Reviewed and updated October 12, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every fact on this page was read from the California DMV's own pages that day, and the DMV page each fact came from is linked where it appears.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles issues driver's licenses and ID cards, registers vehicles and vessels, records titles, and licenses the people who sell cars and teach driving. This guide covers getting a driver's license, renewing a license or ID, renewing vehicle registration with the smog and penalty rules, every DMV fee, and the field offices, starting with the Santa Barbara office.
In this guide: What you can finish without an office visit, Driver's licenses and ID cards, Vehicle registration, titles and smog, The fees people look up most, DMV offices, hours and holidays, Driver and vehicle records, Questions people ask about the California DMV
What you can finish without an office visit
The DMV's office pages open with the services it says most people can complete online: renewing vehicle registration, renewing a driver's license or ID card, starting a license or ID application, changing your address, filing a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability after a sale, requesting a replacement driver's license, ordering special interest or personalized plates, and requesting your driver's record. The online services portal is the starting point for all of them.
Registration renewal is also handled by phone at 1-800-777-0133, by mail to DMV Renewal, PO Box 942897, Sacramento, CA 94269-0001, and in cash at DMV kiosks inside some offices and retail locations. Online payments take a bank account or a card; a card costs a 1.95 percent service fee online, at a kiosk or by phone, and 2.1 percent in an office (the full payment table is on the fees page).
Driver's licenses and ID cards
A California license is required to drive in the state, and the DMV issues four noncommercial classes: Class C for cars and light trucks, Class M1 and M2 for motorcycles, noncommercial Class A for large travel trailers, and noncommercial Class B for motorhomes over 40 feet. Every noncommercial license comes as either a REAL ID card, marked with a grizzly bear and a star, or a federal non-compliant card. A REAL ID is accepted for domestic flights, military bases and most secure federal facilities.
The license fee is $46 for an original or a renewal of Class C, M1 or M2, $37 for a replacement or an information change, and $9 for a repeat driving test. A regular ID card is $40, a reduced fee ID card is $11, and an ID card for a person 62 or older has no fee. The application paths for new drivers, drivers under 18, and drivers moving in from another state or country are on the driver's license page; renewal rules, including the 90-day online window and the vision standard, are on the renewal page.
Vehicle registration, titles and smog
Registration renewal can be done online as soon as the renewal notice arrives, by phone, by mail or at a kiosk, and the DMV offers no grace period on a late payment: 1 to 10 days late adds 10 percent of the vehicle license fee and weight fee plus a $10 registration late fee and a $10 CHP late fee, and the amounts climb to 160 percent plus $100 plus $100 after two years. A vehicle that will sit unused can be filed as Planned Nonoperation for $28 instead. Smog checks are required at renewal in 34 counties, with exemptions by fuel and model year. All of it, with the county list, is on the registration renewal page.
A change of owner or lienholder must be reported to the DMV within 10 days and the title updated; the seller files a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability within 5 days. The transfer fee is $15, a replacement title is $28, and titles arrive by mail in 15 to 30 days according to the DMV's title transfers page.
The fees people look up most
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Driver's license, Class C, original or renewal | $46 |
| Driver's license replacement or information change | $37 |
| Driving test, second or third attempt | $9 |
| ID card, regular | $40 |
| ID card, age 62 or older | No fee |
| Commercial Class A or B license, original | $100 |
| Replacement title, plates, registration card or sticker | $28 each |
| Title transfer | $15 |
| Planned Nonoperation filing | $28 |
| CHP fee at registration | $34 |
| Smog abatement fee (newer vehicles, in place of a smog check) | $20 |
| Smog transfer fee | $8 |
| Driver record, electronic request | $2 |
| Driver record, walk-in, mail or phone request | $5 |
The complete schedules, the late penalty table and the payment methods are on the California DMV fees page.
DMV offices, hours and holidays
The DMV's site carries a page for each of its 187 field offices in California. The page for an office, like the Santa Barbara one, shows its hours for every day of the week, its services, its accepted payment types, the nearest offices and kiosks, and a live wait time for customers with and without an appointment. SearchSystems carries each office on its own page, beginning with the Santa Barbara field office at 535 Castillo Street. Appointments are made on the DMV's own appointment page; nobody else can book one for you.
All DMV offices are closed on weekends and on these 2026 holidays: Thursday, January 1 (New Year's Day); Monday, January 19 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day); Monday, February 16 (Presidents' Day); Tuesday, March 31 (Farmworkers Day); Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day); Monday, September 7 (Labor Day); Wednesday, November 11 (Veterans Day); Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27 (Thanksgiving); Friday, December 25 (Christmas Day); and Friday, January 1, 2027 (New Year's Day). Source: the DMV's holiday schedule.
Driver and vehicle records
A copy of your own driver record costs $2 when requested electronically and $5 for a walk-in, mail or telephone request; a record history costs $5 per year automated, $20 per year non-automated, and $20 per photocopy (California Vehicle Code section 1811). Requests start on the DMV's records request page.
Questions people ask about the California DMV
Is there a grace period for a late California registration renewal?
No. The DMV says it does not offer a grace period; fees are due on or before the expiration date printed on the registration card, and penalties start the first day late. The penalty table is on the registration renewal page.
When does a California driver's license expire?
An original license expires on the holder's fifth birthday after the application date (California Vehicle Code section 12816(a)); a limited term license expires with the identity document it was issued on.
Can I renew my license without visiting an office?
Yes, online within 90 days of the expiration date through a MyDMV account, as long as nothing on the card changes. The vision standard and the cases that require a visit are on the license renewal page.
Do I need a smog check to renew my registration?
In 34 counties, yes, with exemptions for electric vehicles, gasoline vehicles less than eight model years old, gasoline vehicles of model year 1975 or older, and some diesel and natural gas vehicles. The county list and the exemptions are on the registration renewal page.
How do I reach the California DMV by phone?
The DMV's customer service number, printed on its licensing and registration pages, is 1-800-777-0133. The automated line can also mail a Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment form (REG 262).
Written by SearchSystems.net from the California DMV's own pages, read on October 12, 2026. SearchSystems does not sell appointments or take payments for the DMV; every DMV fact on this page links to the dmv.ca.gov page it came from.