An FBI background check usually takes three to five business days if you submit electronically through the FBI’s own system, one to three business days through an FBI-approved channeler, and several weeks if you mail your request in. The official name for the report is an Identity History Summary Check, and how long does it take to get an FBI background check comes down almost entirely to the submission method you pick and whether your fingerprints come through cleanly on the first attempt.
Timelines by Submission Method
The FBI accepts requests three ways, and each has its own realistic turnaround.
FBI-Approved Channelers: One to Three Business Days
Channelers are private companies the FBI has authorized to collect fingerprints, transmit them electronically to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division, and deliver your results.1Federal Bureau of Investigation. List of FBI-Approved Channelers for Departmental Order Submissions Most deliver electronic PDF results within one to three business days. Some advertise same-day or next-day turnaround, though that isn’t guaranteed during peak periods. Channelers bundle the FBI’s $18 fee, fingerprinting, and their own processing into a single charge that typically runs around $50, with prices varying by company. The current list of approved channelers is on the FBI’s website.
Electronic Submission Through the FBI: Three to Five Business Days
You can also submit directly through the FBI’s website. After registering online and paying the $18 fee, you visit a participating U.S. Post Office to have your fingerprints captured digitally and transmitted to the FBI.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions The Post Office charges a separate $50 fingerprinting fee on top of the FBI’s fee.3USPS.com. USPS Fingerprinting Services Registration Not every Post Office offers the service, so check availability first, and bring your FBI registration confirmation email and a valid photo ID.
The FBI doesn’t publish an exact day count for direct electronic processing, only that it’s faster than non-electronic methods and that all requests are handled in the order received.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions In practice, clean submissions typically come back within three to five business days.
Mail-In Submission: Several Weeks
You can mail your request to the FBI’s CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. This requires a completed Form I-783, a set of rolled-ink fingerprints on a standard fingerprint card, and the $18 fee paid by money order or certified check made payable to the Treasury of the United States.4eCFR. 28 CFR 16.32 – Procedure to Obtain an Identification Record Personal checks, business checks, and cash are not accepted.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
Mail-in requests take the longest by a wide margin. Between postal transit in both directions and manual processing at the FBI, plan for several weeks at minimum, and longer during high-volume periods. The FBI does not offer expedited handling for any submission method, so there is no way to pay extra to move up in the queue.
What Can Slow Your Request Down
The single biggest cause of delay is poor fingerprint quality. If the FBI can’t classify your prints, the submission gets rejected and you have to start again. Common rejection reasons include smudged or faint images, printing the same hand twice, placing fingers in the wrong boxes, and failing to note missing or amputated fingers.5FBI.gov. Quick Tips for Reducing Fingerprint Rejects People with worn fingerprints from age, manual labor, or certain medical conditions are more prone to rejection. If your prints are rejected twice for quality reasons, you can request a name-based check instead, but that request must be submitted within 90 days of the second rejection.
Incomplete or inaccurate information on the request form is the next most common source of delay. A misspelled name, wrong date of birth, or missing required field means the FBI has to return the submission for correction. For mail-in requests, one correction cycle can add weeks. Check every field before you send it.
Overall FBI volume matters too. Hiring cycles, visa application seasons, and academic program deadlines can converge and push even electronic submissions past the usual three-to-five-day window.
One other timing note: if the FBI does find a record linked to your fingerprints, results are sent by physical mail rather than electronically, which adds transit time to whichever method you chose.
Add Time if You Need an Apostille
If the check is for use in another country, you will almost certainly need an apostille or authentication certificate from the U.S. Department of State. That is a separate process with its own clock. The State Department charges $20 per document, and processing depends on how you submit:6Travel.State.Gov. Requesting Authentication Services
- By mail: processed within five weeks of receipt. A self-addressed, prepaid return envelope using USPS or UPS is required. Recommended if you’re traveling in five or more weeks.
- Drop-off in Washington, D.C.: processed in seven business days. Available Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Recommended if you’re traveling in two to three weeks.
- Emergency appointment: same-day processing, but only for life-or-death emergencies. You must email proof of imminent travel and the emergency to schedule.
Combine mail submission for both the FBI check and the State Department authentication and the full sequence can easily run two months. Use a channeler for the FBI check and the D.C. drop-off for the apostille and you can compress the total to roughly two weeks.
How Long the Results Stay Usable
The FBI does not put an expiration date on an Identity History Summary. How long the results remain acceptable depends on the organization asking for them. For immigration purposes, USCIS treats FBI fingerprint results as valid for 15 months from the date the FBI processed them.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part B Chapter 2 – Background and Security Checks Other U.S. agencies and foreign governments set their own windows, some shorter and some longer. Confirm the validity period with whoever is requesting the check before you submit, so your results don’t expire before you can use them.