150K Californians affected by Real ID delay may see relief in 2-3 weeks

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- Like many Californians, Aldrin Aquino did not want to spend his day off lingering at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

But this month, his driver's license expires. His procrastination led him to the Riverside DMV Tuesday morning.

"I'm just hoping they can at least give me something, at least as far as documentation so if I do get pulled over I can show them I at least tried to renew my license," Aquino said.

Even if he had not waited until the last minute and filled out an online application or mailed one in early - he still might be waiting.

The DMV said 150,000 Californians who paid to renew their licenses or state IDs as far back as September have not received them. The hiccup in processing is because of the agency's efforts to give people more time to prepare to apply for a Real ID.

Rachel Rivas is not looking forward to the process of renewing her licenses for the new Real ID. Even as she brought her son in to his, she delayed the process.

"I said OK to my husband, we'll just have to do it together. I'll take a whole day to get everything together to do it because it was an amount of paperwork," she said.

But for those who renewed their licenses early and have been left wondering where it is - the wait could be over.

The DMV issued a statement regarding the matter.

"DMV staff worked through the weekend to resolve the issue...the department expects to have updated all the impacted records by the end of Tuesday," it said.

People could see their new licenses in about two to three weeks. The DMV also alerted law enforcement to let them know not to issue a ticket to some drivers who may be driving on expired licenses.