Time to update your MVD photo

If you are new to Arizona, or just new to driving, you may not know that the standard Arizona driver license expires when you turn 65. That means a driver license issued today to someone 21 years old could be good until September 2070!

However, we think most people should choose the Arizona Travel ID and many Arizonans have switched to the federally compliant Arizona Travel ID that will satisfy TSA ID requirements at domestic airports, which the standard driver license does not. Nearly half of all credentials in Arizona are now federally compliant, Arizona Travel IDs. 

If you have the standard driver license, it may be several decades before you need to stop by an MVD or Authorized Third Party location to renew it, but there is a little-known requirement that you must update your driver license photo to better match how you currently look. 

That’s right, the same statute that determines the expiration of the license, A.R.S. 28-3173, now requires your photo to be updated every 16 years. 

For those of you that have a photo that is 16 or more years old, clearly you have not visited the MVD lately. Well, things have changed since your last visit. The average wait time in an MVD office is less than 15 minutes. 

You can walk into an MVD office, or you can schedule an appointment for a convenient time in your schedule by visiting azmvdnow.gov. Even if you haven’t activated your AZ MVD NOW account, you can still schedule an appointment. 

Arizona Travel ID holders will need to update their photo when the license is renewed a second time. Standard license or ID holders with an old photo may receive a letter in the mail explaining it is time for a new picture.

ADOT MVD strives to reduce your experience time in our offices, but showing up ‘photo ready’ for a new photo every decade or so should be worth 15 minutes.