Minnesotans will once again be able to access the majority of driver and vehicle services starting May 19, butoffice visits will look different with changes made to protect the health and safety of customers and staff in light of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services division (DPS-DVS) is implementing a plan toefficiently and effectively address road tests that were canceled during the governor’s stay-at-home order and thosewhose driver’s license or identification card expired during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency.
DPS-DVS is planning toresume class D road tests on May 26, with those who had their appointments canceled during the stay-at-home ordergiven priority. New class D road test appointments are not available to the public at this time.
“Thank you for your patience during this uncertain and stressful time for all Minnesotans. DPS-DVS has been working veryhard to find safe, fair solutions to resume services that have been unavailable during the stay at home order,” MinnesotaDepartment of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services Director Emma Corrie said. “We are prioritizing the needs ofMinnesotans who couldn’t take their knowledge or road test during the past several weeks by allowing DPS-DVS examstation staff to focus on testing services.”
Exam stations and DVS offices reopening
DPS-DVS is reopening 16 exam stations to serve customers statewide and extending hours of operation at each location to offer dedicated time for road retests. The locations are St. Paul, Arden Hills, Anoka, Eagan, Plymouth, Rochester, Mankato, Fairmont (road test only, opening May 26), Marshall, Willmar, Detroit Lakes, St. Cloud, Brainerd, Duluth, GrandRapids, and Bemidji.
·From May 19-22, these exam stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to serve customers.
Available services: knowledge tests, permit applications, motorcycle and commercial driver’s license (CDL) road tests. ·Exam stations are closed May 25 for Memorial Day.
·Beginning May 26, these exam stations will begin offering class D road tests in addition to other services from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Available services: knowledge tests, class D road tests, motorcycle and CDL road tests, and permit and driver’s licenseapplications that require a test. Note: The St. Paul Exam Station does not offer road tests. Fairmont only offers road tests.
All road tests are by appointment only. Priority will be given to those who had their appointments canceled during thestay-at-home order.
New Class D road test appointments are not available to the public at this time.
DPS-DVS exam stations will add an extra hour to the beginning and end of each business day to administer road retests.These will be done by appointment only from 7-8 a.m. and 4:30-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
The remaining exam stations will remain closed in order to be more efficient and expand the number of tests offered on adaily basis. The exam stations that aren’t reopening only offered road tests several times per week, requiring examiners to travel to exam stations within the region in order to conduct tests. Focusing on the 16 regional exam stations allowsexaminers to remain at one exam station and use the time they would have spent traveling conducting more tests.
Independently owned and operated deputy registrar and driver’s license agent offices can reopen to offer their normaldriver and vehicle services at their counters beginning May 18. Visit the DVS locations page to find a list of offices andservices.
What to expect during your office visit
DPS-DVS is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) guidelines to implement social distancing and sanitizing strategies to stop the spread ofCOVID-19. These include: *Wellness screenings for staff and customers: *DVS staff will be asked health-screening questions before starting their workday.
*DVS staff will ask customers the same series of health-screening questions before they enter the exam stationincluding: -Have you been in close and prolonged physical contact (within less than 6 feet for at least 10 minutes) with an individual who has tested positive for or been diagnosed with COVID-19, or exposed to their cough or sneeze, within the last 14 calendar days; or have you tested positive for or been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last 14calendar days?
-Have you had a fever or felt feverish in the past 72 hours?
-Have you taken any fever-reducing medication to reduce a fever inthe past 72 hours?
-Have you had cough, shortness of breath, or any other symptoms of COVID-19 (muscle aches, headache, sore throat, diarrhea, or loss oftaste or smell) within the last 72 hours?
-DVS staff will conduct a temperature check (optional).
If the DVS staff or a customer has a fever of 100.4 or higher, answers “yes” to any of the health screening questions, or refuses to answer the questions, they will not be allowed to enter the exam stations.
Social distancing:
Exam stations will have social distancing signs and floor decals to help customers and staff maintain the recommended six feet social distance.
