Massachusetts residents without lawful proof of presence in the United States can start to seek out driver’s licenses Saturday, but they will have to wait until the Registry of Motor Vehicles reopens on Monday to show up for appointments.
The law enforcement-backed law has been hailed by supporters as a way to make sure all drivers are insured and road safety is taught to all motorists. It survived a veto from former Gov. Charlie Baker and a failed Republican-led campaign to overturn the law after it was solidified by the state Legislature.
Starting Saturday, those who are in the United States without legal status — people whose visas have expired or who crossed the border illegally, among others — can obtain a standard, five-year Massachusetts driver’s license if they can provide at least two documents proving their identity and date of birth.
The head of the Registry of Motor Vehicles has stressed on multiple occasions that people need to schedule an appointment before showing up to a service center location. Starting July 1, residents can pre-register to make an appointment and complete a learner’s permit application on the RMV’s website.
Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie said the RMV expects it will take 15 weeks to receive a driver’s license in the mail assuming the person passes the required tests on the first try.
“The first job is to make an appointment. And during that time, gather all the information you need. If you have any documents that are in a foreign language, we need those translated, we have …information on our website about what the requirements are for translation,” Ogilvie said last week. “Study the materials, so you’ll pass the permit test on the first try. Once you receive your permit, then it’s time to practice driving and make an appointment for a road test.”
Driver’s license applicants need to provide documents proving who they are and when they were born. One of those documents can be a valid, unexpired foreign passport or a valid unexpired consular identification card.
Applicants can pick from a list of five other documents to show to RMV officials.
Those include a marriage certificate or divorce decree issued by any U.S. state or territory; a valid unexpired foreign national identification card; a valid unexpired foreign driver’s license; a valid unexpired driver’s license from any U.S. state or territory; or an original or certified copy of a birth certificate.
One of the documents is required to have a photograph of the applicant. And if the documents are not in English, the RMV said applicants need to provide a “certified translation” from an approved entity.
Frontline service center employees tasked with working face-to-face with applicants will be responsible for validating the necessary foreign documents to get a license, Ogilvie previously told the Herald.
The agency started reaching out to local consulates last fall to get sample documents, including examples of consular identification cards, she said.
“Part of our effort is to educate our employees about what these documents, what the valid documents look like, and build our library so we can build that into our training of our employees,” Ogilvie said earlier this month.
RMV officials have said they expect some 280,000 people to apply for a driver’s license within the first four years of the law with the biggest demand in the first six months. The Healey administration set aside $28 million to pay for the implementation of the law.
And the RMV has not let cash sit idly by.
The agency has been on a hiring spree over the past year, setting out a goal to hire more than 200 new employees in anticipation of the law. Most of those new hires are frontline service center workers who will be handling the brunt of the work.
But Ogilvie said the RMV also added more road test examiners as well as anywhere from two to eight people in various RMV departments. It amounts to a 45% increase in service center staff, a 100% increase in road test staff, and a 50% increase in contact center staff.
Service centers will stay open later on weekdays and Saturday hours will be added starting on July 8 at seven different locations throughout the state.
“That will focus on licensing-related transactions to give those that might work Monday through Friday the opportunity for another chance to at an appointment,” Ogilvie said.
Bad actors often try to take advantage of people when a new law takes effect. And the driver’s license law is no different, Ogilvie and Campbell said last week.
Scammers have already tried to charge people for access to an appointment or to provide the necessary documents. Some are fraudulently offering expedited service.
The total cost to obtain a driver’s license through the RMV is $115 so long as a person passes the road and permit tests on the first try. Additional tests cost extra. Appointments are free.