NORFOLK, Va. — Starting Tuesday, Virginians will have the option to walk into their local Department of Motor Vehicles offices on certain days, instead of scheduling their appointments in advance.
It's a relief to many customers who waited months to get to appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesdays, Thursdays and some Saturdays, you can now walk into your DMV without an appointment. Saturday hours may be limited by half-days or may not be available at certain offices.
Brandy Brubaker, a spokesperson for the Virginia DMV, said it's a big step back to "normal."
"We developed a hybrid service model on the alternating days, which we think will give the best flexibility for our customers and agencies," Brubaker said.
Brubaker said the Virginia DMV took multiple surveys and found 70% of the people on the survey preferred scheduling their DMV appointments.
Tristen Hobbs, 25, felt that way. He said he waited a few months to get his formal ID and change of address done at the DMV in Norfolk. However, he said waiting for an appointment didn't bother him.
"Since it wasn't something pressing that I needed to get done, I could just know that I'll be in there for an hour and have the rest of the day to do work or something," said Hobbs. "If I walked in, I could be waiting up to four hours, who knows."
As for those long wait lines we used to find at the DMV, Brubaker said it's a toss-up on what to expect moving forward. Because walk-in visits are now more widely available, the DMV is asking people to be patient.
"We do ask customers that they plan ahead and make sure they got everything they need to conduct their transaction, and because we can't anticipate how many customers will show up on any given day, we ask customers to anticipate there will be a wait time associated with it," she said.
Brubaker said there was no plan in place yet for the Virginia DMV to open to walk in services full-time. She says this new walk-in schedule will remain in place for the time being.
She told 13News Now many of their services are now more widely available on the Virginia DMV's website, which helps people not have to schedule or walk in for help.