Same-Day Real ID Appointments Open In NJ Ahead Of New Deadline (2024)

Same-day appointments are available at various MVC service centers around the state. See where below:

Posted Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 10:07 am ET|Updated Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 10:31 am ET

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has more than 34,500 appointments available online as of Tuesday morning. Several of the 24 MVC licensing centers listed on the state’s website have same-day appointments available, which frustrated residents would have appreciated in the past when they were having problems getting one.

And those in neighboring Pennsylvania can also apply for pre-verification online to make the process a little easier. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has 13 REAL ID business centers, and residents can also visit any PennDOT Driver License Center to have their documents verified.

The latest federal REAL ID is May 7, 2025. On that date, you must have a REAL ID-compliant driver's license to fly within the United States, unless you use a valid U.S. passport.

Past the enforcement date, federal agencies, including the TSA, will not be able to accept identification that does not meet REAL ID standards. A REAL ID will also be needed to enter certain federal buildings, and is signified by a star in the upper right-hand corner of someone's ID.

The compliance deadline has been extended multiple times beyond the original date — April 27, 2020 — because of the pandemic.

The REAL ID Act of 2005 was passed by Congress after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Four pieces of identification are required to obtain a REAL ID: a passport or birth certificate, a Social Security card or tax return, and two documents proving proof of residence, such as a mortgage or rental receipt and a utility bill.

In addition to the stars on REAL ID driver's licenses, the cards themselves will be built with new technology, making them much more difficult to forge, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

If you don't plan to fly domestically or visit a federal office, no worries. You don't need a REAL ID to get a driver's license. Also, the TSA won't require children under 18 to provide identification when they're traveling with an adult companion within the United States, but the companion must have acceptable identification.

The REAL ID isn't a substitute for a passport required for international travel, and it also doesn't affect the ability to vote or register to vote, applications for federal benefits, enter federal facilities that don't require identification, obtain medical care, or participate in police proceedings or investigations.

As of Tuesday morning (Sept. 19), the following New Jersey MVC centers have same-day appointments:

• Bakers Basin (3200 Brunswick Pike Lawrenceville, NJ 08648)
• Camden (2600 Mt. Ephraim Avenue Camden, NJ 08104)
• Cardiff (6725 Black Horse Pike, Harbor Square, Egg Harbor Twp, NJ 08234-3935)
• Delanco (400 Creek Road Delanco, NJ 08075)
• Elizabeth (17 Caldwell Place Elizabeth, NJ 07201)
• Flemington (181-B Routes 31 & 202 Ringoes, NJ 08551)
• Newark (228 Frelinghuysen Avenue Newark, NJ 07114)
• Newton (51 Sparta Avenue Newton, NJ 07860)
• Oakland (350 Ramapo Valley Road Suite 24 Oakland, NJ 07436)
• Paterson (125 Broadway Suite 201 Paterson, NJ 07505)
• Rahway (1140 Woodbridge Road Rahway, NJ 07065)
• Rio Grande (3305 Bay Shore Road, Breakwater Shopping Plaza North Cape May, NJ 08204)
• Runnemede (835 E. Clements Bridge Rd, Runnemede Plaza Runnemede, NJ 08078)
• Salem (199 East Broadway Finlaw Building Salem, NJ 08079)
• South Plainfield (5000 Hadley Road South Plainfield, NJ 07080)
• Vineland (9 West Park Avenue Vineland, NJ 08360)
• Washington (404 E Washington Ave Washington, NJ 07882)
• Wayne (481 Route 46 West Wayne, NJ 07470)
• West Deptford (215 Crown Point Road Thorofare, NJ 08086)