Get Your License Reinstated After A DUI Offense

IMPORTANT: If you’ve recently been arrested for a DUI in Florida the first 10 days are vital in keeping your driver’s license. Contact Attorney Michael Kessler today to start the ball rolling in your defense before it’s too late. (772) 466-4900

If you refused to submit to the requested chemical test after your arrest, your privilege to drive in Florida will have been suspended for a period of one year for a first refusal, and eighteen months if this refusal was your second or subsequent refusal.

Your DUI-DWI defender might succeed in having this suspension set aside during the Administrative Hearing process.

If not, under some circumstances, you may qualify for a hardship license, or a restricted driving permit, such as a business purposes license, sometimes called a work permit.

The two preceding sections pertain to state action which takes your license AFTER losing your DUI-DWI case.

You should ask the DUI attorney handling your case regarding your state’s rules on license reinstatement and limited permits to drive following an administrative “taking” of your license.

Can you just obtain a license in another state if you had a DUI in Florida?

No. Once your license is physically taken from you as a part of the DUI-DWI arrest process, an administrative license suspension (or revocation) action is started against your license.

If any other state licensing office contacts Florida, a “block” will be in place informing the other state that you have a pending license suspension or revocation preceding that is unresolved.

As a prerequisite for getting a driver’s license in most states, you must not have your current license suspended or revoked in any other state.

Since the state’s form is a type of affidavit, falsifying such reports can trigger additional license loss or criminal penalties.

You may also lose your driver’s license in your state for alcohol or drug offenses which you commit in another state.

Can you drive on an “international” license here in the USA under Florida DUI laws?

If you are from another country and have a legitimate foreign license with an “international” license, you should be able to drive anywhere in the United States.

If you get your driving privileges suspended or revoked in Florida because of a DWI arrest, that would change.

An international license is NOT a standard license. It is merely a translation of your license from one language to the language of the nation where you will be visiting.

You can drive in the United States with this license if you don’t have a suspended state license from any jurisdiction in the United States.

Florida will not allow you to drive on their roads if your license is suspended or revoked in any other state.

Having an international license does not overcome this restriction. International driver’s licenses are a type of scam to take desperate people’s money.

Once you are permitted to drive again after your DUI, will things be back to normal?

In Florida, even for a first offense, there is a mandatory suspension of your driver’s license.

After the suspension or revocation period is over, you can take the necessary steps set forth by your state’s law to get your FULL license returned to you.

Then, no restrictions on location and time of day for your driving remain.

Please note, however, that your license will not automatically be reinstated once the suspension or revocation period has elapsed.

It will be necessary for you to apply and pay a reinstatement fee in order to get your license back.

If you fail to take this step, your Florida driver’s license will remain under suspension indefinitely, and it will remain a criminal offense for you to drive.

Although getting reinstated after a first offense is relatively painless, the opposite is typically true for second (or subsequent) offenses.

Florida has a five year “look back” for prior offenses, for determining when you will be put through the ringer in trying to regain your full driving privileges.