Florida Concealed Weapon or Firearm License (CWFL) - Fees & Costs

Bottom Line

The Florida CWFL fee structure is set by statute, not by FDACS rule. Under Fla. Stat. § 790.06(5)(b), the application fee is capped at $55 for an original license and $45 for a renewal, plus the cost of fingerprint processing borne by the applicant. The current fingerprint-processing fee charged by FDACS is $42. There is no senior-citizen discount in chapter 790 - Florida law does not reduce the application or renewal fee on the basis of age. Active-duty servicemembers, honorably discharged veterans, and certain law-enforcement applicants receive expedited processing under § 790.06(5)(f) and § 790.06(6)(f), but not a fee waiver - they pay the full statutory fee. Tax collectors authorized to accept CWFL applications under § 790.0625 may add a separate convenience fee for the in-person fingerprint capture and document review service (typically $5-$10). Outside the FDACS-collected fees, the applicant must pay the cost of the qualifying firearms course required under § 790.06(2)(h), which is set by the instructor. A realistic out-of-pocket total for a new Florida CWFL - combining the $55 license fee, the $42 fingerprint fee, and a typical $50-$150 instructor course - runs roughly $147 to $247, before any range time, ammunition, or tax-collector convenience fee.

Statutory Fee Caps Under § 790.06(5)(b)

Fla. Stat. § 790.06(5)(b) sets out the schedule directly: "The applicant shall submit ... a nonrefundable license fee of not more than $55 if he or she has not previously been issued a statewide license or a nonrefundable license fee of not more than $45 for renewal of a statewide license. Costs for processing the set of fingerprints as required in paragraph (a) shall be borne by the applicant."

Two features of this provision are worth noting. First, the fee is denominated as a statutory cap - "not more than" - rather than a fixed schedule. FDACS may charge less; it cannot charge more without a legislative amendment. In practice the Department charges the maximum: $55 original / $45 renewal. Second, the fingerprint-processing cost is structurally separate from the license fee. The applicant pays it in addition to the § 790.06(5)(b) cap, not as part of it. The current fingerprint-processing fee charged by FDACS is $42, applied to both original and renewal applications that require a new print capture.

§ 790.06(14) directs that all fees collected under § 790.06 are deposited into the Division of Licensing Trust Fund within FDACS, to be used to administer the licensing program over the seven-year license term established in § 790.06(1)(c). License revenue does not flow to general revenue and may not be diverted from the licensing function.

Consular-Security-Official Fees Under § 790.06(5)(c)

§ 790.06(5)(c) establishes a separate fee track for foreign consular-security officials issued a CWFL under § 790.06(2)(a). The license fee for a consular-security-official applicant is set "in an amount equal to the costs incurred by the department" - a cost-recovery model rather than a statutory cap. This subsection has no analogue in the standard application track and applies only to the small number of foreign-consulate security personnel certified under treaty arrangements.

Fingerprint Processing - § 790.06(5) and § 943.053(3)(b)

§ 790.06(5)(a) requires the applicant to "submit ... a full set of fingerprints administered by a law enforcement agency or the Division of Licensing of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services." § 943.053(3)(b) authorizes the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to set fingerprint-processing fees by rule for criminal-history records checks. The CWFL fingerprint-processing component covers the FBI national check, the FDLE state check, and the retained-print-monitoring service that flags subsequent arrests of license holders during the 7-year term.

The total fingerprint-processing fee currently charged by FDACS is $42, billed at the time of application. This fee is separate from any capture fee charged by the agency that physically takes the prints - see the tax-collector and law-enforcement fingerprinting subsection below.

Tax-Collector Convenience Fees Under § 790.0625

§ 790.0625 authorizes any tax collector that elects to participate to accept CWFL applications on behalf of FDACS. § 790.0625(3) permits the participating tax collector to charge a "convenience fee" for the in-person service - including digital fingerprint capture, document verification, and photo capture - separate from the FDACS license fee and the fingerprint-processing fee. § 790.0625(4) caps the convenience fee at the level necessary to cover the tax collector's costs. In practice, county tax-collector convenience fees run roughly $5 to $10 depending on the office.

The tax-collector convenience fee is paid directly to the tax collector at the time of application and is not part of the § 790.06(5)(b) statutory cap. An applicant who completes a fully mailed-in application - sending FDACS a paper fingerprint card, photograph, and the statutory fees - does not pay any tax-collector convenience fee, but bears whatever the law-enforcement agency that rolled the prints charges for that capture service (also typically a small fee).

