On June 2, the Oregon DMV began a gradual reopening from its months-long closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. Within 10 days, the agency reported, requests for appointments had topped 100,000.
Another 40,000 customers have received at least one phone call attempt by a DMV appointment scheduler.
“The number of requests is high after nearly three months of pent-up demand,” said DMV Administrator Tom McClellan. “We will continue adding offices and appointment slots, and increase our capacity to set appointments in the days ahead.”
On Friday alone, DMV received 11,678 new appointment requests through its online form, resulting in 30,690 customers awaiting an initial call back. The average wait time is 4 to 5 days for the initial contact by DMV, and the calls are made in the order that request forms are received.
DMV opened 38 offices with priority services accessible by appointment on June 3. The available services include driver license, permit and ID card issuances, driver knowledge tests, disabled parking permits, farm endorsements and VIN inspections.
Many services, such as vehicle titles and registration, are only available via mail or at www.OregonDMV.com.
Fortunately for those with expired or soon-to-be-expired licenses and registrations, a law enforcement grace period has been extended through at least through Oct. 1.
For more information, check DMV2U.Oregon.gov to see what DMV services can be done online, and see daily updates on DMV appointment setting progress at oregon.gov/odot/DMV/Pages/News/factsstats.aspx.
