Need to visit PA DMV? Here's how to avoid a line in Bucks County

Peg Quann, Bucks County Courier Times
Updated ·4 min read

When is the best time to visit a Pennsylvania Driver's License or Photo License Center?

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation just let the word out: Between 8:15 and 9 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

If you go on a Saturday because it's your day off from work or school, be prepared to wait in line. Also, the first and last days of the month are extra busy, PennDOT notes.

This is a sample of a REAL ID-Compliant Non-Commercial Driver's License showing the REAL ID star in the right corner. Starting in May 2025, residents will need a REAL ID card or an alternate federally accepted form of identification to board commercial U.S. flights.
This is a sample of a REAL ID-Compliant Non-Commercial Driver's License showing the REAL ID star in the right corner. Starting in May 2025, residents will need a REAL ID card or an alternate federally accepted form of identification to board commercial U.S. flights.

The Driver License Centers serve a variety of people including teens wanting to learn how to drive, to out-of-staters who have moved to Pennsylvania and have two months to get their new driver's license, to foreigners living in the United States on extended visas, who are eligible for a license.

The Driver's License Center on Neshaminy Boulevard in Trevose handled a total of 135,649 visitors for licensing and photo services in 2023, according to PennDOT statistics provided by spokesman Brandon Glorioso. On days when they are especially crowded, the lines can be long.

Another idea ― head to the less crowded Driver's License Center on North Main Street in Dublin in Central Bucks, which handled 87,989 service requests last year, the statistics showed.

On a recent Saturday when the line at the Trevose center queued down the shopping center block, it was easy to walk in at the Dublin center, where about a dozen people were in line.

No appointment necessary at PennDOT driving centers

The centers are open 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

"The standard is to serve our customers in 30 minutes or less. All services are walk-in; no appointment is necessary except for a driver skills test," said Glorioso in an email.

This is a standard Pennsylvania Junior Driver's License which does not have the REAL ID star in the right corner, as required by law by May 2025 as one of the identification forms that could be used to board a commercial United States flight.
This is a standard Pennsylvania Junior Driver's License which does not have the REAL ID star in the right corner, as required by law by May 2025 as one of the identification forms that could be used to board a commercial United States flight.

If you don't need to apply for a license but just need to have your license renewed, apply online and have an updated photo taken at a Photo License Center, like the one at 516 N. Oxford Valley Road in Middletown.

One visitor last year described it in a review as "a secret gem." She was able to get her new license quickly. Like the Driver License centers, the Photo Center is closed Sundays and Mondays.

Information on Driver's License and Photo License Centers and what services can be done online is available at the state's Department of Motor Vehicles website: www.dmv.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx

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Wherever you go, have the last four digits of your Social Security number for identification purposes, and if you are applying for a REAL ID, bring the required identification documents with you.

Applying for Real ID in Pennsylvania

REAL ID is a federal program enacted by Congress in 2005 and supervised by the Department of Homeland Security to make sure that "minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards" are being followed, and that people have identification cards that meet these standards when boarding commercial flights in the United States and entering federal facilities.

The deadline for enforcement was delayed due to COVID but now is May 7, 2025.

To apply for REAL ID, residents in Pennsylvania need to go to a Driver's License Center and bring their original or certified birth certificate or a valid United States passport, a Social Security card or other legal form showing their name and full Social Security number, two forms of identification showing their name and address and , if their name has been changed, documentation showing the change, like "a certified marriage certificate, court order, or adoption decree issued by your county's family court," PennDOT states.

PennDOT states that non-United States residents who are lawfully in the country and want a REAL ID driver's license or identification card are required to bring other documents listed on the website: https://www.dmv.pa.gov/REALID/Pages/REAL-ID-Non-U.S.Citizens.aspx

In receiving the REAL ID certification, a Pennsylvanian's driver's license will be stamped with a gold star in the right corner, showing the person has the REAL ID verification. The verification is renewed when the person's driver's license is up for renewal.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PA license centers in Bucks County: What to bring, when to go