Plexiglass is installed at counters to provide a barrier between customers and exam staff.
Lines may be longer and extend outside at exam stations due to the required six feet between customers. Customers should dress for the elements and plan accordingly.
Personal protective equipment:
DVS staff will wear a face mask inside exam stations. DVS recommends customers wear face masks while inside exam stations for the safety of staff and customers.
Face masks are required for class Droad tests.
DVS staff will wear gloves.
DVS will provide hand sanitizer to use while inside exam stations and will have sanitizing wipes to disinfect the counter area in between customers.
Virtual lobby:
The DVS exam stations in Arden Hills, St. Paul andMankato are offering a virtual lobby. You can check in virtually whenyou arrive and receive a text message when it’s your turn at thecounter. This is a pilot program that DPS-DVS is working to expand toother open exam stations as well.
Deputy registrar and driver’s license agent offices are independently owned and operated, so they may not have this feature.
Only the applicant is allowed inside the exam station unless theyare younger than 18, in which case a parent or guardian must accompanythem. This will help customers and staff maintain social distance. Independently owned and operated deputy registrar and driver’slicense agent offices will be implementing their own social distancingand sanitizing strategies based on CDC and MDH guidelines.
Standard Class D road tests:
DPS-DVS is rescheduling the more than 12,000 class D road testscanceled while exam stations were closed. DPS-DVS is planning to resume these appointments at 15 DVS exam stations on May 26 (St. Paul does not offer road tests).
DPS-DVS is emailing everyone whose roadtest was canceled with rescheduling instructions. This is being done by month, so DPS-DVS is notifying those with March canceled appointments first, followed by April and May.
Minnesotans with canceled tests can reschedule online atdrive.mn.gov at any of the open exam stations by selecting “Schedule or reschedule an exam.”
Six months of appointments are open to these customers.
Available appointments may not be at the exam station where theappointment was originally scheduled, because not all exam stationsare reopening.
New Class D road test appointments are not available to the public at this time. DPS-DVS will open up class D road test appointment to the public for scheduling as soon as canceled appointments arerescheduled.
Minnesotans who already have road test appointments scheduled at the exam stations that are reopening will keep those appointments.
Minnesotans who have a road test appointment scheduled at an exam station that is not reopening due to DVS consolidating sites will receive a cancelation notice from DPS-DVS. DPS-DVS will contact customers directly with instructions to reschedule the appointment at one of closest open exam stations as soon as possible.
DPS-DVS is making changes to the class D road test to prioritize the safety of customers and examiners:
*Applicants are required to complete a short questionnaire and have their temperature taken prior to testing and encouraged to wear a facemask. DVS examiners wear facemasks, face shields or safety glassesand gloves.
*DPS-DVS is temporarily waiving the equipment inspection portion ofthe road test. Less than 5 percent of applicants fail this part of theexam. This time will be used to sanitize the vehicle. DPS-DVS willprovide the sanitizing wipes, but applicants will be required to sanitize their vehicle before the test begins.
*Examiners will still ride in the vehicle. The test will end immediately if the applicant does something to automatically fail the exam. This would include any action that would result in an accident of moving violation. This will help make DPS-DVS examiners more efficient.
*After passing the test, applicants will be able to complete their driver’s license application inside the exams station.
Knowledge tests:
DPS-DVS is offering knowledge tests for standard, motorcycle and commercial driver’s licenses at 15 exam stations starting May 19.
DPS-DVS will only offer paper tests on a case-by-case basis if anindividual with special needs makes the request.
DPS-DVS staff willsanitize computers in between tests, and applicants will sit at computers six feet apart to maintain recommended social distance. DPS-DVS will provide hand sanitizer stations for customers.
Minnesotans do not need an appointment to take a knowledge test. They will be required to complete a short questionnaire and have their temperature taken before entering the building and a mask is recommended but not required.
