Why it might take longer to get your car registration from the SCDMV

South Carolina drivers /residents are facing severe delays in their vehicle registration process. The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles has been facing problems with its contracted paper vendor. It is taking longer than usual weeks to process new car registration applications.

Residents whose vehicles' expiration date has neared and yet to submit a renewal application to the DMV might be waiting an additional week before getting their stickers in the mail.

A statement issued on Sept 9 by SCDMV Director Kevin Shwedo states that there has been a supply chain issue regarding the type of paper for printing vehicle registrations and license plate decals from the contracted vendor.

“We’ve been in constant communication with our contracted vendor, but with an extremely limited amount of companies that offer this product, we've been forced to slow production of registration cards until we can get the next shipment delivered," SCDMV Director Shwedo said.

In the meantime, even if the registration hasn't been issued yet, law enforcement officials can check the SCDMV's record database to determine whether or not a customer's registration is current, according to a DMV news release.

Even though they anticipate that the backlog will be addressed by the middle of October, the SCDMV recommends consumers wait until the new registration comes on their paid property tax receipts.

Residents won't need to ask for duplicates of registrations because they will instantly be mailed out once the paper is in supply.

"We greatly appreciate everyone's patience as we quickly close the gap caused by this supply-chain issue," Shwedo said.