DMV reopens 46 more field offices across California, including 3 in Central Valley

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The California Department of Motor Vehicles reopened dozens of their field offices on Thursday, but your next visit to the DMV will no doubt look very different.

71 field offices are now serving drivers across the state after the DMV reopened 46 more locations Thursday, including three in the Central Valley: Clovis, Visalia and the Fresno office on Blackstone.

Customers said the process in Clovis was quick and easy.

"It worked out good, I had to get a temporary Class A license to keep it going and it was in and out in five minutes," says Andy DeGraw of Sanger.

While behind the wheel driving tests are still suspended, the agency is encouraging customers to use online services and other non-contact channels to complete transactions when possible.

"The majority of things you need to do at the DMV can be done online. We recently opened the virtual field office at https://virtual.dmv.ca.gov/ where you can do items that you normally had to come into the office for, because there were documents you had to show us, that sort of thing," says DMV spokesperson Anita Gore.

To keep employees and customers safe, everyone will be required to wear face coverings, maintain social distancing and only a limited number of people will be allowed in each office.

"Where available we have hand washing stations for the customers. We're doing our best to serve the public as well as keep people safe," adds Gore.

99 of the DMV's 170 field offices across the state will remain closed for now.

The department is expected to reopen the remaining locations in phases over the coming weeks.