Course and Range Costs - § 790.06(2)(h) Competence Requirement

§ 790.06(2)(h) requires the applicant to demonstrate competence with a firearm through one of seven enumerated paths - most commonly an NRA basics course, a hunter-safety course, or any course taught by an NRA-, CJSTC-, or FDACS-certified firearms instructor. The cost of the qualifying course is set entirely by the instructor or sponsoring organization. Florida statute does not cap, regulate, or subsidize this cost; it is a private transaction outside the FDACS fee structure. Typical Florida CWFL-qualifying courses run 4 to 6 hours and are priced in the $50 to $150 range, depending on instructor, location, and whether range time and ammunition are included. Range fees, where charged separately, typically run $20 to $50. Detail on what the course must include - particularly the live-fire requirement codified by the 2017 amendment to § 790.06(2)(h) - is covered in TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS.

Replacement and Address-Change Fees - § 790.06(8) and § 790.06(11)(a)

§ 790.06(8) addresses lost or destroyed licenses: a license holder must notify FDACS in writing within 30 days, and FDACS issues a replacement upon payment of a $15 fee. The replacement license is valid for the unexpired portion of the original 7-year term - payment of the replacement fee does not extend the license.

§ 790.06(11)(a) addresses changes of address. A license holder must notify FDACS in writing within 30 days of a permanent change of residence address. Florida statute does not impose a fee for an address change. The FDACS online licensing portal accepts address-change submissions at no cost, and FDACS does not reissue a physical card on an address change - the existing card remains valid through expiration.

No Senior-Citizen Discount in Chapter 790

A common point of confusion is whether Florida offers a senior-citizen reduced fee on the CWFL. It does not. Chapter 790 contains no age-graduated fee schedule. Every applicant who meets the § 790.06(2)(b) age-21 floor pays the same § 790.06(5)(b) cap regardless of age. Applicants who hold a Florida driver license issued without an expiration date under the senior-driver provisions of chapter 322 still pay the standard § 790.06(5)(b) fees. Where reduced or waived CWFL fees appear in marketing materials from third-party course providers, those reductions apply to the course fee the instructor charges, not to the FDACS license or fingerprint fees.

Military and Veteran Applicants - Expedited Processing, Not a Fee Waiver

§ 790.06(5)(f) and § 790.06(6)(f) direct FDACS to expedite the application of an active-duty servicemember, an honorably discharged veteran, or a current or retired law-enforcement officer. Expedited processing means FDACS moves the file to the front of the queue and may issue substantially faster than the § 790.06(6)(c) 90-day statutory ceiling. It does not mean a fee waiver. The military and veteran applicant pays the full $55 original / $45 renewal § 790.06(5)(b) fee and the full fingerprint-processing fee. This differs from some other states - Texas, for example, waives the license fee outright for active-duty servicemembers and certain veterans - and is a common point of confusion for servicemembers relocating to Florida.

§ 790.06(11)(b) provides a separate protection: a license holder serving on military orders more than 35 miles from his or her residence may have the license expiration extended for the duration of the deployment plus 180 days. The extension is automatic on submission of orders to FDACS and does not require payment of a renewal fee while on protected status.

Realistic Total Cost for a New Florida CWFL

Combining the statutory and market components, a realistic out-of-pocket total for a new Florida CWFL applicant looks like this:

The narrower $147-$247 range covers the most common case: a $55 license fee, $42 fingerprint fee, and a $50-$150 instructor course, with no separate range fee and no tax-collector convenience fee. Renewal totals are lower - the § 790.06(5)(b) cap drops to $45, no new course is required to renew, and most renewals do not require a new fingerprint capture during the seven-year retained-print monitoring window.

Fee Summary Table

Cross-References

• Eligibility, license term, and the issuing-authority framework: PERMIT_BASICS
• The seven competence paths and the live-fire requirement: TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS
• Tax-collector intake mechanics, online portal, and the 90-day decision clock: APPLICATION_PROCESS
• Renewal mechanics and the deployment-extension under § 790.06(11)(b): RENEWAL_PROCESS
• Why Florida's preemption clause bars county-level surcharges or additional fees: PREEMPTION