ILLINOIS -- Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is reminding the public that Driver Services facilities statewide are open to serve ONLY new drivers, customers with expired driver's licenses/ID cards and vehicle transactions.
Face masks are required. Currently there are more than 700,000 expired driver's licenses/ID cards and 1.9 million expired vehicle registrations. White asked those who must visit facilities to be patient due to heavy volume.
Driver's license/ID card and vehicle registration expirations extended until Oct. 1
White also reminded customers that his office extended expiration dates for driver's licenses/ID cards and vehicle registration stickers until Oct. 1, 2020. This extension also covers those who have June and July expiration dates. As a result, expired documents will remain valid until Oct. 1 so customers do not need to rush into a facility. White noted that because facilities are expecting heavy customer volume, residents who can conduct business online are strongly encouraged to do so. Residents may go to www.cyberdriveillinois.com to take advantage of many online services -- such as renewing vehicle registration stickers -- from the comfort of their own home. People who conduct online transactions will avoid waiting in line at a facility. Some of these online services include:
• renewing a vehicle registration;
• obtaining a duplicate driver's license or ID card;
• obtaining a driving record abstract;
• renewing a driver's license through the Safe Driver Renewal program. For all other services, please refer to the various departments listed on www.cyberdriveillinois.com.
Protective safety measures
Customers and Secretary of State employees will be required to wear face masks. Plexiglass dividers have been installed at all work stations and tape has been applied to the floor in 6-foot intervals to follow social distancing guidelines, limiting the number of customers inside a facility at one time. For drive tests, employees will wear face masks and face shields due to the proximity with the customer inside the vehicle. Customers will be required to wear face masks. Disposable plastic will be used to cover the vehicle seats during the drive test and then discarded immediately after the conclusion of the drive test.
"Throughout this pandemic, my commitment has been to do everything we can to help protect the health and safety of our residents and my employees, while providing services to the people of Illinois," White said. "This reopening plan adheres to this commitment."
REAL ID federal extension
White also reminded the public that the federal government extended the REAL ID deadline by one year until Oct. 1, 2021. White had petitioned the federal government for this extension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. People with valid U.S. passports are encouraged to consider delaying their visit to a facility to apply for a REAL ID until their driver's license is near its expiration date.
Following Governor JB Pritzker's Stay-at-Home order, White closed Driver Services facilities to the public on March 17. His office continued to serve the public through online services, which increased by 50 percent during the office closures, processing the following:
• 895,000 vehicle registration stickers;
• 423,000 titles;
• 238,000 driver's licenses
• 62,000 Commercial truck licenses (CDLs)
• 48,000 license plates
