Is Your License Suspended Immediately After a DUI in Florida?

Yes. Your license is suspended immediately after a DUI in Florida — the arresting officer takes your physical license at the scene on behalf of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) and hands you a citation that works as a 10-day temporary driving permit.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.2615 – Suspension of License; Right to Review You can keep driving until midnight on day 10. After that, your driving privilege is gone unless you’ve used those 10 days to act.

What the Officer Does at the Scene

The suspension is triggered by one of two things: a breath or blood sample showing a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher, or a refusal to take the test.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.2615 – Suspension of License; Right to Review Either one is enough. The officer confiscates your license, issues a notice of suspension, and gives you the 10-day permit built into the citation.

This administrative suspension runs through the DHSMV, not the courts. It is independent of the criminal DUI case. Even if the prosecutor later drops the charge, the suspension stays in place unless you successfully challenge it at a DHSMV hearing.

How Long the Suspension Lasts

The length depends on what triggered it and whether you have a prior:

Refusing the test carries a heavier administrative penalty than failing it. A first refusal doubles the suspension of a first failed test, and a second refusal is also charged separately as a first-degree misdemeanor.2Online Sunshine. Florida Code 316.1939 – Refusal to Submit to Testing; Penalties

The 10-Day Window: Two Paths, One Choice

Within 10 days of the arrest, you have to pick one of two paths. Miss the window and you lose both options: the suspension takes effect on day 11, and no hardship license is available until the full suspension period has run.

Path 1: Challenge the Suspension

You request a formal or informal review through the DHSMV Bureau of Administrative Reviews. Filing the request keeps you driving while the review is pending.

A formal hearing lets you subpoena the arresting officer and present witness testimony. You can challenge whether the officer had probable cause for the stop, whether the breath-test equipment was properly maintained and calibrated, and whether procedures were followed. If any of those pieces falls apart, the hearing officer can invalidate the suspension. An informal hearing is a paper review of the officer’s report with no live testimony, which generally favors the state. If you have any real grounds to challenge the stop or the test, the formal hearing is the stronger option.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.2615 – Suspension of License; Right to Review

To request the hearing, you submit DHSMV Form 78065 (Application for Formal/Informal Review) with a $25 filing fee to the Bureau of Administrative Reviews office listed on your citation.3Florida DHSMV. Application for Formal/Informal Review of Driver License Suspension/Disqualification The form and fee both have to arrive within 10 days of your arrest. A postmark on day 10 counts, but cutting it that close is a bad idea.4Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 15A-6.006 – Request for Review

Path 2: Waive the Hearing and Apply for a Hardship License

The second path is to accept the suspension and apply for restricted driving privileges. You give up the right to challenge, but you become eligible for a hardship license after serving a mandatory “hard suspension” during which you cannot drive for any reason:

To qualify, you have to enroll in a DHSMV-approved DUI education course and give the Bureau of Administrative Reviews proof of enrollment.6Florida DHSMV. DUI Frequently Asked Questions The hardship license comes in two forms: a “business purposes only” license covering work, school, church, and medical appointments, and a narrower “employment purposes only” license limited to commuting and on-the-job driving.7FindLaw. Florida Code 322.271 – License; Restrictions The business-purposes version is far more usable day to day.

If you don’t finish the DUI education course within 90 days of getting your hardship license, the DHSMV will cancel it until you complete the class, regardless of what any court order says.7FindLaw. Florida Code 322.271 – License; Restrictions

Which Path Makes Sense

The two options are mutually exclusive inside the 10-day window. Requesting the hearing preserves your ability to fight the suspension and keeps you driving in the meantime; waiving it gets you onto the hardship track sooner but ends the fight before it starts. If you lose the hearing, you can generally still apply for a hardship license afterward, but the overall timeline stretches out.

The choice usually turns on whether there is a real weakness in the case: a questionable stop, a testing issue, a procedural gap. If there is, the hearing is worth requesting. If there isn’t, the hardship path gets you back on the road faster.

The Criminal Case Is Separate

The administrative suspension at arrest is only one piece of what a DUI produces in Florida. A criminal conviction later brings its own court-ordered license revocation on top of the DHSMV action, and the two can stack. A first conviction carries a revocation of 180 days to 1 year; a second within five years jumps to at least 5 years; a third within 10 years is at least 10 years; a fourth is permanent.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 322.28 – Period of Suspension or Revocation Nothing about beating, accepting, or waiving the administrative suspension controls what the court does in the criminal case, and nothing you do in criminal court retroactively erases the administrative suspension. They run on their own tracks.

The practical takeaway is timing. The administrative clock started running the moment you were arrested. The criminal case will unfold over weeks or months. Your driving in the next 10 days depends entirely on the administrative side, so that is where the immediate decision sits.