I renewed my Florida’s driver’s license online during COVID. Can I do it again next time?

Do you need to renew your Florida driver’s license but don’t want to wait in line at the DMV?

You can do it by mail or online at GoRenew.com, which can be convenient during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you’ve renewed your license online before, you might think you can never do it again. After all, until April, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website described the digital renewal as a “one-time online convenience.”

But that’s not the case anymore.

The website was updated in early April, following a Miami Herald inquiry, to clarify that online renewals can be done “every other renewal period.” And yes, there’s a pit stop at the DMV along the way.

Here’s what to know:

How many times can you renew your Florida driver’s license online?

People under 80 need to renew their Florida Class E driver license every eight years. People 80 and older must renew their license every six years and pass an eye exam.

If you opt to renew your license online or by mail, you’ll have to visit the DMV for your next renewal. Then you’ll be eligible to renew online or by mail next time.

In other words, people up to age 79 can renew their license online or by mail every 16 years, according to the department. For people 80 and older, it’s every 12 years.

Here’s an example: If you renew online in 2021 and then in-person in 2029, you’ll be able to renew online again in 2037. This is if you’re under 80.

Remember, your driver’s license is a photo ID, and appearances can change through the years. When you renew online or by mail, the same photo is used. When you renew in person at the DMV, a new photo is taken.

There are also some restrictions on who is eligible to renew online or by mail. Drivers are required to visit a DMV to renew if they want to update the photo, change a name either with a court order or marriage certificate, or are not REAL ID compliant.

TIP: If your license has a star in the upper right corner, you’re REAL ID compliant.

To check your eligibility status, visit https://services.flhsmv.gov/DLCheck/

This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 11:12 AM.

Michelle Marchante

Miami Herald

305-376-2708

Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.  Support my work with a digital subscription