Thanks to ever increasing technology levels, there are now more transaction options than ever before at your Michigan Secretary of State branch offices around the Great Lakes state.
Michigan residents can now renew their standard and enhanced driver’s licenses and state identification cards online and at self-service stations after the Michigan Department of State successfully completed a massive technology upgrade in recent weeks.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson reports, “We have launched a new, service-driven era of operations that provides customers many more ways to conveniently conduct their business with us,” while adding, “This is a major step forward as we continue to improve our service for all Michiganders.”
New online services include:
- Renew or replace an enhanced driver’s license or state ID if no new photo is required
- View the mailing status of the requested driver’s license or state ID
- Pre-apply for an original driver’s license
- Request and obtain a driving record
- Add a motorcycle endorsement to an eligible driver’s license
- Pay reinstatement fees and invoices
- Apply to be a notary public
- Access streamlined business services
New transactions offered at self-service stations include:
- Renew a standard or enhanced driver’s license or state ID if no new photo is required
- Request a replacement and print out a temporary license or ID
- Add a motorcycle endorsement to an eligible driver’s license
- Sign up on the state’s organ donor registry
Between March 16th – when the upgrade was completed – and the end of the month, thousands of residents who would have previously needed an office visit took advantage of the new conveniences. More than 6,000 people renewed or replaced their driver’s license or ID at a self-service station, and more than 5,300 enhanced driver’s license or ID transactions were completed online.
The department has 146 self-service stations, with more in the planning stages, in various branch offices and other locations statewide, including select Meijer and Kroger grocery stores. Transactions on the machines are currently offered in English, Spanish, Arabic and Vietnamese. All accept credit cards, and some will accept cash.
The upgraded technology now supporting the department securely combines tens of millions of driver and vehicle records into one integrated customer record system and ends the department’s reliance on a legacy system from the 1960s. The new system was launched with support from the Department of Technology, Management and Budget and FAST Enterprises.
In addition to the new services online and at self-service stations, the department has also instituted the following improvements:
- An electronic lien and title program, making lien and title information available online for lienholders in lieu of a paper certificate of title if their financial institution participates in the program.
- The graduated driver licensing process has been simplified to reduce customer visits to branch offices. Student drivers are now issued a photo license hard card for a GDL Level 1 license, instead of a paper license. They don’t need to return to the branch office for their Level 2 or Level 3 licenses, and their operator’s license will be mailed to them upon turning 18.
- The three Grand Rapids-area offices will be consolidated into two offices, so that staff can serve at locations with higher levels of customer traffic. The Division Avenue office, which saw the fewest customers of the three offices, will not reopen. Seven self-service stations have been placed in the area, with two more planned.
- Four Upper Peninsula branch offices that are located in the Central time zone (Bessemer, Iron River, Iron Mountain and Menominee) have shifted their hours to 8 am to 4 pm Central time to match the operating hours of the rest of the department’s branch offices, which are open from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern time.
For transactions that do require a branch office visit, the department offers appointments that can be booked up to six months in advance. Next-day appointments are released at 8 am and noon Monday through Friday that customers can book for the next weekday.
To access online services, find a self-service station near you or make an office appointment at http://Michigan.gov/SOS.