Three hours is probably not long enough for records to have become updated. The smog station which inspected your vehicle, electronically sent the smog check results to the DMV. Even though the transmission is in real-time, it usually take the DMV 24 hours to propagate the information and post the smog check results to your vehicle's registration record. For this reason, it's best to wait a day after your smog test to complete the renewal online. If your hitting the registration deadline and need fees posted ASAP, using a service like
NeedTags.com is great. They will send fees to the DMV regardless of your smog check status; helping avoid late fees, and then soon as your smog check is results are posted, they'll finish up the renewal and send you your new registration; in 3 days instead of 3 weeks.
