DMV plans to open 9 customer service centers by appointment only on May 18

UPDATE (May 15):

Following extensions to Phase 0 granted for the city of Richmond and Accomack County by Governor Northam on Thursday evening, the Virginia DMV has adjusted its gradual reopening plan to remove two of the locations originally on their list of customer service centers set to start opening back up on May 18.

The Richmond Central DMV and the Onancock DMV will not open until after Thursday, May 28, in accordance with the new guidelines for those areas.

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Starting next week, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will begin a gradual process of reopening their customer service centers across the commonwealth.

Governor Ralph Northam

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DMV offices have been closed around the commonwealth since March, and just earlier this week, the DMV said

until "further notice."

The plan announced on Wednesday begins next Monday, May 18, and involves opening up 11 DMV centers in seven of Virginia's eight regions.

With Northern Virginia facing a 2-week delayed start to Phase 1, no locations in that region will reopen yet.

The 11 customer service centers that will open on Monday will run on temporary, extended hours, by appointment only, only for services that require going to the DMV in person, including getting an original driver's license or registration or title, vital records, and getting disabled parking permits.

According to the Virginia DMV, the reopening plan will balance "the need to protect the health and well-being of customers and employees by enacting social distancing protocols and other best practices" recommended by the CDC and Virginia Department of Health.

Starting immediately, Virginians can schedule appointments at one of the 11 offices for May 18 or later online at

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A complete list of the limited services the DMV will offer is available at that webpage as well.

Transactions they'll be handling include:

• Original driver’s licenses and identification cards

• Original titles

• Original vehicle registrations

• Disabled parking permits

• Vital records.

If any transaction can be conducted online or by mail, the DMV says customers need to use that method.

“As we welcome back customers, we want Virginians to know we have put a lot of thought and effort into this phased approach to make sure that we can open our offices safely,” said DMV Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb. “This DMV will look different than what we may be used to, but we’ve worked hard to make these changes with the best interest of our customers and employees at the very front of our minds.”

As part of the phased reopening plan, the DMV will limit the number of customers and employees in each location to ensuring social distancing protocols are followed.

Service windows at DMV locations will have partitions between the employees and customers, seating will be limited and spaced, and customers will be asked to stay in their cars until 10 minutes before their appointment time.

You can find a full rundown of the plan

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The 11 locations included in the initial reopening plan are these, which will be open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.:

• Charlottesville (2055 Abbey Road, Charlottesville, VA 22911)

• Chesterfield (610 Johnston Willis Drive, Richmond, VA 23236)

• Fredericksburg (5700 Southpoint Centre Boulevard, Fredericksburg, VA 22407)

• Hampton (8109 Roanoke Avenue, Hampton, VA 23605)

• Harrisonburg (3281 Peoples Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22801)

• Richmond Central (2300 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23269)

• Roanoke (5220 Valleypark Drive, Roanoke, VA 24019)

• Virginia Beach/Buckner (3551 Buckner Boulevard, Virginia Beach, VA 23453)

and these, which will be open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.:

• Abingdon (25552 Lee Highway, Abingdon, VA 24211)

• Onancock (20 North Street, Onancock, VA 23417)

• South Boston (2039 Hamilton Boulevard, South Boston, VA 24592)

“In order to help make this reopening a success, we continue to encourage customers who are able to conduct their DMV business through alternative service methods, such as via dmvNOW.com or by mail, to do so,” Commissioner Holcomb said. “This will enable our offices to focus on customers who need to conduct in-person transactions by appointment in our limited service setting until we are safely able to fully reopen.”

In accordance with Executive Order 62, the order signed by Gov. Northam to delay Northern Virginia's entry into Phase 1 by two weeks, no DMV offices in Northern Virginia will reopen until then at the earliest.

As the DMV plans to reopen more offices across Virginia through mid-summer, Virginians whose credentials expired during the pandemic do have some flexibility, since driver's licensed and ID cards expiring on or before June 10 were extended by 90 days, vehicle registrations expiring in March and April were extended by 90 days, and registrations expiring in May were extended by 60 days.

In addition, the federal enforcement date for REAL IDs was moved to October 1, 2021.

For the last from the DMV, you can click

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