Summer Saturday hours return to NC DMV offices, including four new ones
The Division of Motor Vehicles will begin offering summer Saturday hours at some of its busiest driver’s license offices this weekend, including two in the Triangle that haven’t been open on Saturdays before.
Statewide, 20 DMV offices will be open for walk-in customers from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays from now through Aug. 23, except for June 28 and July 5, the Saturdays on either side of the July 4 holiday.
They include Raleigh offices on Avent Ferry Road and New Bern Avenue; Charlotte offices on David Taylor Drive and West Arrowood Road; the Durham office on South Miami Boulevard and the Clayton office.
People can get most types of DMV business done on Saturdays, including new, renewed or duplicate driver license or ID cards, address changes, REAL IDs and road tests for people who have already completed the knowledge and written tests.
Summer is the busiest season at DMV driver’s license offices, as recent college graduates move to the state and teens take advantage of free time to try to get permits and licenses before school resumes.
The DMV has been particularly busy in recent months as the federal government began enforcing new identification standards at airports and other federal facilities under the 2005 REAL ID Act. Demand for REAL IDs rose this winter as the May 7 implementation date approached.
The DMV continues to issue REAL IDs, and the timing of when someone might want one depends on when they expect to fly or visit a federal facility that requires ID. The Transportation Security Administration reports that 91.5% of passengers passing through its checkpoints at North Carolina airports since May 7 have had a REAL ID or another acceptable ID, such as a passport. Those without an acceptable ID are subject to additional screening.
The DMV doesn’t have enough workers to offer Saturday hours everywhere, so it chooses offices where it hopes to do the most good. Last summer, the DMV served nearly 17,000 people on Saturday mornings at 16 offices. The DMV added four more offices this summer, including ones in Durham and Clayton.
The other offices with Saturday hours are in Andrews, Asheville, Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Graham, Greensboro, Greenville, Huntersville, Jacksonville, Kernersville, Monroe, Salisbury, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.
As always, the agency encourages people to see if they can do their business online rather than stand in line at an office. For a list of services available online, go to www.ncdot.gov/dmv/offices-services/online/.
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This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 12:39 PM.
