I know several people have asked on these forums so I thought I would just share my experience. Purchased the Clarity in the middle of October. I had registered for the rebate the week before I purchased the vehicle. I sent in all of my paperwork immediately. My application was accepted in the middle of January. I got my check on Saturday (2-9-2019).
Just to add to this discussion the CA rebate can be $3,500 if you have a low enough income. We did and got that amount. I don't know what the income trip point was but if you have a lower income make sure you look into this.
Similar experience to OP. Bought at the end of October, submitted everything within a couple days, just got the email that my application was approved last week. No check yet, but given the timeline thus far, that’s expected.
Oregon residents would love to see something as quick as 4 months Jan 2018 purchases were allowed to submit their final application starting in December 2018, Feb - May 2018 purchases starting Jan 29th 2019, Jun - Aug on Feb 28th, Sep - Oct on March 28th, Nov - Dec on April 29th. The good news is the rebate is $2,500 on the Clarity (both PHEV and BEV). The better news is that dealers can now offer it as "cash on the hood". You sign a paper transferring the rebate to the dealer and it applied immediately to your purchase/lease. There will be an additional $2,500 "Charge Ahead" rebate for low to moderate income households (up to 120% of the median income in the area that you live). In the Portland Metro Area, that translates to ~ $97K for a family of 4. That portion of the rebate is not yet being issued - the sensitive nature of the documentation needed for income verification requires a much more secure system be put in place. The delay was caused by a lawsuit challenging the method of funding the rebate program (the Oregon Supreme Court issued a decision giving it the green light in Aug).
Huh... well color me red, but I swear part of the application was your DMV registration, so I waited until I got that before I did the app. Anyway: Car purchase 10/21/18 Application for rebate 11/16 Application approved 2/15/19 And according to the e-mail I got today, it could take another NINETY days from application approval... "We typically issue rebate checks within 90 days of application approval. You will receive an email when we mail your check."
You’re right about the dmv registration. I had forgotten I waited for that. But it came rather quickly as I remember it.
Update, just got e-mail saying check was mailed out, March 11 2019; so just shy of 30 days and nowhere near the 90 day max