Fresno Olive Avenue DMV image via the State of California

The long wait times at California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices could go down after it was announced they would increase the number of Saturday service offices to 60 and will be offering service every Saturday.

All of the listed 60 offices will open at 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday starting on Aug. 4.

Currently, 43 offices are offering weekend services and they will be open on Saturday July 21. An office in Fresno and one in Clovis are open two Saturdays a month, and the DMV offices in Visalia, Merced and Redding will begin offering services every Saturday starting Aug. 4.  

The DMV began offering Saturday service in June and assisted approximately 35,000 customers during the first three Saturdays.

“We apologize for the increased wait times.  We continue to actively work on solutions to get customer transactions completed more efficiently,” DMV Director Jean Shiomoto stated in a press release. “We will process all transactions except behind-the-wheel exams on Saturdays.”

In January 2015, the DMV offered Saturday hours for 10 months, and again at 60 field offices from late January 2018 through late March to handle the added workload of people applying for the new Real ID drivers licenses and identification cards, which the federal government will require airline travelers to have—in lieu of other government-approved documents—starting Oct. 1, 2020, said Artemio Armenta, a DMV spokesman.

A full list of DMV field offices offering Saturday services can be found at www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/fo/fo_sat_offices/