than you think.

The DMV treats intent to live here six months or more as residency, along with taking a job or registering to vote. So the 20-day registration clock can start on your first day of work rather than on some later formal moment. People who arrive intending to 'see how it goes' are the ones who overrun it.

Source: California DMV — new to California

Common mistakes to avoid

Overrunning the 20-day vehicle registration deadline because you did not think residency had begun.
Driving Highway 99 in tule fog at anything like the posted speed, or stopping in a live lane.
Paying the first Smog Check price you are quoted — the inspection price is unregulated and varies widely.
Budgeting California registration at a flat-fee state's cost and missing the value-based Vehicle Licence Fee.
Leaving a child or an animal in a parked car on a Fresno summer afternoon.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.