By Andrew Theen | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Oregon DMV officials have a very important message they say will save you time: Don’t go to the DMV.
Starting next week, Oregonians who need to renew their driver’s licenses will be able to complete that transaction online and have a new ID mailed to them within 10 days or so.
The change is effective May 5, clearing a major roadblock that gums up appointments across the state, given renewing a license is a primary reason Oregonians book appointments at the DMV.
The online renewal is one part of a triumvirate of good DMV-related news that emerged this week.
Both chambers of the Legislature have now approved a bill poised to extend a moratorium, despite the new online license renewal option, to protect people with expired licenses or vehicle registration from getting a ticket, through the end of 2021. The federal government also on Tuesday announced it would once again extend the deadline for states to comply with its Real ID program, this time pushing the new timeline until May 2023.
The latest Real ID delay gives Oregon, which expected to be the last state in the country to comply with the federal security rule signed by Congress in 2005, yet another reprieve from an anticipated Real ID customer crunch state officials fretted about for years.
Oregon intentionally chose not to comply with the federal law requiring states to require proof of citizenship to get a “real” driver’s license or state ID card. State lawmakers in 2009 effectively blocked any progress on the issue and prohibited the state from spending money to issue Real IDs. Nine years later, the state Legislature repealed that bill and set a path toward compliance by 2020.
The state estimated as many as 960,000 Oregonians would want the federally compliant ID, because people will need one to board a domestic airplane flight or enter federal facilities.
Oregon was already sounding the alarm that it wouldn’t be able to issue that many Real Ids even before the pandemic. Coronavirus precautions made that even more challenging due to extraordinary delays across the state, particularly in urban areas, in landing appointments.
Oregon didn’t even start issuing Real IDs until last July. As of April 1, it had doled out 177,000. The original federal deadline, which was extended last March until October 2021, was October 2020. Nearly 40% of Oregonians have passports, which remain acceptable forms of ID if people aren’t interested in spending the time or money necessary to obtain a Real ID.
David House, Oregon DMV spokesman, said the state remains committed to speeding up a stubborn backlog that leaves some customers waiting weeks or months to complete transactions like renewing a vehicle registration or obtaining a driver’s license that were run-of-the-mill pre-pandemic.
The new driver’s license renewal, in particular, could be a gamechanger.
“You can’t change to Real ID or (add) a motorcycle endorsement, for example,” House said of the new online offerings, “only renew what you have. But thousands of people could potentially use this and get a renewal much faster than waiting for an appointment – and free up appointment slots for others who need to go in person for something – testing, first-time issuance, Real ID.”
Real ID transactions must occur in person because there are multiple forms of identification and citizenship documents needed and the DMV has to make copies of those documents.
Oregon continues to struggle to catch up with an extensive COVID-19 related backlog. Due to COVID-19, customers have to schedule appointments, rather than make a walk-in visit, at the state’s 60 DMV offices.
The state shifted dozens of services online, and many of them have “little to no backlog,” House said. “Just renewing tags? Do it online and you should get them in 10 days or so, as usual,” he said.
Some services, like transferring or issuing a new vehicle title, remain mired in extensive months long delays. House said those are the most complicated transactions, where the state has to send and receive documents from customers and lienholders. As of last week, the maximum turnaround on those deals was down to 18 weeks, two fewer than the maximum delays reported earlier this year customers mail in title transfers.