This form is designed to assist you in gathering information, creating your online account, completing your Registrant Bar Application and preparing the material to submit a complete application. Click the various links to access information or printer-friendly forms. Applications submitted with accurate and complete responses and all required supplemental documents can be processed more expeditiously. Processing will not be initiated on defective applications and an additional defective filing fee may be charged. Please note that although you are completing the bar application online, you will be required to
print the Cover Sheet for Bar Application Submission and mail it to the board. The Cover Sheet will be available for you to print after you have finalized the bar application.
STEP 1 - PRINT AND USE CHECKLIST
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Print this Checklist
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Check each item when completed to ensure that your Registrant Bar Application includes all necessary supplemental documents and information
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STEP 2 - GATHER INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS
Completion of this application will be time consuming. In order to complete your Registrant Bar Application efficiently online, it is suggested that you gather information and have it available when you complete the online application.
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Residence information, including dates and complete addresses for the past 3 years and dates and city/state since your 16th birthday
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Names and addresses of all undergraduate and graduate schools you attended and dates of attendance
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Names of all law schools attended and dates of attendance
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Employment information for the last 10 years or since your 16th birthday, whichever is shorter, and information for any employer from which you were terminated. You are required to provide employers' names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates employed, position, type of business, supervisor and reason for leaving. Include self-employment or association with any occupation, business, enterprise or profession, either part-time or full-time. Include employment as a law clerk, positions in clinics, internships, externships, or other similar non-paid positions.
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Military service information (if applicable) |
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Financial information about delinquent credit, defaulted credit, judgments/liens, unfiled tax returns, payments returned for insufficient funds, and delinquent student loans
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Information about all litigation in which you were a named party (including divorce, bankruptcy, and administrative or quasi-judicial proceedings) |
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Information about all arrests, charges or accusations of violation of a law or ordinance (including traffic violations), reporting dates, law enforcement agency, explanation of event and final disposition. If your arrest records are sealed, you must petition the appropriate court to unseal those records.
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Information about all bar admission or registration applications filed in Florida or any other jurisdiction
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Transcripts from all undergraduate schools from which you received an undergraduate degree, transcripts from all law schools attended (except your current law school, if you are still attending), even if the credit was transferred to another school or is reflected on another school's transcript, and transcripts from any post-secondary schools attended subsequent to law school. You should request that all transcripts be sent from each educational institution directly to the board's office.
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Fingerprints
All applicants for admission to The Florida Bar must have their fingerprints scanned for electronic submission to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and to the FBI by IdentoGo by MorphoTrust USA. Instructions for this step are in the answer to
How do I submit the required fingerprints? in our FAQ. Confirmation of your compliance with this step must be received by the board before processing of your application will begin.
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The following documents may be needed, depending on your response to various items on the Bar Application. These documents may be uploaded through the portal as you work through the bar application. Refer to the Supporting Documents page, linked on your Bar Application Progress page, for instructions.
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A copy of your DD-214, reflecting your character of service and re-entry code
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For lawsuits where you are personally named a defendant or counter-defendant, include an exact and complete copy of the complaint or other initial pleading, answer, counterclaim, if any, and the disposition of each action, or a letter from the court verifying that the documents are not available. Records are also required for all divorce and bankruptcy proceedings.
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Copies of bar applications or registrations filed in any other jurisdiction
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STEP 3 - COMPLETE THE APPLICATION ONLINE
When you have gathered the information above, you are ready to complete the online Bar Application. A high-speed Internet connection and use of the Google Chrome web browser are recommended.
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Follow the instructions to install a Two Factor Authenticator application on your smart device. Authy is the recommended app. Please note that if you do not enable backups in Authy as described in these instructions, or if you use an app other than Authy that does not allow for backups, and if you lose your device prior to filing your bar application, you will not have access to the authentication data you will need to be able to access your account. If that happens, and you do not write down the “scratch codes” to retrieve information provided to you by the Board after you register your account, all of your data will be irretrievable and you will be required to start the registration/bar application process over again. You MUST enable backups to allow you to access your account in the event your smart device is lost, broken, or otherwise unavailable to you. Keep your device on-hand while creating your account. If you do not have a smart device, please refer to the FAQ section for information on how to proceed. |
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Create an Account. If you are unable to complete the online application within six months from the date you create your account, your account and all of the information you have entered will be deleted; you will have to start over by creating a new account.
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Log in. To access the bar application, on the left side of the home screen, click the Applicant Portal link.
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You may start and stop completion of the online Bar Application as necessary. To securely exit the program, log out and close your browser.
