January 11th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

Nine months might seem far off, but Maryland is making adjustments now to help everyone get a REAL ID-compliant license by the October deadline. WTOP reports that the Motor Vehicle Administration branch in Gaithersburg doubled the number of REAL ID appointments it can process at the Walnut Hill Shopping Center branch when it cut the ribbon Monday on a new 11-kiosk annex that opened next door to the regular branch.

“It’s so important to me to make sure that every customer has a great experience,” said Administrator Chrissy Nizer, of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.

You can make a REAL ID appointment at any MVA branch.

“We can deliver a guarantee with an appointment: 15 minutes or less wait. In fact, we’ve been delivering in 7 minutes,” Nizer said.

If you don’t have an appointment, you can get real-time information on wait times and kiosk availability at numbers of branch locations on the MVA website.

Expansions similar to what happened at Walnut Hill occurred in 2019 in Columbia and north of Baltimore in Parkville.

Right now, there’s no word on any other expansion plans, or on how long the annexes might be kept open beyond the October deadline.