Department of Licensing

I came here just to schedule a drive for my drive test. I came right when the doors opened and was told the wait was going to be less then an hour. I ended up staying there for more then two hours. The workers here truly don’t care about you, they take their sweet time and are just wondering around and not doing their jobs. Not only are they disorganized but you get the sense that they don’t know what they are doing. I would not recommend anyone to come here unless you want to be sitting in plastic chair for 3 hours!

Overall my experience with the people IN the facility has been ok. Again, customer service lacking completely. process them thru slam them out and go home seems to be the measure of the day. The KILLER is the phone system. Trying to call in is unbelievable. Spent 15 minutes getting thru the prompts only to have the recording to tell me ‘We can’t take your call at this moment, please try again”. Seriously??? put me on hold… next in line etc. here we are looking at massive tax hikes and we can’t even get courtesy out of these employees. When i worked for a public facility, the director would have fired us on the spot if we let the public even think they might be having a 2 minute wait. Eye contact, tell them you’ll be right with them and offer a comment on sorry they had to wait. You want our votes, then you kick us in the chops.

Summary: Still Bad.
Thinking I might be visiting «O Canada» in the next month or so, I figured I’d give this joint a shot in getting me one of them enhanced licenses. Imagine my surprise when I learned that only «special» (as in special-​ed) DOL locations offer this. Of course! These overworked civil servants can’t possibly handle one more thing on their already overflowing plates, so they’ve shuffled this responsibility to some other, more convenient location, like Renton. Makes sense to me.
In these times of high joblessness, why don’t we just outsource the whole kit ‘n kaboodle to somebody who «gets» the concept of customer service? Probably do one heck of a lot more for a fraction of the cost… Enhanced licenses too!

$ 20 and a day later, I am finally permitted to learn how to drive!
Over all this place is just a-​okay. Just what you’d expect from a DOL, I guess. I kind of wish I had waken up early enough to get there when they opened!
The only pointers I have are these:
Come EARLY in the morning. Not sure if this is always the case, but my wait was definitely better at 9:30am than any later time.
Pass your tests and have all the necessary info the first time around. If that had been the case for me (in terms of passing), I would have been done within about 1.5 hours. Instead I had to wait 4 hours before I could re-​take, and the wait around 2:30pm was about 1.5−2 hours.
Why Bellevue when I live in Seattle? It gave me a chance to visit the ‘rents (extra bonus: free food!) and I wasn’t in the mood to spend my day Downtown.

My experience at Bellevue DOL was AWFUL! Just AWFUL and AWFUL!
I just want to change my CA driver license to WA driver license. My CA driver license is valid until a couple more years later. I went with my husband to DOL and provided them with my medical record as proof of residency. The lady complained the medical record is couple days more than 60 days and said it is a not valid proof. OH well, the website doesn’t mention medical record has to be within 60 days at all! I don’t have a US passport with me, but I have my other form of ID. The lady sent us home and asked me to bring:
1. social security card
2. marriage license
3. my husband’s utility bill
4. my old passport
??? I don’t know what they need them for? I just want to change the driver license to WA while my old license is valid until a couple years later! I waste more than 3 and half hrs to get a temporary license!
Plus, numbers were called very slow and only half of the staffs are
working during lunch time.
In the end, I got my driver license in mail after one month while the lady said within 5 – 10 business day.

i went here in 2007 to get my first full driver’s license. i was in my mid-​twenties at the time. i was full of trepidation after two really obnoxious experiences with licensing offices over on the Seattle side (most notably at the Greenwood office– yuck!)
the staff at this one were, as usual, somewhat taciturn BUT basically polite. in fact, one guy made a joke while helping me and the other guy overheard my need for a driving test and actually cut in and offered to give me one the next available day.
overall, staff here seemed to be happy to be working for the agency and have some general awareness that they were there to help people!
if you are tired of rude or discouraging attempts to set up a driving test appointment or other issues, check in at this location. i think they are probably a cut above.

the doors are a little tricky with this one.anyways.showed up and got a number from the automated number printer. no pens, no information sheets to fill out, no drivers handbooks. numbers were called very slow. people at the desks were rude. when i was able to get information on what exactly i needed for a ID card its been an hour and a half. it wasnt until my 3^rd visit when i actually got the IDcard. it was 15 bucks and they only take cash or checks. what is up with places out here not accepting cards? red mango, bank of america, now this place.
anyways, ill only have to venture into this cubbyhole for licensing when my CA license expires.
theres a neat little deli a few storefronts down with tasty meats and european chocolates* a must visit if youre into «kinder chocolates»