Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (DMV/RMV) Customer Service

When calling the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division's Phoenix offices, rather than selecting a type of help, you're quickly told that you'll be provided with Level One assistance for as long as it's appropriate. Should your call need more specific instructions, you'll be upgraded to Level Two assistance and transferred to the appropriate person.

Level One assistance offers help with general questions, which appears to make sense as a starting ground for MVD-related questions. I expected that I might have a lengthy wait, given the lack of a specific menu, but I was quickly connected with a representative and had a total wait of less than five minutes.

When I got connected to a representative, I was thanked for holding and asked how she could assist me. I informed her that I would be moving to Arizona in the next few weeks and wanted to know how long I had to obtain a new license. She said that I would have 30 days to get my new license, and I would need to bring either my birth certificate or passport, as well as my out-of-state driver's license. I would also have to provide my Social Security number, and if I wanted to get a Real ID-compliant license, I would need to bring in two pieces of mail to establish my Arizona residency.

I then asked how much I could expect to pay, and she said the cost was a flat $25 regardless of my age. She said the only difference in my license options would be if I wanted the Real ID option or not, and if I did, I would need to have the required pieces of mail. I asked her what qualified as mail for those purposes, and she told me anything with my name and address, such as a utility bill, cable bill or leasing document, would work. I thanked her for helping me, and she wished me a nice day.

Overall, I thought this system of passing callers off to the first Level One representative made for a good experience. By doing it this way instead of segmenting calls, the Arizona MVD ensures that every representative gets experience in providing basic help, and more experienced representatives who are needed for tougher concerns don't get tied down with easy calls. In turn, that helps cut down on wait time for customers, as most questions appear to be manageable for the Level One staffers.

Having a lack of a menu can be a bit jarring, but doing it this way makes a lot of sense. I had a good experience and had no issues getting my questions answered in a professional and helpful manner. If I actually needed assistance from the Arizona MVD, I'd have no hesitation calling in for help with either a Level One or Level Two concern, as it's clear the staff knows what it's doing.