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Just a heads up that I recently went to the Avent Ferry location to get my NC Real ID and the wait there was 2+ hours. That was 10:30 am on a Wednesday morning. My previous experience at that location is that the lines were normally fairly reasonable. Quite a few teens getting their licenses/permits.
Good to know as I'll basically be mirroring your experience in a few weeks to replace my current license with a NC Real ID too.
After dealing with Northern Virginia DMV in the 90's, I haven't come across ANY DMV office in NC that I consider to be bad. I hear/read people complain, and wonder if I'm missing something, or if they just expect that they should be able to walk in and be served immediately? I don't think I've ever had a wait longer than 10 minutes at either the license or the registration offices, and that's over 25-ish years living in both western and central NC. My only complaint is that there are different offices for licenses and registration, but that's not a huge inconvenience.
When I'm wrong, I admit it. And I'm copying my post above to openly admit that I am wrong.
I wish I could remember what day of the week/time of day I've gone in the past when it wasn't bad.
My driver's license expires today, and I could renew online, but I want to go ahead and upgrade to the Real ID since I travel so much.
I went to the Avent Ferry location yesterday. All the seats were full, and the line to get a number was 30 deep. They finally started sending people home because they were over fire code capacity. (Which I seriously doubt, given the size of the facility, but I could also recognize that there was a good chance they wouldn't get to me anyway, since it was 2:00. )
So this morning I came to the Spring Forest location (the only one nearby with Saturday hours). I arrived at 7:15 ... a full 45 minutes before they open. And I was probably in the neighborhood of 50th in line. The line has been moving forward, but I haven't reached the door yet, and I know I'll be here hours.
Who knew it was necessary to camp out to get a driver's license??
When I'm wrong, I admit it. And I'm copying my post above to openly admit that I am wrong.
I wish I could remember what day of the week/time of day I've gone in the past when it wasn't bad.
My driver's license expires today, and I could renew online, but I want to go ahead and upgrade to the Real ID since I travel so much.
I went to the Avent Ferry location yesterday. All the seats were full, and the line to get a number was 30 deep. They finally started sending people home because they were over fire code capacity. (Which I seriously doubt, given the size of the facility, but I could also recognize that there was a good chance they wouldn't get to me anyway, since it was 2:00. )
So this morning I came to the Spring Forest location (the only one nearby with Saturday hours). I arrived at 7:15 ... a full 45 minutes before they open. And I was probably in the neighborhood of 50th in line. The line has been moving forward, but I haven't reached the door yet, and I know I'll be here hours.
Who knew it was necessary to camp out to get a driver's license??
I think with the new RealID requirements, more people are going to have to go to the office as opposed to renewing online as in the past. i need to go at some point to upgrade mine to RealID......ugh not looking forward to it
I think with the new RealID requirements, more people are going to have to go to the office as opposed to renewing online as in the past. i need to go at some point to upgrade mine to RealID......ugh not looking forward to it
Yeah, that's part of the reason I decided against going home, renewing online, and dealing with Real ID later. It won't be required until 2020, but I'd rather do it now when it's not on everyone's radar.
Update for future readers who want info on what to expect ... So I arrived at Spring Forest 45 minutes before opening. Didn't get a number until 9:00. But once I had my number, things went pretty quickly. My number was called in about 15 minutes, and I was walking out by 9:30.
You can also call and make an appointment - at least for the Read ID. Not sure about other services. I sucked it up and went to Spring Forest and it took 2hrs. The officer at Spring Forest said that location is bad because it is the only office that serves Northern Wake County. I think there is one in Wake Forest but it has limited hours. He said the Avent Ferry and Cary locations are pretty close together location wise, so the wait there is often less. But as I and others have posted, Avent Ferry waits have been long recently.
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