Kentucky launches 'Skip the Line' initiative as REAL ID crowds swamp driver licensing offices

Yahoo

01-05-2025

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet announced an initiative May 1 urging people to "Skip the Line" when completing the driver's license renewal process as new federal and state policies cause longer waits at Driver Licensing Regional Offices.
Driver Licensing Regional Offices have been bombarded in recent weeks as people try to get REAL IDs ahead of the federal enforcement date of May 7. REAL IDs meet enhanced security standards passed by Congress, and residents will need either a REAL ID or other acceptable form of identification to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities beginning on the enforcement date.
'We're working to do everything we can to provide alternative options for Kentuckians and reduce wait times at our Driver Licensing Regional Offices,' Gov. Andy Beshear said in a news release. 'We encourage everyone to make a plan and skip the line if they can.'
A state policy that began in January 2025 requires people to pass a vision screening before renewing their driver's license, also adding to the longer lines.
The "Skip the Line" initiative offers four options that allow people to renew a driver's license without waiting in line, including:
Visiting an eye specialist, asking for a vision screening form and uploading it to renew online at DLRenewal.ky.gov.
Visiting a licensing office, getting a vision screening and receiving a passcode to renew online at DLRenewal.ky.gov.
Visiting a licensing office, getting the vision screening, filling out a renewal form on site without waiting and receiving a temporary license via email.
Renewing by mail: Printing and filling out the mail-in form at Drive.ky.gov and attaching a completed vision form from an eye specialist.
Some situations may require an in-person office visit, however. Those situations include:
Upgrading or applying for a REAL ID.
Changing the address, marital status or photo on a license.
Getting Commercial Driver's License, hearing or noncitizen services.
New Kentucky drivers in need a permit or license after passing a Kentucky State Police-administered test.
Beshear said the Transportation Cabinet is adding staff, implementing new line-management technology and adjusting procedures to make it easier for people to utilize options for remote renewal.
Kentucky officials have stressed that May 7 does not mark a deadline and that REAL IDs will still be available after that date. REAL IDs are also not a state requirement.
Less than 40% of credential holders in Kentucky have a REAL ID, according to KYTC.
In April, a coalition of Kentucky senators asked federal officials to delay the enforcement date, writing in a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that the commonwealth is "simply not fully prepared for complete implementation," but the request was denied.
Kentucky also recently changed its laws surrounding driver's permits, which now allow 15-year-old residents to apply for them.
Allen Blair, a spokesperson for KYTC, previously told The Courier Journal that the cabinet has issued more than 4,400 permits to 15-year-old residents across Kentucky since April 1.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at [e-mail] or @bkillian72 on X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: How to skip the line at Kentucky driver's licensing offices