Statehouse News Bureau

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Ohio drivers can now renew their license online

By Andy Chow

Published June 27, 2022 at 7:06 PM EDT

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted joins Gov. Mike DeWine and BMV Registrar Charles Norman to announce the new online license renewal service. [Andy Chow / Statehouse News Bureau] — Lt. Gov. Jon Husted joins Gov. Mike DeWine and BMV Registrar Charles Norman to announce the new online license renewal service.

The state is now allowing drivers to renew their license online through a new portal created by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles in hopes of cutting down on long wait times at local BMV locations.

The tool is available for drivers between ages 21 to 65 who already have a four-year license. A driver will still need to visit the BMV every eight years for a vision test.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted is in charge of Innovate Ohio, which was created when Husted and Gov. Mike DeWine took office. Innovate Ohio has the goal of streamlining government services.

The ability to renew a driver's license online shows that Ohio has come a “long way” according to Husted, who noted that several government agencies did not even accept credit cards for transactions until just a few years ago.

Husted added that improving services at the BMV was among Innovate Ohio’s top priorities.

“Nobody says ‘I can't wait for my next trip to the BMV,’ right? Nobody says that. But we know everybody's had to experience it. So that's one of the places that we picked,” Husted said, adding that he appreciates the work of BMV employees.

Allowing online license renewals along with other new digital services is expected to drastically reduce the amount of people who have to visit the BMV.

BMV Registrar Charles Norman said the bureau has implemented several precautions to ensure the security of the new service. That included an authentication process and employees monitoring transactions.

“We also just on the back end, have a lot of fraud indicators that will raise flags for those clerks,” said Norman.

He noted, for example, that an out-of-country IP address would likely raise a flag for the clerk to double check.

The Ohio BMV will also be launching an Ohio Title Portal on July 11, to allow people to transfer a title when engaging in a person-to-person sale of a vehicle by using a new online title process.

More than two million people have used the BMV’s online reservation tool — known as Get In Line, Online — since it was launched in 2021. Husted said the average person who uses the tool saves about 32 minutes.