Commercial road tests:
DPS-DVS resumed commercial road tests on April 27 at the Arden HillsExam Station and expanded commercial road tests to seven additionalexam stations on May 4. DPS-DVS will have conducted 250 commercialskills tests by the end of May 15.
There were 814 commercial road testappointments canceled during the stay-at-home order. Staff iscontacting commercial drivers whose commercial road test appointments were canceled while exam stations were closed and prioritizing driverswho have an offer of employment for driving a vehicle for criticalneeds.
Those with canceled appointments do not need to take any action until DPS-DVS staff contacts them.
Commercial road tests are currentlyrunning at: Arden Hills,Eagan, Rochester, Mankato, Detroit Lakes, Bemidji and Duluth.
All commercial road tests use social distancing strategies.
Applicants are required to complete a short questionnaire and havetheir temperature taken prior to testing and encouraged to wear afacemask. DVS examiners wear facemasks, face shields or safety glassesand gloves.
DVS examiners will not ride in the truck cab with the driver taking the test, because it doesn't allow the examiner and driver tofollow CDC and MDH social distancing guidelines. This is part of aplan approved by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration(FMCSA) April 27.
DVS examiners are using cameras and a cell phone and following thetruck in another vehicle through the course to properly evaluate theapplicant's performance.
Once an applicant passes the CDL skills test, they can complete their application for a commercial driver's license at the examstation or online at drive.mn.gov by selecting “Apply for a commercial driver’s license” in the driver services section.
Motorcycle road tests:
DPS-DVS staff is working to reschedule 36 canceled motorcycle skillstests at 15 exam stations. People who want to schedule theirmotorcycle skills test can find available appointments online atdrive.mn.gov.
The motorcycle skills test does not require any changes to maintain the recommended social distancing. Testers will berequired to complete a short questionnaire and have their temperature taken prior to testing and encouraged to wear a facemask. DVS examiners wear facemasks, face shields or safety glasses and gloves.
Once the applicant passes the skills test, they can complete theirapplication for their motorcycle endorsement at the exam station.
Driver’s license applications and renewals:
Minnesotans who need to renew or apply for a driver’s license or ID card should pre-apply online at drive.mn.gov and visit their local deputy registrar or driver’s license agent office to complete their application in person. DPS-DVS exam stations will not be accepting license applications unless they are associated with a knowledge or skills test to help examiners focus on testing. A complete list of deputy registrar and driver’s license agent offices is on the DVS office locations page.
Gov. Walz signed a bill into law March 28 that provides an extension for Minnesotans whose driver’s licenses or ID cards expire during the peacetime emergency. The peacetime emergency is currently ineffect until June 12.
The law extends the expiration date for any valid driver's license, instruction permit (including commercial learner's permits), provisional license, operator's permit, limited license, and farm work license that would expire during the peacetime emergency. The expiration dates for these licenses are extended for two months after the month the peacetime emergency ends.
Here is a breakdown of Minnesota credentials that would have expired between March 13 and May 4:
*Commercial Learner’s Permit Class – 1,059; Commercial Learner’s Permit Class B – 690; CDL Class A – 2,387; CDL Class B -1,063; CDL Class C – 41; Driver’s LicenseClass D - 86,284; State ID - 6,615; Moped License- 1; Provisional License- 4,271;State ID 65+ - 15; Motorcycle Permit - 3,908; Moped Permit 3: Class D Permit – 3,942. TOTAL: 110,261.
Real ID:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is extending the REAL ID full enforcement deadline to Oct. 1, 2021. The deadline was originally set for Oct. 1, 2020, but is delayed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minnesotans should not visit their local office to renew early in order to apply for a REAL ID at this time.
Registration renewal:
Minnesotans have been able to renew their registration while officeswere closed or offering limited services. Those who need to renew can: *Renew vehicle registration for a car, pickup under 1 ton or SUVonline at drive.mn.gov.
*US Bank charges a separate service fee of 2.49 percent for all creditcard transactions. ACH (electronic check) payments have a separateservice fee of $1.50. DPS-DVS does not determine or collect theseservice fees for online registration renewals.
