Haven't talked to DNR yet but here is story. Bought a new boat in Minneapolis couple weeks ago. I live in Illinois.
Between having to wait for them to send me the MSO's and then had to wait for them to send me a seperate bill of sale showing only the tax i paid on the trailor...
Getting ready to send in paperwork to Illinois on Friday.
The T railor will be licensed by then.
The paperwork for boat #s will be sent in.
In Illinois you keep a copy and that shows you applied and you are legal... Question is ...
Will that fly in Minnesota?..
Illinois being what it is in not sure I will get #s back by June 16 when I invade ely.

I'm thinking if I'm legal at home I'm legal there.....

Then I'm thinking.... YA RIGHT.

Yes, MN no longer requires registration if your state doesn't...

"A watercraft license is not required for:
Non-motorized watercraft 10 ft or less, or a watercraft owned by a person from another state and that state does not require licensing of that type of watercraft and it is not within Minnesota for more than 90 consecutive days. See MN Boating Guide for more information."

Ref: Watercraft licenses - registration procedures & fees

Not sure if your question is about registration or sales tax. No registration in IL as of June 1 and therefore - if you keep it in Illinois - no registration needed to paddle in MN. If the sale is taxable, you are supposed to voluntarily pay the difference in sales tax to Illinois (assuming MN is less than IL). Pretty sure they'll get you on the trailer tax in order to register

I think he is asking if he would be legal in Minnesota if he had the paperwork showing he applied for registration, but did not have the license number decals that you affix to the hull of your motorized boat. I do not know the answer, but I would call the MNDNR. It seems that without hull numbers on the boat, you might attract unwanted attention.

Contacted the DNT watercraft division today.
The guy said I would be legal as long as I had the paperwork that stated I was legal in Illinois.

He also stated that Minnesota has a 3 week turn around on getting #s back...
YOU HEAR THAT ILLINOIS............

BEING OVERLY cautious I also tried to get a hold of seen the CPO. I had the wrong #. So no luck..

Contacted the DNR watercraft division today.
The guy said I would be legal as long as I had the paperwork that stated I was legal in Illinois.

He also stated that Minnesota has a 3 week turn around on getting #s back...
YOU HEAR THAT ILLINOIS............

BEING OVERLY cautious I also tried to get a hold of Sean the CPO. I had the wrong #. So no luck..