Licenses and IDs renewed by mail will feature an existing photo.
More people will be able to skip a trip to the MVC under the return of an old policy. New Jersey will start allowing ID holders of any age to renew driver’s licenses and nondriver IDs by mail.
The move is designed to reduce waits at Motor Vehicle Commission offices and returns the agency to a policy that was phased out nine years ago.
Prior to 2004, drivers could renew by mail, but that option ended when the state, in a move to make licenses more secure, switched to all-digital licenses and eliminated the paper, nonphoto IDs that some people still chose.
Raymond Martinez, the chief administrator at the MVC, said the enhanced security measures are making the return of licenses by mail possible.
The commission is launching a public relations campaign called “Skip the Trip” to get the word out on the change.
Last November, the MVC began allowing voters born before December 1964 to renew by mail. Sixty percent of those eligible since then renewed by mail.
Licenses and IDs renewed by mail will feature an existing photo. Not everyone is eligible to “Skip the Trip,” including those required to have a new photo taken in person, according to the MVC.
The agency expects 1 million fewer people visiting its offices over the next year, meaning those who do go in person should get quicker service.
Those who are eligible for the mail program will get notices from the state before their current cards expire.
People renewing commercial licenses, graduated licenses, temporary visa restrictions, boating licenses and those who have suspended licenses or an ignition interlock device will still have to conduct their business in person.