For the safety of both our employees and customers, the Iowa Department of Transportation will begin restricting services offered via an appointment at our driver’s service centers until May 1. Appointments will be available to those seeking essential services only.

To make an appointment prior to May 1, you will need to call the Iowa DOT service center you intend to visit to determine if the service you wish to receive is essential. Contact information for DOT locations can be found online. Please call your preferred location directly for appointments. 

Examples of essential services that will be offered by appointment in our service centers are a customer who: 

  • has a commercial driver’s license or chauffeur’s license service need.
  • may need services before May 1 related to a specific event such as starting a new job or to fulfill a work-related requirement, a financial loan or other financial business, school/education-related, to obtain benefits of any kind, or for a legal-related purpose.

If you have already scheduled an appointment, our staff will be calling you to confirm the reason for your appointment and rescheduling the appointment after May 1 if it is for a non-essential service. Anyone entering a driver’s service center location will be screened before they enter.

As a reminder, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ issued a State of Public Health Disaster Emergency on March 17 that postponed the need to renew a driver’s license or ID that is expiring during this health crisis. In addition, the Transportation Safety Administration is now allowing expired licenses to be used as identification for air travel and the REAL ID Gold Star requirement does not take effect until Oct. 1, 2020. Because of these actions, coming into a driver’s service center for any of these reasons will not be considered an essential service.

In addition, we encourage you to check out our online services to see if you can conduct business with the Iowa DOT online.

At this time, you may schedule an appointment after May 1 for all driver’s license and ID services.