Persons wishing to emigrate to Florida must obtain the appropriate visa or work permit. Visas are issued by the U.S. Department of State. There are several different types of visas, from student and visitor visas to immigrant visas, so you will need to look at the eligibility criteria before making your application. For information on the different types of US visas, visit the Visas section of the U.S. Department of State's web site or refer to the Visas and Temporary Residence or the Permanent Residency / Immigration (Greencard) and Citizenship sections of the USA Country Guide.

Once you arrive in Florida, you may wish to register with your home country's embassy or consulate. The following countries have embassies or consulates in Miami: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Finland, France, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Netherlands (also in Orlando), Nicaragua, Philippines, Spain, Suriname, Uruguay (Coral Gables), and Venezuela. Other consulates are located in Fort Lauderdale (Czech Republic), Tampa (Greece), Naples (Ireland), Orlando (Ivory Coast and United Kingdom), and Delray Beach (Malta). For a list of all other foreign embassies and consulates in the US, including contact details, click here.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) is responsible for issuing driver licenses and ID cards. Their official web site provides a list of Florida driver's license offices by county.

If you own a vehicle in Florida, you must register it within 10 days of either becoming employed, placing children in public school or establishing residency. This is done with the DHSMV.

Disabled parking permits may also be obtained from the DHSMV. Information can be found here.

Marriage licenses must be applied for with the Clerk of Court in the county in which you reside. Click here for a list of clerk web sites by county. Some Clerks of Court offices are authorized to issue US passports.

Birth, death, fetal death, marriage, and divorce records are held with Vital Statistics. Contact information for local county Vital Statistics offices can be found here.

MyFlorida.com is the official web site for the state of Florida. It includes information on taxes, links to local government departments, federal government information, and much more.

If you plan to work in the US, you will need to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN). A SSN is like a UK National Insurance Number and is used to report a person's wages to the government and to determine whether or not a person is eligible for certain Social Security benefits. SSNs are issued by the Social Security Administration. Information regarding SSNs for non-US citizens can be found here.