You need an appointment for the DOL these days — and they are hard to come by
Elizabeth Stone plans to travel 200 miles to get a learner’s permit this month.
That’s because, as the Washington state Department of Licensing reopens offices that closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, they’re requiring appointments.
The soonest appointment Stone found available was in Omak. The 36-year-old lives in Bellingham.
“It’s like 200 miles,” Stone said. “It was either that or check every day and hope that (an appointment) opens up in a month.”
DOL spokesperson Rob Wieman said the agency has moved more services online to make sure in-person visits are a last resort. This is the first time the department has had to use an appointment system — although pulling a number at DOL offices and waiting for an hour or two wasn’t uncommon before the pandemic.
“Obviously these are unprecedented times and we’re in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. The agency has been working to help “as many people as possible as safely as possible.”
DOL closed its offices entirely in March, and started reopening them in June. They now have 36 offices open for appointments for those who need something they can’t do online.
When to go online, when to get an appointment
Renewing a driver license, identification card, vehicle registration, or instruction permit can be done online, as well as applying for a first-time instruction permit. Those younger than 24 or older than 70 can renew online for now, too.
Some of the things that require an appointment are getting a driver’s license or identification card for the first time, getting an enhanced driver’s license or ID, changing a name on an ID or license, getting a commercial driver license, commercial learner permit, or agricultural permit, getting a reinstatement, getting an occupational restricted license, or taking a driver training school instructor test.
“The reality is that with social distancing measures and other health guidelines, there’s significantly reduced capacity in our offices that limits appointment availability,” Wieman said.
“We’re able to book out 30 days for those appointments at any given location, and every day a certain, limited number of appointments open up at various locations, depending on their own capacity. Some are bigger than others.”
Asked how far out they’ve been booked, Wieman said, “Because appointments can only be booked 30 days out, generally most locations these days are booked out that far. ... So in a lot of cases, unless somebody cancels an appointment, folks who do get an appointment are looking at something 30 days out. That’s not always the case though.”
The system doesn’t always work for people
A few people were lining up about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday outside the DOL office at 6402 Yakima Ave. in Tacoma. An employee came out and said they would open at 9. Then a little before 9, the employee came back out and arranged people on either side of the door according to whether or not they had an appointment. To the ones who didn’t, he handed out flyers with instructions to either do what they needed done online or schedule an appointment.
Kellen Barnett of Tacoma said he didn’t have an appointment and that his laptop was broken — he couldn’t make an appointment or do his license renewal online.
Trisha Soloman of University Place said it was her second time coming to the location to get a license. The first time it was closed.
“I just took a chance,” she said of showing up Tuesday.
She said she’s had difficulty making an appointment online, and that she’s been trying to get one since the end of July to take a written test to get her license.
“It’s just been a nightmare,” Solomon said.
She was turned away Tuesday and given the flyer with information about scheduling online.
Wade Young of Tacoma said it was his third time coming to the office. He had a 9 a.m. appointment that he made three weeks ago — the earliest time he could get — to renew his license. He wasn’t frustrated.
“I fully expected this with the DMV,” he said.
A few options, and a few breaks
“We really want to emphasize that we appreciate these people who have done their transactions online so that people who are required to have an in-person appointment are getting one,” Wieman said, and that people “who show up without an appointment are generally steered toward other avenues of service.”
Some people have reported using the online system and getting their renewed license in about a week.
Wieman also noted that contract vehicle licensing offices are one option for some services, such as tab renewals and getting license plates.
There also might be less urgency to get a license renewed at this time, he said.
License expiration dates have been extended. A license that expired between March 1 and June 30 now expires six months after the date printed on the license. Those that expire between July 1 and Sept. 30 will be extended three months after the date on the license.
Wieman said the Washington State Patrol is aware of those extensions, and extensions for expiring instruction permits and commercial driver licenses. DOL has letters they recommend drivers in that situation print out and carry.
DOL still recommends those who can renew online.
Wieman also noted the REAL ID enforcement date has been pushed back a year to October 2021. That deadline is when federal agencies, such as the TSA at airports, will require something like an enhanced driver license or passport instead of a regular license.
When you run out of options
Paige Barnes, 43, of Orting, said he has a regular driver’s license, and needs an enhanced license because he travels frequently for his job with a company that makes airport snow removal equipment. He wants the enhanced license as soon as possible to sign up for an airport check-in system that he said he’s been told will save him hours getting through security.
