How to renew a Florida driver license: MyDMV Portal or in person

When you can renew a Florida driver license online through the MyDMV Portal, when you must visit a driver license service center, and which documents to bring for a REAL ID-compliant card.

Guide · Florida · Driver licenses · Renewals · updated October 29, 2026

Florida driver licenses are handled by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV). A Florida license has to be renewed every eight years, and the expiration date is printed on the card. Depending on your situation, you can renew online through the MyDMV Portal or you must visit a driver license service center. This guide explains how to tell which applies and how to prepare.

Step 1: Check when you can renew

FLHSMV lets you renew a driver license as early as 18 months before its expiration date. (For a Florida ID card, the early window is 12 months.) You do not have to wait for the last few weeks before expiration, which gives you room to plan an office visit if you need one.

Step 2: Find out if you can renew online

Florida offers what it calls online convenience renewal through the MyDMV Portal, but only every other renewal period. In practice that means if you renewed online last time, this renewal has to be done in person. The MyDMV Portal itself tells you whether you qualify.

You must go to a driver license service center in person if any of these apply to you:

• You used the online convenience renewal last time.
• Your license is not REAL ID compliant.
• You want a new photo.
• You are changing your name using a court order or marriage certificate.
• You want to add or remove a designation, or a court order requires your record to be updated.
• You are getting a Florida driver license or ID card for the first time.
• You hold a commercial driver license.
• Your license has the word "TEMPORARY" printed on it.

How to tell if your license is REAL ID compliant

FLHSMV explains that REAL ID-compliant Florida cards have a star in the upper right corner. If your current card expires and does not have that star, FLHSMV says you must visit an office with the required documents.

Step 3: Renewing on the MyDMV Portal

If you are eligible, the online renewal works like this:

1. Go to the MyDMV Portal, which tells you whether you are eligible for online renewal.
2. FLHSMV has to verify your Social Security number. If it cannot, you will need to sort out the record with the Social Security Administration before you can complete the renewal.
3. Pay the renewal fee. FLHSMV adds a $2.00 processing fee to the online transaction total. The renewal fee itself is listed on FLHSMV's fees page, not on the renewal page, so check the current amount there.
4. If you want an emailed receipt, choose "yes" on the payment confirmation page, enter your email address, and send the confirmation.
5. Watch your mail. FLHSMV says a credential renewed on the MyDMV Portal should arrive by mail within 2–3 weeks of the transaction.

The portal can also be used to update your address or to replace a lost or stolen license.

Step 4: Renewing in person

You can renew at any driver license service center in Florida; FLHSMV keeps a list of locations on its website, and its "Make an Appointment" link leads to that locations page, so check the office you plan to use before you go.

What to bring for a REAL ID-compliant license

If you are a U.S. citizen and FLHSMV does not yet have your documents on file, bring documents that prove your identity, your Social Security number and your residential address. FLHSMV asks for an original of the identity document and of the Social Security document.

One proof of identity showing your full name, such as:

• A U.S. birth certificate (FLHSMV does not accept hospital-issued birth certificates)
• A valid U.S. passport or passport card
• A Consular Report of Birth Abroad
• A Certificate of Naturalization (form N-550 or N-570)
• A Certificate of Citizenship (form N-560 or N-561)

One proof of your Social Security number showing your full name and full number, such as:

• Your Social Security card
• A W-2 form that is not handwritten
• A pay stub
• An SSA-1099, or any other 1099 that is not handwritten

Two different proofs of your Florida residential address, such as:

• A deed, mortgage, monthly mortgage statement, or residential lease
• A Florida voter registration card
• A valid Florida vehicle registration or title
• A utility bill (for example water, gas, electricity, cell phone or cable) dated within the last 60 days

Printouts are acceptable for address proofs, but your current driver license or ID card does not count as one. FLHSMV notes that several other address documents on its list must also be dated within the last 60 days, so check the full list on its U.S. Citizen page.

FLHSMV also says that once you have provided these identity documents, you only need to bring them again if your information changes, for example your name or residential address.

If your name has changed

Update your name with the Social Security Administration first; FLHSMV requires that before it will change the name on your credential. Then bring the original or a certified copy of the marriage certificate, divorce decree or court order; FLHSMV does not accept photocopies of these. It also does not accept marriage certificates issued by a church.

Your documents must show how your birth name became your current name. If you changed names more than once and your most recent document shows both your birth name and your current name, that one document is enough. If it does not, bring every document that links your birth name to your current name.

Related deadlines

• Moving: Florida license holders have 30 days to update the address on their credential.
• Lost or stolen card: You can replace a license before it expires, including online through the MyDMV Portal.

Quick decision summary

• Last renewal done in person, card already has the REAL ID star, no name or photo change, not a CDL: you can likely renew on the MyDMV Portal.
• Renewed online last time, no star on your card, name change, new photo, CDL or "TEMPORARY" license: plan an in-person visit with the documents above.