The DUI Offender’s Florida Identification Card

After a DUI arrest, the arresting officer will seize your driver’s license if:

• your BAC is over the legal limit of .08 (DUBAL); or
• you refused a breath, blood, or urine test.

When the arresting officer keeps your driver’s license, you might leave the jail with a “DUI Uniform Traffic Citation (UTC)” that explains your Florida driver’s license was administratively suspended for 6-18 month and how to contact the administrative suspension by demanding a formal review hearing within ten (10) days. If the applicable box is marked on the DUI UTC, the citation itself acts as 10-day temporary driving permit which gives you time to decide whether you should request a formal review hearing.

If you leave the jail without your driver’s license, how do you survive without a REAL ID-compliant, government-issued photo ID? That type of ID is required for legal identification, banking, and travel when driving privileges are suspended. Obviously, if you have a valid passport, you can use that passport as your identification until your full driving privileges are reinstated.

If you don’t have a passport, then you might need the DHSMV to issue some type of plastic identification card. How you make that request depends on whether you are contesting the administrative suspension or waiving that right.

If you are waiving your right to contest the administrative suspension, you might eligible to obtain an immediate plastic hardship license. If so, won’t need and should not obtain a separate ID card.

On the other hand, if you demand a formal review hearing to contest the administrative suspension, you can obtain a obtain a 42 day paper permit to drive for hardship purposes (such as driving to work, school and church). But that paper 42-day permit is not a valid ID. For that reason, you might need to apply for a Florida Identification Card at a Tax Collector or FLHSMV office by bringing documents proving identity, Social Security number, and address.

You cannot hold both a valid license and an ID card. However, obtaining a Florida Identification Card will not interfere with your temporary paper 42-day permit.

Because the best course of action depends on different variables, we wrote this article to explain how the DUI offender obtains a valid identification card after a DUI arrest.

Option 1 – Request a Formal Review Hearing

We recommend hiring an attorney within ten (10) days of the arrest to demand a formal review hearing or do that pro se (by yourself without an attorney). If you hire us in your DUI case, we can demand the formal review hearing and obtain your 42-day paper permit from the DHSMV (if you are eligible).

That 42-day permit allows our clients to drive for hardship purposes to work, school and church, while we are waiting to challenge the administrative suspension at the formal review hearing. Our clients are automatically eligible for the 42-day paper permit as long as the ONLY reason the driving privileges are suspended is because of the administrative suspension.

For those clients, they can treat the 42 day paper permit as their “driver’s license” for purposes of driving for hardship reasons, but they still need a valid ID. If they don’t have a passport, we recommend that they go to the DHSMV to obtain the Florida Identification Card.

If our client wins the the formal review hearing, the administrative suspension comes off their driving record as if it never happened. Then our client can obtain a duplicate license for $25 (after the administrative suspension is removed). If the administrative suspension is not set aside after the formal review hearing, our client needs to obtain a plastic hardship license after the 30 or 90 day hard suspension period (if otherwise eligible).

Not everyone is eligible for a hardship license. For example, having two prior administrative suspensions for refusal, or two prior DUI convictions on your driving record means that you will never be eligible to obtain a plastic hardship license (although you might still be eligible for a 42-day permit if you demand a formal review hearing).

Option 2 – Request a Waiver Review Hearing

If you decide not to contest the administrative suspension, then you can requesting a “waiver review hearing.” This hearing helps the DHSMV determine your eligibility for the immediate reinstatement of your hardship driving privileges. To be eligible, this must be a first DUI offense (meaning you have never before suffered any other DUI-related suspension or revocation in your lifetime).

To request the “waiver review hearing,” you must submit the following to the Bureau of Administrative Reviews (BAR) office within 10 days of your arrest:

• Form 72034;
• proof of DUI school enrollment;
• a $25.00 filing fee via check or money order made payable to the Division of Motorist Services with this Application.

By doing so, your forever waive your right to challenge the administrative suspension, which then remains on your driving record for the next seventy-five (75) years.

Option 3 – Wait Out the Suspension Period

If you do nothing to protect your driving privileges, you can wait out the suspension period. In that case, you can still obtain the ID card at the DHSMV. You will not be to drive in Florida for any reason while the 6-18 month administrative suspension is pending. After that administrative suspension is over (and assuming no court ordered suspension is in effect), you will need to:

• Provide proof of enrollment or completion of DUI School effective after your offense date that will be scanned and subject to verification.
• You must present documents that establish your identity pursuant to the Real ID Act (i.e. birth certificate, U.S. passport, USCIS [INS] documents*, proof of name change[s], Social Security Card, and 2 proofs of residential address) unless you have already been issued a Real ID compliant Florida Driver License or ID card and no changes are required.
• Non-US citizens must have at least 61 days remaining on their legal presence documentation.
• For a complete list of acceptable documents, visit flhsmv.gov/what-to-bring/.
• An Online Application is REQUIRED for all transactions.
• Complete the Online Driver License & ID Card Application (https://taxcollector.jotform.com/210103795736152) – or scan the QR code to access the application – prior to your appointment.
• Do not print the application because an associate will access your electronic submission during your appointment.
• Applications are valid for 90 days.

Additional Resources

Obtaining the DUI Offender ID Card in Manatee County, FL – Visit the official website of the Manatee County Tax Collector’s office to learn more about the Administrative Suspension for DUBAL or Refusal (21 and Older). For residents of Manatee County, FL, the transaction must be processed by appointment at the driver license branch located at 904 301 BLVD W, BRADENTON. The tax collector charges a $6.25 service fee for information and processing, and additional transaction fees may apply. This webpage explains why an automatic on-the-spot administrative suspension is placed on the driving record (per F.S. 322.2615), if the arresting officer determined:

• You agreed to submit to a chemical test and the results indicated you were above the legal limit (.08 or higher). Depending on whether it’s your first, second or subsequent offense, the suspension period can be 6 months to 1 year.
• You refused to submit to a test of your breath, blood, or urine. Depending on whether it’s your first, second or subsequent offense, the suspension period can be 1 year to 18 months.

This article also explains the three options when you have an administrative suspension on your record after a DUI arrest. If you are not a Manatee County Resident, the article explains why you must visit your home county for information and processing. To find a location, visit flhsmv.gov/locations.

This article was last updated on Friday, May 8, 2026.