License Qualifications & Application

The DFS will not license anyone untrustworthy or incompetent. An applicant must be: a natural person at least 18; a U.S. citizen or legal alien with work authorization AND a bona fide Florida resident; NOT an employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or a state service office; NOT a funeral director or direct disposer (or employee/representative of either); must pass any required state exam; and must be qualified by knowledge, experience, or instruction. The written application is made under oath, signed by the applicant (a third party may complete it, but the applicant remains accountable for misstatements), and accompanied by fees and a set of fingerprints — which go to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI for a background check.

Eighteen, resident, honest, fingerprinted — and personally on the hook for every answer on the application, even if someone else typed it.