As always, we hope the best for the health of you and your family. While we practice social distancing, we must still leave home periodically for necessary errands. Though many of us believed we could renew our licenses expiring this month through visiting our local Secretary of State, this is unfortunately no longer an option. With all locations closed as of Monday, March 16, 2020, the Secretary of State has taken the extraordinary measure of extending protection for expiring licenses, state ID’s, and plates. UPDATED 3/31/2020: Under this rule, these will be valid for 30 days AFTER the Governor Pritzker ends the state of emergency. This is based upon a recent FAQ released by the Secretary of State. At current, the Secretary of State plans to re-open April 7, 2020 unless circumstances change warranting new guidelines. To see the status of Driver Services Facilities, you can visit Cyberdriveillinois.com. Unfortunately, for those who are expired more than 30 days, this will not allow their documents to be used.
During this time, the Secretary of State is recommending patrons use online services to complete renewal if possible for any needed documents. Recently expired licenses, state ID’s and plates will continue to be valid throughout this difficult time. If you do seek to perform driver services using online systems, we anticipate delays due to staffing shortages.
Finally, Secretary of State Jesse White along with several other state officials have been pushing back on the October 1, 2020 deadline for the REAL ID Act implementation. UPDATED 3/28/2020: Through these efforts, the REAL ID deadline has been pushed back to October 1, 2021. If you wish to learn more about what REAL ID is and if you need one, we have an article on that subject.
