CALIFORNIA—As stated on Tuesday, May 5 by the head of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, DMV field offices may open by the end of May, with the exception of “on-the-road driving tests”, as more safety precautions are taken within the department.
DMV Director Steve Gordon stated they do not have a fixed date to open just yet but they will be slowly accommodating the measures of reopening by taking appointment-only and gradually adding more services within time. Customers will be required to follow protocols such as wearing face masks before they are allowed to enter the DMV, as well as limiting the capacity of people in the offices. The 6-foot social distancing will still apply in order to keep everyone safe and protected.
In the meantime, many of the agency’s services have transitioned to offering digital services, including applying for a duplicate driver’s license, vehicle registration renewals, requesting copies of driving records, and title transfers.
Last month, the California DMV extended driver’s licenses that were set to expire following the COVID-19 outbreak. Licenses proceeding to expire between March and May will now be effective through May 31, 2020. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security pushed back the REAL ID deadline from October 2020 to October 2021, after receiving a peak in customers in a rush to meet those deadlines.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then to make that plan real,” Gordon says.
