Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

With all of the chaos surrounding the pandemic, many Minnesotans did not realize that the Minnesota legislature extended the expiration dates of driver’s licenses and identification cards in response to the COVID-19 peacetime emergency.

According to Emma Corrie, Director of Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services, effective March 29, the expiration date for driver’s licenses and identification cards that expire during the peacetime public health emergency or anytime in the month the emergency ends are extended. The expiration dates are extended two months after the month the peacetime emergency ends. Because the current peacetime emergency ends on Nov. 12, credentials that expire between March 13 and Nov. 30 are valid until Jan. 31.

Credentials that expire in the month following the end of the peacetime emergency are  extended for one month after the month the peacetime emergency ends. This means all  Minnesota driver’s licenses and identification cards that expire in December are valid until Jan. 31.

Corrie said the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services division (DPS-DVS) automatically extends the expiration dates for these credentials and updates the customer’s record accordingly, but Minnesotans will not receive a new credential with the updated expiration date.

Every extension of the peacetime emergency will delay the expiration date of credentials. DPS-DVS and deputy registrars have reopened to provide services, so you may also see new credentials that would otherwise have qualified for the expiration extension.

Commercial driver’s licenses are regulated through the federal government; they are treated differently and are extended through the federal waiver period only, which is currently Dec. 31.