DMVs across the country experience service outage

Multiple states across the country reported that services were disrupted at their department of motor vehicles (DMV) offices Thursday.

According to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), an organization that provides software to DMV offices nationwide, there was an issue with the network that connects the country’s various agencies.

The outage was “due to a loss in cloud connectivity,” the organization said in an emailed statement.

The outage lasted from approximately 9:50 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT Thursday.

“During that time, there was no ability to process messages that support transactions of driver licenses and motor vehicle titles,” AAMVA said in its statement. “This prevented a number of motor vehicle agencies from issuing driver licenses and vehicle titles during the outage.”

The organization said it is “working internally” and with its “cloud providers” to determine the root cause of the outage.

The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles released a statement advising people who have appointments Thursday to reschedule due to the outage. The Colorado office said most of its services, except its driver’s license and permit tests, had been impacted by the outage.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias also reported an outage. Giannoulias asked residents to call before they visit a DMV office because the outage “may impact operating hours or services.”

The New York DMV posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it was aware of the “ongoing issues” affecting the department’s offices and online services.

“We are working diligently to get everything back up and running and will let you know when we do,” the post said.

The Virginia DMV posted a similar message, alerting the public that its services were unavailable “at all in-person locations.” The account later said the system is “back up and running” after the third-party outage.

“Transactions are once again processing. We appreciate your patience while this issue was resolved,” the Virginia DMV posted.