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Complete each item of the application until you have finished and saved each item as finished or complete. It is best to answer the items in order to help ensure responses to subsequent items are accurate. Additionally, within each item, using the tab function will aid in completion of each response in order, and will display the help text when applicable.
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Be sure to choose “For registration by a student” as your filing status in Item 1. |
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When all items are saved as finished or complete, you will be offered instructions for reviewing a draft version of your Bar Application. Follow the on-screen instructions. Clicking the "Review Draft Bar Application" button will accumulate your individual item responses into a printer-friendly document and display it on your screen.
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Read and carefully review each item of the draft version of your application to assure that each item is complete and correct. To make revisions to individual items, select the item, select the pencil icon to make corrections to a previous entry, select the garbage can icon to remove a previous entry, and select “Add Entry” to make additions. Make sure you save your changes. You may generate/print the draft as many times as necessary.
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When you are certain that your application is complete and accurate, return to the Bar Application page and follow the on-screen directions below the "Review Draft Bar Application" button.
Do not press the "Final Version" button without generating a draft and making corrections. When ready to proceed, click the "Final Version" button.
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A “Finalizing Your Bar Application” page will open, providing Section C of the application. Follow the on-screen instructions. Carefully read the text in Section C regarding your obligation to keep the application current and complete after filing. You will be required to enter your password as the E-Signature PIN to confirm that all information entered in your bar application is complete and accurate. Once you have entered your E-Signature PIN (password), click the “Finalize Bar Application” button. You will not be able to make changes or additions to your original Bar Application after clicking the “Finalize Bar Application” button. |
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You must generate and print the Cover Sheet for Bar Application Submission, following the on-screen instructions. If the board does not receive the Cover Sheet for Bar Application Submission from you in the mail within 6 months, your account will be deleted from the board's web server and all of your data will be lost.
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Do
not proceed to Section D of the Bar Application.
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Review and complete the Cover Sheet for Bar Application Submission and prepare required and supplemental items, as needed. Remember that if you do not mail the Cover Sheet to the board within six months from the date you finalized your online bar application, your account and all of the information you have entered will be deleted; you will have to start over by creating a new account.
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On the “Your Bar Application has been finalized” page, click the “Display Finalized Bar Application” button to view a printer-friendly final version of your bar application. You may print a copy for you records. It is not necessary to mail a printed copy of the application to the board. |
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STEP 4 - CHECKLIST TO SUBMIT A COMPLETE REGISTRANT BAR APPLICATION
Check off each item below confirming that you have completed each required item.
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Cover Sheet for Bar Application Submission. This must be mailed to the board.
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Authorization and Release - the form is available under the Supporting Forms section of the Applicant Portal. This must be completed through the portal and submitted electronically. Do not mail a copy to the board.
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Student Registration fee.
Computed using the
Application Fee Worksheet (PDF - 46k). The board accepts
electronic payment of fees by ACH or eChecks. Alternatively, clip the check or certified money order made payable to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners to the Cover Sheet for Bar Application Submission and mail to the board.
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Fingerprints
All applicants for admission to The Florida Bar must have their fingerprints scanned for electronic submission to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and to the FBI by IdentoGo by MorphoTrust USA. Instructions for this step are in the answer to
How do I submit the required fingerprints? in our FAQ. Confirmation of your compliance with this step must be received by the board before processing of your application will begin.
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Proof of citizenship
- If you are a citizen of the United States, submit with your Cover Sheet for Bar Application Submission a certified copy of your birth certificate, or provide a photocopy of your certificate of naturalization, or certificate of citizenship for submission to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for verification of authenticity. You cannot upload this document through the portal as an original is required.
- If you are not a citizen of the United States, provide a photocopy of the immigration document that documents your status for submission to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for verification of authenticity.
- For more information on how to obtain documents to prove citizenship or immigration status, read Must I provide documentation of my U.S. citizenship or immigration status? in our FAQ.
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All of the following as applicable (it is not necessary to mail these documents if you already uploaded them through the portal):
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Documentation of military service (DD-214, Report of Separation, or equivalent)
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Copies of litigation documents
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A copy of the judge's signed order to unseal arrest records
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Copies of bar applications from other jurisdictions
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Address your package to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and mail within six months of creating the final version.
U.S. Postal Service:
1891 Eider Court
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1750
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FedEx, Priority USPS, or other delivery service:
1891 Eider Court
Tallahassee, FL 32308
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Reporting Changes to the Registrant Bar Application
Your Registrant Bar Application is a continuing application and you have an obligation to keep the responses to all items current and complete by the filing of timely amendments. Amendments may be filed online through the applicant portal by following the instructions located in the FAQ or by using the Amendment form (PDF - 72k).