To get a full background check on yourself, you order the pieces separately: an FBI Identity History Summary for $18, free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com, state criminal and driving records from each state where you’ve lived, and, if you want everything in one report, a commercial screening company that bundles criminal, credit, employment, and education verification for roughly $30 to $100. There is no single government office that produces a complete report, which is why the process takes a bit of planning.
What a Full Check Actually Includes
Knowing the pieces tells you what to order. A comprehensive report usually pulls from criminal history at the federal and state levels, credit history from the three nationwide bureaus, driving records from state motor vehicle agencies, employment and education verifications, and sometimes a drug screen. Federal criminal records live in the U.S. District Court system, while state and local records sit with individual state repositories.1National Archives. National Archives Court Records Credit files come from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and the information can vary between them because not every creditor reports to all three.
Two things people expect to see that aren’t there: your debt-to-income ratio (lenders calculate that themselves) and tax liens (the three major bureaus stopped reporting them in 2018).
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Every request wants the same core identifiers, so gather these once and reuse them:
- Full legal name plus any former names, maiden names, or aliases.
- Social Security number, which screening systems use to distinguish you from people with similar names.
- Date of birth.
- Address history for the past seven to ten years so records can be searched in every jurisdiction where you’ve lived.
- A government-issued ID such as a driver’s license or passport, especially for digital submissions.
Ordering Your FBI Identity History Summary
The Identity History Summary is the FBI’s fingerprint-based record of any interactions you’ve had with federal, state, or local criminal justice agencies, and it is the most thorough criminal history available at the federal level.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions You have two ways to submit.
The electronic method is faster. You submit your request online through the FBI’s website and then visit a participating U.S. Post Office to have your fingerprints captured electronically. The mail method requires you to get fingerprinted on an FD-1164 card at a local law enforcement agency or a private fingerprinting service, then mail the card to the FBI with payment. If your prints get rejected for quality, the FBI recommends having multiple sets taken by a trained technician before mailing them in.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
The fee is $18 per request. Electronic submissions are paid by credit card; mail submissions require a certified check or money order. The FBI does not accept personal checks or cash.3FBI. Identity History Summary Request Checklist You can also route your request through an FBI-approved Channeler, a private company authorized to submit on your behalf. Channelers charge their own processing fee on top of the $18.
Pulling Your Credit Reports for Free
You’re entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three nationwide bureaus once every 12 months under the FCRA.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures The official site is AnnualCreditReport.com. The three bureaus have made free weekly access permanent, so you can now check your report from each bureau once a week at no cost.5Federal Trade Commission. You Now Have Permanent Access to Free Weekly Credit Reports
Pull all three. Because creditors don’t necessarily report to every bureau, an error or missing account on one report may not appear on the others.
State Criminal Records and Driving Records
The FBI file is not a substitute for state records. Many state databases don’t automatically feed into the FBI system, which is why a truly full picture requires searching both. State criminal records are held by each state’s bureau of investigation or state police, and you request them from the state directly. Fees vary widely, from roughly $5 to over $50 depending on the state repository.
Driving records sit with each state’s motor vehicle agency and cover license status, moving violations, accidents, and suspensions over a multi-year period. If you’ve lived in more than one state during the window you care about, you’ll need to request from each. Professional license records, when relevant to your situation, may be verified through state licensing boards or databases such as the National Practitioner Data Bank for healthcare professionals.
Using a Commercial Background Check Company
If you want the pieces bundled into a single report, commercial screening companies package criminal, credit, employment, and education verification together. Expect to pay somewhere between $30 and $100 or more depending on the scope. These companies pull credit data on your behalf and build the cost into the package, so what’s free directly from AnnualCreditReport.com is not free through a third party.
A comprehensive commercial report can also include education verification (degrees earned and dates of attendance, confirmed with the institution or a clearinghouse), employment verification (past titles, dates, and sometimes the reason for leaving), and a drug screen. A standard 10-panel screen covers substances including amphetamines, opiates, marijuana, cocaine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and methadone.
How Long the Whole Thing Takes
Timelines vary sharply by piece. Credit reports are essentially instant because the data pulls electronically from the bureaus. Employment and education verifications typically take a few business days, though an unresponsive former employer can stretch that out. State criminal record searches range from same-day electronic results to several weeks for states that still process manually.
Electronic FBI Identity History Summary requests are processed faster than mail submissions, though the FBI does not publish specific turnaround times. Mail-based requests can take several weeks because the FBI processes them in the order received.2Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions Results come back either as a secure digital download or a physical letter mailed to a verified address, depending on how you submitted.
What Can and Can’t Appear on the Report
The FCRA caps how far back certain negative information can go on a consumer report prepared by a third-party screening agency:
- Arrests that did not lead to a conviction, civil suits and judgments, paid tax liens, and collections accounts drop off after seven years from the date of entry, or, for collections, from the date the account first became delinquent.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
- Bankruptcies can be reported for up to ten years from the filing date.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
- Criminal convictions have no federal expiration under the FCRA and can be reported indefinitely. Some states impose shorter limits of their own.
One boundary worth knowing: these limits apply to reports prepared by consumer reporting agencies. When you request your own FBI Identity History Summary, there is no time cutoff. Everything on file will appear regardless of age.
Fixing Errors Before They Cost You Something
Errors are more common than most people expect. Mixed files, where records from someone with a similar name or Social Security number end up on your report, are a persistent problem. Criminal records belonging to a relative with the same name, debts that were paid off years ago, and employment dates that don’t match your actual tenure all show up regularly. Reviewing your own report before an employer or landlord sees it is the whole reason to run a check on yourself.
The FCRA gives you the right to dispute wrong information directly with the consumer reporting agency that produced the report. The agency has 30 days to investigate and either verify, correct, or delete the item. If you send additional documentation during that window, the agency gets up to 15 extra days.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy
Be specific when you dispute. Identify the exact item, explain why it’s wrong, and attach documentation. A vague complaint that “the report has errors” slows the process and gives the agency an easy reason to verify the original information. If the agency refuses to correct an item you believe is wrong, you can add a brief personal statement to your file explaining the dispute. You also have the right to sue under the FCRA if the agency’s investigation was negligent or if a reporting company furnished information it knew was inaccurate.