GREENSBORO, N.C. — Drivers across North Carolina are dealing with driver's license troubles.
When you renew, getting a hard copy normally takes 2 to 3 weeks, but a backlog has pushed the turnaround time back to 6 to 7 weeks.
This is a big concern for drivers because temporary licenses expire after 60 days. WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman spoke with someone stuck waiting.
With wait times doubled, the 50 to 60 thousand people who apply for driver's licenses weekly are waiting longer than they would like to, leaving them with their temporary paper IDs.
A spokesperson for the DMV, Marty Homan, said this backlog started piling up sometime in March. It's due to the private vendor making and shipping out these IDs. He said they will be switching private vendors toward the end of June. He believes once that switch is made - things will work themselves out.
But he does recognize the obstacles this creates for tens of thousands of North Carolina drivers who need a physical copy of their driver's license.
"There are some places that don't take the paper copy, and so you know, it's holding up certain things in their lives — whether it's a job or travel or, you know, being able to rent a car or something if they are traveling." DMV Communications Director with NCDMV Marty Homan said those things.
Michelle Eckland is one of those people. She said she renewed her license towards the end of March. In mid-April, she received an email from the DMV about the backlog. She has still not received her hard copy of the ID, which expires in 11 days. She said this has been quite an inconvenience.
"It's delaying if we want to go get passports next year to go out of the country with the kids; it's delaying that whole process cause that has to have the correct address on that license, so it's putting a kink in things right now when trying to get ahead," Triad woman who is facing longer wait times, Michelle Ecklund said.
One of her biggest concerns is getting pulled over by law enforcement with an expired paper license and facing consequences.
Marty Han, a spokesperson for the DMV, said that won't be the case. Officers can always look up the number on your ID and tell if it's valid or expired.
He said there is a number on all paper IDs that people can call if their expiration date is creeping up; he said sometimes it can be as simple as it was lost in the mail.
But if that's not the case, he said the DMV will work with you to get another.
"We will direct them to an in-person office where they would be able to go in, they wouldn't have to wait in line, and we would work with them to get them a new paper ID with a new expiration date on it," Marty Homan said.
Eckland understands that delays can and will happen, but she wants and needs the license she applied for nearly 60 days ago.
"We pay our taxes and everything else on time, especially with inflation and everything. We paid for this renewal. He got a free one, but I had to pay for the license renewal, and you know—I want my license; I paid for it," Michelle Ecklund said.