COVID-19 pandemic causing months-long wait for DMV appointments for some in North Carolina

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The COVID-19 pandemic continuing to make it difficult to get an appointment with the North Carolina DMV.

Viewers are reaching out saying they are not only waiting weeks, but some more than a month just to get a face to face appointment with the DMV. Right now the earliest appointment many drivers can find at a DMV office is not until the second week of December. Due to COVID-19, you can't just walk into any license office. instead, you must make an appointment.

Despite having 96 NC DMV offices open and those offices doing about 6,000 transactions a day, a NC DMV spokesperson said they continue to be very busy and appointments need to be booked far in advance. There are no extensions for renewing a driver's license, but drivers are allowed to renew up to six months in advance, so take a look at your license and make sure you do it well in advance if you need to make an appointment.

If you find yourself in a bind, one possible solution is to head to the express license office in Greensboro. It's the only office at this time that does not require an appointment and its first come, first serve. There is no testing done at this office, just limited transactions like license renewals.

One ABC11 viewer who couldn't get an appointment made the trek to Greensboro and got there early and reported getting in and out with his license renewed.

Also, remember many things can be done online, so check on the state DMV website first to see if you actually need an appointment or not, and if you do need to head to an office, make an appointment sooner than later.

If you are heading online, don't lose money to private websites offering DMV services that you don't need to pay for. We've warned you about these websites that charge money for services that are free on the official NC DMV website.