Frequently Asked Questions

Florida offers a wide variety of specialty license plates that allow drivers to support various causes or organizations while displaying unique designs on their vehicles. These specialty plates often feature symbols, logos, or designs associated with the cause they represent. Some examples of Florida specialty license plates include those supporting environmental conservation, universities, sports teams, military branches, and various charitable organizations. Each plate typically has an associated fee, part of which goes towards funding the cause or organization it represents.

There are differences between a Specialty License Plate and a Personalized License Plate:

1. Specialty Florida License Plate:
   • A Specialty Florida License Plate features a unique design or emblem associated with a specific cause, organization, or theme.
   • These plates are available for purchase by any vehicle owner who wishes to support the cause or organization represented by the plate.
   • Specialty plates often require an additional fee, part of which goes towards funding the cause or organization they represent.
   • The design of a specialty plate is predetermined and cannot be customized by the individual vehicle owner. They can choose from the available selection of specialty plates offered by the state.
2. Personalized Florida License Plate:
   • A Personalized Florida License Plate allows the vehicle owner to customize the alphanumeric characters on the plate according to their preferences.
   • Vehicle owners can choose specific letters, numbers, or a combination thereof to create a personalized message, such as their name, initials, a meaningful phrase, or a combination of characters.
   • There are guidelines and restrictions regarding the characters that can be used on personalized plates in Florida, including limits on the number of characters, restrictions on certain symbols or special characters, and prohibitions on offensive or inappropriate language.
   • Personalized plates require an additional fee beyond the standard vehicle registration fee in Florida.

Standard Specialty License Plates are processed on a first come first serve basis. Most License Plate purchases are processed within 3-5 business days of being received within our system. Once the License Plate purchase has been processed it will be shipped to the customer within 1 business day. Transit times during shipping rely solely on the shipping company and its policies.

Personalized Standard and Specialty License Plates are processed on a first come first serve basis. All personalized License Plates take anywhere from 60-90 days for processing and manufacturing. All Personalized License Plates are manufactured at a State owned and operated facility. Due to this, we have no control of manufacturing times nor can we offer rush services on this type of plate. Once the plate is received by our office it is attached to the customer’s vehicle in the DHSMV system and then promptly shipped out to the customer within 1 business day.

A “pending dealer transaction” typically refers to a vehicle registration or title transfer that is in process but has not yet been completed by the dealer.

This status usually indicates that a vehicle purchase has been initiated at a dealership, and the necessary paperwork for registration or title transfer is being processed by the dealer on behalf of the buyer. It could involve various steps such as completing the necessary forms, submitting required documents to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), and paying applicable fees. During this time we are not able to modify any License Plates attached to the vehicle when it has a Pending Dealer Transaction hold.

Dealerships have up to 45 days to complete the vehicle transfer within the state system, once they compete this the hold is lifted and we can change your License Plate. If you have already placed an order with us then we will continually check on your vehicle record daily until this hold is lifted at which time we will process, and ship out your plate.

The simple answer is YES. You will receive a new Vehicle Registration that matches the new License Plate information.

Purchasing a new License Plate does not automatically renew your Vehicle Registration. If you would like to renew your Registration you may contact our offices via phone to do so.

This is a common question and the answer is quite simple. You may destroy or dispose of your license plate in any safe manner that you choose. You can also keep it for a keep sake or decoration! Once it has been replaced with one of the hundreds of specialty license plates to choose from it is no longer active.

Chapter 320.08058, Florida Statutes, provides direction to the department regarding the distribution of specialty license plate funds. The department provides a Monthly Revenue Collections Report with additional information.

The purpose of specialty license plates is to raise funds for a particular cause. The use of a specialty license plate is a completely voluntary purchase and can be surrendered at any time. All Specialty License Plates have a yearly fee associated with them. These fees vary from 25-50 dollars per year.

No, you cannot order the old designs of the Specialty License Plates. The only designs that are available for purchase are the ones shown on our site.