Question: My Hawaii driver’s license expired Nov. 1, 2020, which was during the COVID-19 emergency period when the governor waived expiration. However, I was unable to renew my license before the waiver ended on Nov. 30, 2021. Am I going to have to start over and take the written test and road test to get a license?
Answer: No, not if you renew your license before Nov. 30, 2022, according to Hawaii’s Department of Transportation.
Hawaii driver’s licenses can be reactivated (renewed) within a year of expiration without another written or road test. For Hawaii driver’s licenses that expired during the emergency waiver period (March 16, 2020 through Nov. 30, 2021) and haven’t yet been renewed, the one-year reactivation (renewal) period will be calculated from the end of the waiver period, the DOT says.
If you hurry, you’ll also be able to avoid extra fees for late renewal, which are waived for 90 days past expiration, which in your case will be calculated from Nov. 30, 2021, not Nov. 1, 2020, as your license states. Make a renewal appointment at alohaq.honolulu.gov.
To be clear, the Nov. 30, 2021, date will not be used to calculate the duration of your license when you renew. Your renewal will be calculated from the expiration date stated on your license.
Q: I heard on the radio there would be a passport fair on Monday. Is that for renewals too?
A: No, it’s for new U.S. passports only, a spokesman said. The passport fair scheduled for Monday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hauula Post Office is the first in Hawaii on a federal holiday (Monday is Presidents Day), according to a news release from the U.S. Postal Service.
Advance registration is required, which can be done by emailing Hawaii PassportFair@state.gov. Walk-in customers with completed paperwork will be served only if the 100 appointment slots don’t fill up, and as time permits, the release said.
Applicants should fill out (but not sign) their DS-11 application form in advance, and bring it to the event, along with their passport photo, identity documents and fee. The fee can be paid by debit card, personal check or cash, the news release said.
To download forms and get details about fees and identity documents, go to travel.state.gov. People without internet access may call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778.
As for passport renewals, most adults with a 10-year U.S. passport can renew by mail. Details are on the website.
Q: If Safe Travels is not lifted by the time we return to Hawaii in June, will we be able to get our daughter tested after we land? She will be 5 by then but will only have her first shot, so won’t qualify for the vaccine exception.
A: No, not as Safe Travels stands now. If a domestic airline passenger wants to use a COVID-19 test to avoid quarantine upon arrival, the negative test result must be received before boarding the flight to Hawaii; there is no post-arrival testing option to avoid quarantine. Also, the test must be of a certain type from an approved provider. See details at hawaiicovid19.com/travel. You are correct that partial vaccination does not qualify for the vaccine exception to quarantine. In a two-dose series, the passenger must have received the second dose at least two weeks before the Hawaii flight to qualify for the vaccine exception. Safe Travels applies to domestic passengers age 5 and up.
Mahalo
We want to send a big mahalo to the beautiful young traveling nurse from Georgia. We’re sorry we didn’t get her name. The young woman blessed my husband and me by generously paying for our dinner at CPK Kahala. Mahalo and we hope to meet again. — Grateful kamaaina
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
