REAL ID appointments elusive in New Jersey as May 7 deadline approaches

WEST DEPTFORD, N.J. (WPVI) -- If you've tried to get a REAL ID appointment in New Jersey lately, you may have found it's nearly impossible.

"A nightmare trying to get onto the internet to do it, you get bumped out. You get a time frame and then you go back and look at it and it's gone," said Wayne Baker, of Woodbury Heights, N.J.

After May 7, if you are flying, your regular New Jersey driver's license won't be enough to get through TSA. You'll need a REAL ID or another federally accepted ID like a passport.

In New Jersey, state officials say you have to have an appointment to get a REAL ID.

Around midday on Wednesday, on the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission website, there were times when there were no available REAL ID appointments for the next few months, but occasionally an appointment would pop up.

The state launched REAL ID Thursdays in March, adding an additional 43,000 appointments. New Mobile unit appointments are being made available as well.

But people we talked to say the appointments continue to be elusive.

"I've been trying to get a real ID appointment online, like crazy, you can't get nothing," said Jayden Vazquez, of Camden, N.J.

In a statement issued Wednesday, a spokesperson said, "The NJMVC is processing record numbers of in-person transactions, especially REAL IDs, and we continue to evaluate our operations and capacity each week."

The state also emphasized that REAL ID appointments will continue to be available after enforcement begins on May 7.

But some people can't wait, like Nafisah Downs of Newark, N.J.

"One, my driver's license was expiring, and two, I'm going to be flying," she said.

She drove more than an hour to the licensing center in West Deptford from Newark for this appointment ahead of an upcoming trip.

"Everything was filled, and you have to come further down where it's less congested is what I think," said Downs.

NJ MVC urges customers to cancel their REAL ID appointment ahead of time if they can't make it, saying on a recent Thursday there were more than 500 no-shows.