Florida resident ID for non-US citizen

[SusanDK]

I thought I'd post in the UK area to see if anyone here can help with this issue. I know many UK people own property in the WDW area, and wondered if you had any advice for getting a Florida ID.

My husband (Danish citizen) and I (U.S. citizen) purchased a second home in Florida earlier this year. When we went to get our Florida ID's, mine was issued on-the-spot with no problem.

However, for my husband, they said they would have to take his application and send it off for processing, and he should have it back in a month. Also, they stated it would only be valid for the period of his visa, which is 90 days each time we enter the U.S. (we go 2 or 3 times a year for less than 90 days each time, so he enters under the visa waiver program).

Disney will not let us purchase a resident annual pass without the actual ID, and by the time he gets an ID issued, we won't be in town, and it will be expired by the next time we re-enter the U.S.

I'm just wondering if anyone has had success in getting a Florida ID issued immediately for a non-US citizen. We have utility bills with his name on them and our Florida address that prove he is a Florida property owner.

Has anyone else managed to tackle this issue, at least just to get a Florida ID for purposes of resident rate Disney passes?

Susan

 

[stubb]

hi susan

we were completing on the purchase of our condo and had paperwork with the address- we just went to the window at epcot and she let us have the florida residents rate for all 5 of us. Not sure wether we should have got it but the day we went it was very quiet and we made the kids sit out of the way! that was on 15 dec last year we are all uk residents so you could try taking a utility bill with you.

michelle

 

[SusanDK]

Hi Michelle,

Wow, from everything I've heard, I think you were incredibly lucky! I've been told that one must have the Florida ID, or driver's license, or voter registration, or military ID and nothing else.

When we were at DTD Guest Relations attempting to purchase resident passes this summer with my Florida ID and utility bills to support my husband's, we spoke at length with the CM (there was no queue) who told us it was totally impossible for them to do it for my husband because they actually scan the ID into their system in order to issue the annual resident pass, so they must have one of those official docs.

He made it sound like even if they wanted to be lenient and accept our proof, the system made it impossible. I don't know if this is a change this year.

Susan

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Can you not noe get a florida drivers license?
you used to be able to do so...

 

[nowellsl]

I read somewhere (probably on this board) that you can no longer use a utility bill as proof of FL residency.

 

[SusanDK]

Can you not noe get a florida drivers license?
you used to be able to do so...

That was what we originally went to the motor vehicle office to do. It became terribly complicated. They will not accept our Danish driver's licenses and require that we take full written and driving tests to apply for Florida licenses. We were told to set aside a whole day to do this. Then, they would only issue my husband's for as long as he had a visa, which is 90 days each time he comes into the U.S.

Every time he comes in, he would have to renew and pay the driver's license fee again.

That's why we decided to go the Florida ID route instead of driver's licenses. But they won't issue his on site. They say they have to send it off to another office, who presumably run some sort of check on him, and that we'll get it in a month or so, and it will only be valid until the end of the 90-day visa period.

Susan

 

[Tron[ADS]]

I always thought that marrying a US citizen effectivley made you a citizen yourself, with working rights.

I am basing this on an episode of Benson, where Gretchen Kraus was going to have to marry Benson to stay, but ended up passing her citizenship exam.

So Im probably out of date.

 

[SusanDK]

I always thought that marrying a US citizen effectivley made you a citizen yourself, with working rights.

I am basing this on an episode of Benson, where Gretchen Kraus was going to have to marry Benson to stay, but ended up passing her citizenship exam.

So Im probably out of date.

No, it doesn't give you anything automatically. But it certainly makes the non-U.S. citizen eligible for a visa, green card, etc. by being married to a U.S. citizen. One still has to apply and go through the process.

It's not a problem of what he is eligible for, it's the timing and bureaucracy of the whole process. A real catch-22. They will allow him to apply for the Florida ID and will no doubt give it to him, but it will take a month and only be good for 90 days at a time. Disney will not let him purchase a resident pass until he has physical possession of the ID.

I know there are a lot of UK condo/home owners and other property owners in Florida from outside the U.S., so I thought maybe someone had managed to work this out.

Susan