Oklahoma is Trying to Make Getting Your I.D’s Easier and Faster

If you've had the misfortune of having to renew your Oklahoma driver's license, get a license, apply for a Real I.D. or driver's permit lately you know firsthand just how hard it is and how long you have to wait. It's beyond ridiculous, not to mention incredibly frustrating. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it's brought the DPS (Oklahoma Department of Public Safety) and tag agencies to a screeching halt. It's slowed the entire process to a crawl. It could takes months to get what you're needing done depending on your situation. We're coming up on a year dealing with COVID-19 and it will take forever to clear the backlog and line of people needing I.D's or renewals. If you haven't experienced this yet, be grateful it's a real nightmare.

For the past several months we've been trying to get my daughter her driver's permit. It took forever to get the appointment, around two months. We're still trying to get everything in place and completed so she can start learning to drive. It doesn't help that there's a ton of misinformation out there. Don't rely on friends and family to tell you what you'll need and what you'll need to do to get your license or I.D.  The best thing to do is check the Oklahoma DPS official website to get all your ducks in a row before you show up, or you'll be sorry believe me. Understand what took a few hours prior to the pandemic now takes days, weeks and in my case months. So plan ahead and be prepared to wait, wait some more and wait even longer.

Most of the things DPS does when it comes to driver's licenses, Real I.D's and permits are now all done by appointment only. There are a few places that are doing walk ins, but it's limited to just a few people a day. Your best bet is to make an appointment and make sure you have everything you need with you when you finally get there. Oklahoma is working to make it easier and faster to get your I.D. or permit during the pandemic. Governor Kevin Stitt signed an executive order awhile back that should help. It realigns some of the departments and allows the tag agencies to expedite the process of renewals. The DPS is also starting to have extended hours in some locations to speed things up as well.  Hopefully these steps will make it quicker and easier to get your license, permits and Real I.D's. If not the next logical step to take would be to turn this whole process over to Chick-fil-A. If anyone could get this done and quickly it's them!