PERRYSVILLE, Ohio — The Ohio BMV reopened its doors Tuesday after being closed for months.
All across the state there lines long lines as hundreds of people tried to get in one by one.
Tuesday, the Ohio BMV in Perrysburg at the Shoppes At River Place saw a steady stream of visitors.
Due to the limited occupancy on reopening, many people had spent the first part of their visit waiting outside.
However people who were leaving said the experience was fast and efficient once they got inside.
"Most of the things, I think, were licenses. So, most of the workers were handling that, and then a separate one for registration," said Victoria Drago, who's license expired during the shutdown.
Most people line were waiting for either a drivers license renewal or new license plate tags.
Some even visited from different parts of town after hearing the lines were a bit shorter in Perrysburg.
"We actually went over to the McCord Road office and it was a longer wait, it was almost a three-hour wait," said Todd Taft, who was getting new license plate tags for an older vehicle
The hope is that once this first wave of backlogged work is done, the BMV can operate by online appointment through their "Get In Line, Online" program.
But for now, there weren't too many complaints about how things worked in Perrysburg.
"Honestly, this is probably the best BMV experience I've ever had, which is odd because I was expecting it to be terrible. So, it was fine," said Victoria Drago
State officials want to remind Ohioans that the majority of the work done in person at these BMV office locations can be completed online.
To date, online services are
- Vehicle registration
- Checking for specialty plates
- Driving record request
- Change of address
- Registering to become an organ donor
- Reinstatement requirement fees
- Fleet and power of attorney services
- Checking the status of your registration
- Next-of-Kin