MVC vehicle centers now appointment-only because of pandemic

Walk-in service at New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission vehicle centers has been eliminated for now, as 15 branch offices are closed due to employee exposure to coronavirus.

Branch offices were designated as either as licensing centers or vehicle centers upon reopening in July, after months of closure due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Eleven vehicle offices went to appointment only on Nov. 2 in a effort to eliminate long lines that saw customers camping out all night in order to get tickets that would get them service.

While the vehicle centers are appointment-only, the licensing centers are not.

“We’ve made tremendous progress in clearing the backlog of registrations for newly purchased used vehicles, which enables us to move fully to an appointment system in Vehicle Centers, reducing our capacity but increasing customer convenience,” MVC Commissioner Sue Fulton said in a statement.

Appointments can be made online via the MVC website.

Fulton said more appointment slots have been made available at all locations, which she said should help accommodate those whose original time slots were canceled because an exposure at a center.

In Vehicle Center offices, MVC will be processing vehicle transactions only:

Registration/title transfers for private sales.
New registrations/titles, individual and in bulk.
Salvage titles.
License plate transactions.

In Licensing Center agencies, MVC will be processing driver license and ID transactions only:

First-time licenses and permits (REAL ID will be an option).
Out-of-state transfers.
Expired CDLs, TVRs (temporary visa restricted licenses), and any other expired licenses not eligible for online renewal.

MVC policy is to close an office and cancel appointments after just one exposure, to allow potentially exposed workers to quarantine and offices to be thoroughly cleaned.

As of Monday morning, 15 offices are completely closed after exposures, with the Turnersville vehicle center, Edison licensing center, Newton vehicle center and Jersey City vehicle centers the latest additions to the list.

Branch offices closed and their scheduled reopening dates are: