DMV Announces Limited Remote Services

New York State-run Department of Motor Vehicles offices in Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, Rockland, Albany, and Onondaga counties as well as the five boroughs of New York City have begun to process vehicle registrations and other transactions by mail. Beginning Thursday, transactions will be accepted through secure drop boxes at each office. Commercial driver license road tests will resume in all regions that are in at least phase one of reopening. Road tests will be conducted with safety requirements in place: D.M.V. road test examiners will wear gloves and face shields and have hand sanitizer, and customers will be screened before beginning each test and will be required to wear a mask. Customers whose road tests were canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic will be given priority for rescheduling, and D.M.V. staff began outreach to those customers on Monday. Reservations for other C.D.L. customers will be available in the days following at dmv.ny.gov/schedule-road-test. Road tests and reservations for Class D (passenger vehicle) licenses are not available at this time. All customers and accompanying drivers must wear face coverings and maintain six feet distance from other customers and staff whenever possible during road tests. Customers must also disinfect the passenger side of the vehicle with disinfectant wipes upon arrival.   Customers taking a road test will have their temperature taken and be screened for symptoms of Covid-19 and any known contacts with positive Covid-19 patients before beginning the test. Road tests will be rescheduled if a customer has a body temperature of 100 degrees or higher, is exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19, or has had recent, close contact with anyone who tested positive for Covid-19.   Customers have been asked not report for their road tests if they have been directed to quarantine, isolate, or self-monitor at home for Covid-19 by any doctor, hospital, or health agency; if they have been diagnosed with, or have had close contact with, anyone diagnosed with Covid-19, or have flu-like symptoms or symptoms of the coronavirus.  As regions enter phase three of reopening, the D.M.V. will offer limited in-person transactions in state-run D.M.V. offices by reservation, prioritizing critical services, and will resume road tests for all drivers at that time. Until then, there will be no in-person transactions in D.M.V. offices. Further guidance will be provided at the appropriate time. All driver licenses, non-driver identification cards, and vehicle registrations that expired on or after March 1, and vehicle inspections that expired March 31 or after, were previously extended and continue to be extended. The D.M.V. is expanding the ability for New Yorkers to complete necessary transactions by mail and drop box and will no longer offer certain services in person. They include all original vehicle registrations and license plate transfers, license plate surrenders, and sales tax-only transactions. Online options are available for services previously offered in person, including license and registration renewals, replacement of lost documents, and address change. Beginning Thursday, secure drop boxes will be at all state-run D.M.V. offices and available to customers during regular Monday through Saturday office hours, which can be found at dmv.ny.gov/dmv/dmv-office-locations. When dropping off documents, customers must wear a face covering, and only two customers will be allowed in the office at one time to access the drop box and must maintain proper social distancing. All documents and instructions are available at dmv.ny.gov. Customer service representatives will not be available to assist with these transactions.  Customers will not be allowed to pick up their completed transactions. Once transactions are complete, a receipt, or license plates and registration documents when applicable, will be returned by mail. Customers who wish to register a vehicle should complete the D.M.V. online registration checklist, at dmv.ny.gov/more-info/dmv-document-guide, before mailing or dropping off documents.   There are online instructions for returning license plates by mail. Information on where to send transactions by mail can be found here.