“It’s actually really important that I get this,” he said.
Barnes said a couple weeks ago he got online and couldn’t find any appointments across the state.
“I sat and just did it for about two hours and I finally gave up,” he said. “... I can’t just sit here and check the internet all day.”
He said he’d drive several hours if he could find an appointment anywhere. He heard an acquaintance was able to get an appointment in Yakima.
“If someone told me I could get in in Yakima right now, I would be in my car,” he said. “I’m kind of at a loss about what to do.”
Tasha Dusenbery, 38, of Olympia, said she’s been trying to get her teenager’s state identification. Her 17-year-old son wants an ID to get a job to start saving money, in hopes of moving out when he turns 18 in December.
“It was nice of them to extend expiration dates on IDs, but that doesn’t help people like him who don’t already have an ID,” she said.
Dusenbery has been trying to get him an ID, and to get one for her 16-year-old daughter. She wanted to talk to someone at DOL to see if they could get their appointments at the same time or close together.
“I tried calling multiple times over the course of, I think, a couple weeks” when DOL offices started reopening, she said.
She didn’t get through, and said she hasn’t tried more recently because a family member now is in hospice care.
She said she did do a pre-application online “to make everything smoother when we go in.”
Wieman, the DOL spokesperson, said the agency has been working to answer more phone calls.
“We have redeployed a number of employees who normally do other things to handle phone calls,” he said. “We expect that to have some effect as well.”
Vallie Needham, 25, recently moved to west Olympia from North Dakota.
She and her husband were able to schedule appointments about a month out in Lacey to update their licenses.
“I was definitely surprised that it would be that long,” she said. “I assume it’s just due to COVID. I assume that a lot of things are catching up, still trying to manage the world of COVID.”
She said she was slightly worried about being outside the 30-day window for getting a Washington license after moving to the state, but that she’s “not really nervous that someone is going to come and tell me that I can’t legally drive anymore.”
“I can’t imagine they would,” she said. “We called like the week that we moved to town.”
Wieman said it’s OK for someone who moved from out-of-state recently to use their out-of-state license while they try to get an appointment if their 30 days are up between March 1 and Sept. 30.
Tim West, who moved to Bellingham with his girlfriend in April, said one of the first things he did was to call DOL, and learned the offices were closed.
“I’ve been here five months and I still have no license for Washington state, and I’m still not registered to vote,” he said.
He said someone from the League of Women Voters got them information about how to register to vote through the Thurston County Auditor’s Office, instead of the DOL, but they’ve moved out of their initial rental home and haven’t been in their new home for the required 30 days yet.
His girlfriend is considering renewing her California license by mail, because it expires next month.
On the way to Omak
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Stone of Bellingham is getting ready for a road trip to Omak with her dad.
“We’ll be filling up on gas before we go and bringing snacks,” Stone said, to avoid stopping as much as possible, given the pandemic.
They might try to enjoy some of the pretty outdoor areas safely along the way.
Stone has been trying to get a learner’s permit before starting school this fall to become a surgery tech.
“I’ve had it before, but it had expired a couple of years ago, and I didn’t really need it at the time,” Stone said. “But I need it now.”
The program requires a license to travel to medical facilities.
Stone had a state ID, lost it a couple of years ago, and used a passport instead of replacing it.
After calling DOL for several days a couple of weeks ago, Stone was able to get that state ID number and was able to pass the written test.
“I do want to say that the couple of times that I was finally able to get through to someone, they were incredibly nice and incredibly understanding,” Stone said about those who answered the phone. “They’re the ones that are really getting all the anger when they aren’t the people who deserve it.”
Next Stone found the appointment online at the Omak office to get a new driver’s permit issued.
Only Spokane, Ilwaco and Omak had appointments available when Stone looked.
“I worked my way down the entire list and checked every single one to find out which one had the soonest one that was the closest,” Stone said. “... I did everything I could to try to get it online, but it kept saying that because everything was so expired I had to come in.”
Stone hopes to have a license by the time clinical training starts. It’s possible to take the actual driver’s test through a driving school instead of the DOL. And in the meantime Stone hopes that getting the permit in Omak will be enough to start the surgery tech program.
“I’m hoping they’ll be understanding,” Stone said.
The plan was to go to the Bellingham office in March. “The day I had planned to go everything shut down,” Stone said.
Then a couple of weeks ago Stone resumed the effort.
“I should have started sooner, but I wasn’t sure if they were open,” Stone said.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
