How do I get a Florida ID card?

Anyone 5 or older can get one. The card is good for 8 years at 15 and older and 4 years for ages 5 to 14. Florida law bars holding both an ID card and a driver license, so you turn in any license or ID card from any state unless it was lost or stolen.

For a U.S. citizen, proof of identity is one original document: a U.S. birth certificate (a hospital birth certificate is not accepted), a valid U.S. passport or passport card, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or a certificate of naturalization or citizenship. For your Social Security number, bring the card, a W-2, a pay stub or a 1099. For your address, bring two different documents, such as a lease, a utility bill or a Florida voter registration card. If your name has changed, bring the original or a certified copy of the marriage certificate, divorce decree or court order. Photocopies are not accepted. Immigrants, non-immigrants and Canadians have their own document checklists.

The state fee is $25; a county tax collector's office adds a $6.25 service fee, for $31.25 in all. Homeless people pay no state fee with a shelter or halfway house letter dated within 90 days. Honorably discharged veterans rated 100 percent service-connected, permanent and total disabled pay no ID card fees with a card or letter saying so from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, whose benefits line is 1-800-827-1000, weekdays 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issues ID cards and answers questions at (850) 617-2000, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time.

Where to go from here.