The RI DMV Process

I went to the new (a couple years old) DMV in Rhode Island and was expecting to spend hours getting my registration and license transferred to RI from Indiana. My expectations were extremely low due to my past experiences at the DMV in helping family friends. 

First I fill out required forms, many of which have duplicate information including name, address, and vehicle information. After that, it is waiting line after line: Check In, Tax Exemptions, Processing, and finally taking the picture.

The check-in is mainly for making sure people have all the necessary paper work. This is definitely an constant issue I've seen previously and happy to see that they pushed it up at the start of the experience. But this also tends to start the experience negatively. It's no wonder why majority of people are stressed or annoyed being at the DMV.

It's ridiculous how much paperwork is seen at the DMV: titles, registrations, required forms, receipts, proof of residency/identity, and much more. There has to be a better way.

Then, tax exemptions and processing look at the same exact paperwork shown at the check-in. But this time, they do "something" with them (e.g. create registration, give plates, vision check, assign license). This is probably the "meat" of the process. Though, I had to pay for the registration and license fees separately... (Transaction fee for each individual transaction)

Then it's the wait for the photo to be taken. This is where one employee is yelling the customer's name one by one. This was simple and I'm glad you can actually show your teeth in Rhode Island (unlike Indiana).

Overall, it took just under two hours. This beat my low expectations, but it can definitely be improved. Reduce the redundancy of reviewing paper work.

Things that had to be done outside of the DMV? A VIN check, matching the VIN with your vehicle, that is done at a local police station. I've never heard of this before and is a money grab in my opinion. Then, the emissions test, which is more common (though Indiana does not have such things).

With all that said, this experience just adds to how moving is a terrible experience.