*Visit your local deputy registrar office to renew.
*Mail your vehicle registration by sending the bottom half of yourrenewal notice with your check or money order made payable to DVSRenewal to:DVS Renewal;]PO Box 64587;St. Paul, MN 55164-0587
Title applications:
Minnesotans have been apply for new titles and title transfers whileoffices were closed or offering limited services. Now that DVS officesare reopening, staff will begin processing mailed-in title applications.
If you need to submit a title application or title transfer:
*Visit your local deputy registrar office to complete the application.
*Submit a title application by mail by completing the titleapplication form and following mailing instructions. You can calculate the fee by contacting DVS using the vehicle services contact forms orusing online tools: -Registration tax calculator.
-DVS motor vehicle fee chart.
How Minnesotans can help: *Visit the correct office for the type of service you need.
*DVS exam stations will not process driver’s license renewals or applications that do not require a knowledge or road test. If you need to apply for or renew your driver’s license or ID card, and do not need to take a test, visit your local deputy registrar or driver’s license agent office.
*Don’t rush to an office right away if you don’t need to.
*Early renewals to upgrade to a Minnesota REAL ID or enhanceddriver’s license or ID card should not be done at this time. The REAL ID deadline is extended to Oct. 1, 2021.
*DVS offers a number of online services. Visit drive.mn.gov to find out if you can complete your transaction online before you visit offices.
*If your license expired during the peacetime emergency, you haveuntil two months after the month the peacetime emergency ends torenew. The peacetime emergency is currently in effect until June 12.
*Come prepared.
*Study for your knowledge test, so you pass the first time.
*Practice for your road test, so you pass the first time.
*Please wear a mask. You are required to wear a mask if you aretaking the class D road test.
*Clean your vehicle and be prepared to sanitize your vehicle aheadof your road test to ensure a safe environment for you and theexaminer. DPS-DVS will provide sanitizing spray and wipes.
*Bring the correct documentation.
*Show up for your appointment or cancel with as much notice aspossible if you need to. Canceling ahead of time allows DPS-DVS to open that appointment to another person who needs it.
Road test statistics:
DPS-DVS cancelled 13,500 road tests due to COVID-19 concerns sincethe stay-at-home order went into effect March 28. This includes12,500 class D road tests and 1,000 commercial road tests
Based on 2019 data, DPS-DVS anticipates to administer a total of 111,500 road tests through the end of the year. That includes the canceled class D and commercial skills tests and projected class D and commercial skills tests based on 2019 data.
How to stay updated:
DPS-DVS answers frequently asked questions related to how COVID-19 is]affecting DVS services on the DVS COVID-19 FAQ webpage.
The DPS-DVS Facebook page and Twitter page will have information.
How to get help:
For driver services questions (licenses, ID cards, driver compliance and exams), visit the DVS website and submit your question using the driver services contact forms. You can also call651-297-3298.
For vehicle services questions (ownership transfers, titles, liensand vehicle registration) visit the DVS website and submit your question using the vehicle services contact forms. You can also call651-297-2126.
About the Minnesota Department of Public Safety:
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) comprises 11 divisions where 2,100 employees operate programs in the areas of law enforcement, crime victim assistance, traffic safety, alcohol and gambling, emergency communications, fire safety, pipeline safety, driver licensing, vehicle registration and emergency management. DPS activity is anchored by three core principles: education, enforcement and prevention.
About driver and vehicle services:
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services division (DVS) is responsible for driver testing, driver licensing and maintenance of driver records; driver evaluation and compliance; motor vehicle title and registration; commercial vehicle registration; motor vehicle dealer licensing and regulation; and enforcement of no-fault insurance requirements.
2019 statistics:
*1.6 million driver’s license and ID cards issued.
*1.74 million titles issued.
*23 million vehicles registered.
*DVS Public Information Center handled more than 1.4 million phone calls and 106,000 email correspondences.
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