I'm not sure that holding onto the registration matters much any more...if the vehicle fails, the fail is reported via computer to the DMV. That fail will show up on the next shop's computer when they plug it in and contact DMV, regardless of what is/isn't written on the registration.
Although resetting the check engine light using a scan tool works to hide the obvious evidence...you have to put some minimum amount of driving time on the car before there will be valid results for the DMV computer to read. There are some number (7?) of common items that the computer checks. Each value can be "good", "bad", or "not ready." If you drive to the inspection station and reset the light in the parking lot, the light will be off, but it won't have enough valid history data, so it won't pass.
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