NC suspends expiration dates on driver licenses—but only within state lines
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RALEIGH, N.C. — To relieve pressure on an overburdened Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) system, Governor Josh Stein has signed Senate Bill 391, temporarily suspending expiration dates on standard driver licenses—but only for driving within North Carolina. The law took effect July 1, 2025, and runs through Dec. 31, 2027.
The new law allows Class C licenses—the kind most North Carolinians carry—to remain valid for in-state driving only for up to two years past the printed expiration date. The measure does not apply to commercial licenses, and an expired license under this moratorium will not be recognized outside of North Carolina or accepted for identification, officials said.
“This is a short-term fix while the DMV gets its act together,” said NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tine. “Drivers will still need to renew their license if they want to use it for anything besides driving inside North Carolina.”
What the Law Does—and Doesn’t Do
This applies only to Class C licenses expiring on or after July 1, 2025
Not valid for out-of-state use or federal identification purposes, including:
Air travel
Renting a car
Bank transactions
Does not apply to:
Commercial Driver Licenses (CDLs)
Suspended, revoked, or canceled licenses
If you plan to fly, travel out of state, or use your license for ID, this moratorium won’t help. You still need to renew.
“Customers may present expired Class C licenses for in-state driving privileges only,” Tine said. “But we strongly recommend renewing on time to avoid disruptions to daily life.”
DMV Operational Changes: Walk-In All Day, Stay Cool in Your Car
As part of a broader push to improve service and reduce long lines in summer heat, the DMV is rolling out new customer service procedures statewide:
All driver’s license offices will now serve walk-in customers all day, with no appointments needed.
Upon arrival, DMV examiners will check customers in and then direct them to wait in their vehicles.
DMV staff will review documents during check-in to keep the process moving.
When it’s your turn, you’ll receive a text message alert so you can come inside without waiting in line.
These changes are designed to help rural and elderly customers, in particular, avoid heat exhaustion and long wait times, a problem that’s plagued DMV offices during the busy summer months.
Saturday DMV Hours Return
To further ease backlogs, 20 DMV offices will now be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. through August 23. No appointment is required. (But none are in Rutherford County.)
Saturday services include:
License and ID renewals
REAL ID issuance
Road tests for those who’ve passed written exams
Address changes and duplicates
Before visiting in person, residents are encouraged to check ncdot.gov/dmv to see if their needs can be met online.
Opinion & Analysis: Cops & Congress commentary
A Band-Aid at Best: The DMV Moratorium Doesn’t Go the Distance
Let’s call this what it is: a short-term patch on a long-term problem. The North Carolina DMV’s new two-year moratorium on Class C driver license expirations might buy the state some time, but it’s not a solution, and it’s certainly not a win for everyone.
If you never leave North Carolina and only use your license to drive to the grocery store, this might seem like a helpful measure. But what about the rest of us?
What happens to:
The mom who has to fly to another state for a child’s medical treatment?
The retiree who wants to rent a car to visit grandkids in Tennessee?
The business owner who needs to show a valid ID to open a new bank account?
Under this law, once your license expires, it won’t be accepted for air travel, out-of-state use, or even basic identification. That’s not flexibility. That’s a trap.
And while DMV says you can wait in your car during long summer lines, what about those of us who don’t have air conditioning? My car doesn’t. I know I’m not the only one. For people with young kids, elderly passengers, or medical conditions, being asked to “sit in your vehicle until we text you” isn't a kindness—it’s a hazard.
North Carolinians deserve more than workarounds and temporary delays. We need an agency that can meet demand in real time, not years after the fact. We need a DMV that serves the people, not one that keeps adjusting the rules because it can’t keep up with its own workload.
So yes, you can keep driving in-state on an expired license. But don’t mistake this for leadership or efficiency. It’s a band-aid that doesn’t stop the bleeding—and certainly doesn’t help get you across state lines.
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Annie Dance is the publisher of Cops & Congress, a newsletter that tells the truth about what happens when disaster, democracy, and small-town policies collide.
10-4. I just checked. My NC license runs for 8 years. SB391 is just another example of NCGA obliviousness to the issues at hand. What a waste of time and effort.
No moratorium on the excessive FEES. No moratorium on PERSONAL Vehicle Property Tax. No moratorium on ridiculous initial license tag fees.
Those things, would actually help the citizens of the Great State of North Carolina - not this annoying little detail that will just give our law enforcement one more stupid thing to pay attention too.
For the DMV? Not renewing a few hundred licenses will do what? They already have the process for doing it in place. People who don't want to have to remember that they didn't renew, are going to do it anyway, so renewing NC Driver's Licenses isn't going to stop.
And just to rub it in a little bit more - how about the un-Constitutional ridiculousness of forcing us to even carry a Driver's License?
I'm all for the mandatory driver's ed and proof that someone has received that training. I'm all for requiring tag registrations to include proof of auto insurance (which protects insured drivers from uninsured drivers and NC doesn't even do it). But to have to remember to have a physical ID on me at all times - it does get old. I know who I am, and nobody else has the right to demand that I prove to them who I am. Thanks Annie!!