SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It took some months, but California is reopening all of its remaining Department of Motor Vehicle field offices, offering limited services to people with appointments, the state announced on Tuesday.
All of the state's DMV locations were temporarily closed to the public months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. While the offices are open for limited in-person transactions, behind-the-wheel driving tests are still unavailable.
The DMV said it still prefers people to use every online service available to them in order to continue slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Some of those services include driver license and vehicle registration renewals.
"I continue to encourage Californians to use our online services, the Virtual Field Office, DMV Now kiosks and business partners whenever possible," DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a news release. "Nearly all DMV tasks can be accomplished without an office visit. To keep wait times down and to maintain public health guidelines, I ask you to only visit a DMV office when absolutely necessary and to come prepared."
Some of the limited services in the now opened offices include:
- paying registration for impounds
- reinstating a suspended or revoked driver license
- applying for a reduced-fee or no-fee ID card
- processing commercial license transactions
- applying for a disabled person parking placards
- adding ambulance certificate or firefighter endorsement to a driver license
DMV officials said that they've already started rescheduling appointments that were canceled because of the temporary coronavirus-related closures. Once those canceled appointments are completed, they'll begin offering a limited number of new appointments.
For public health purposes, the DMV had made modifications to rules when coming into the offices. That includes workers wearing face coverings, physical distancing, disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, facial shields and gloves.
Customers will also be required to wear face masks or coverings before walking into the offices and will have to practice social distancing while inside.
"We appreciate the public’' patience as we navigate this time of unprecedented challenges," Gordon said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and act in the best interest of our customers and employees."
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