Saturday was a day to pack your patience at the DMV.

“It sounds like it’s kind of chaos, I imagine all over the country with people having this deadline,” declares Bob Ganser, from St. Paul.

He’s talking about the May 7 Real ID deadline.

Starting next Wednesday, if you don’t have a Real ID or a passport, you won’t be able to fly within the U.S. or enter certain federal buildings.  

The Department of Public Safety says only about 40% of Minnesotans currently have a Real ID — a state-issued license with a star in the corner created to meet post-9/11 security rules.

“Sure, if that makes us safer,” notes Stephanie Snyder, also from St. Paul. “But certainly, it creates difficulties for some people.”

Among those difficulties are jam-packed license bureaus and long waits.

“We were like the 300th person in line,” explains Natalie Velez, from Minneapolis.

Velez and her friend Lewis McCaleb waited first at the Transfer Road license bureau in St. Paul, then switched over to the Johnson Parkway location.

“But it was still a lot of people,” she says. “We’ve been here since 11 a.m. and now it’s like 3:30 p.m.”

Moments later, McCaleb came out with his Real ID paper document in hand, which is good until he gets his permanent plastic one.

“They said it’s going to take a couple of months to come,” he says. “But you know what, we got it done and I’m relieved, I can travel now, and I’m just excited about it.”

KSTP reported in April that in Woodbury, wait times were up to four hours.

A Washington County spokesperson says staffing and operations are being adjusted to hopefully speed things up.

“It’s 2025, there’s no reason that it should be this backed up,” declared Nayelli Acevedo, from Fridley, who waited in line in New Brighton before trying her luck at the Johnson Parkway location. “It was packed. People were waiting outside the building and everything.”

The Department of Public Safety says if you’re trying to get a Real ID, you can save time by pre-applying online.

But for the next step, you’ll have to appear in person at a license branch with all the required documents.

Still, some folks think getting a number to wait in line, sometimes for hours, is a bit too old school.

“I know you can fill out the application online to kind of speed up the process,” Velez notes. “Or allow for computers, so people can upload their documents, and by the time they get up there to take their picture, then that’s all they have to do.”

Experts say if you don’t have an urgent need to fly or have a passport, it might be a good idea to wait until after the Wednesday deadline, when lines will likely be much shorter.

Ganser, who waited in line for two hours Saturday at the Transfer Road license bureau, says he isn’t taking any chances.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS asked him if the wait is worth it.

“I guess I don’t think about that a ton, other than I need to have it,” Ganser declares. “I have a passport, but I’m hearing every time I fly that I’ve got to have this, and I fly for work.”