How to Get a Government PIV Card: Eligibility, Steps, and Activation

To get a government PIV card, a sponsoring federal agency must initiate a background investigation on you, send you to an enrollment appointment where you present two original identity documents and give fingerprints and a photo, and then issue the card after a favorable credentialing decision. The Personal Identity Verification card is the standard smart-card credential for federal employees and contractors outside the Department of Defense, required under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12.¹ You cannot apply on your own; the process only starts once an agency sponsors you.

Who Qualifies for a PIV Card

HSPD-12 covers federal employees and contractor employees who need routine physical access to government facilities or logical access to government information systems.¹ That includes most civil service positions and ongoing contractor roles.

The Office of Personnel Management draws the practical line at six months of continuous employment. Anything shorter counts as “short-term,” and the agency has discretion to issue either a PIV card or an alternative badge in those cases.² Guest researchers, volunteers, seasonal employees, and people on temporary appointments lasting at least six months generally fall within the PIV-eligible population.

Before a card can be issued, your agency must initiate a background investigation, and you need a favorable result on the credentialing determination, suitability review, or national security check that applies to your position. A favorable suitability or fitness determination automatically satisfies PIV eligibility with no separate credentialing adjudication.²

If you’re a contractor moving between agencies, an existing PIV card from one agency does not transfer. The new agency issues its own credential, although recent background investigation results may carry over depending on the investigation type.

Identity Documents to Bring

PIV enrollment requires two original identity source documents. These are defined in FIPS 201-3 and overlap with, but are not identical to, the Form I-9 lists used for employment verification. At least one must be a strong photo ID.³

Your primary document must come from this list:

U.S. passport or passport card
REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or state ID with photograph
Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551)
Foreign passport
Employment Authorization Document with photograph (Form I-766)
U.S. military ID card or military dependent’s ID card
An existing PIV card

The second document can be another item from that primary list, but not the same type you already presented, or one of several secondary options: a Social Security card, an original or certified birth certificate, a voter registration card, a government-issued photo ID from a federal, state, or local agency, or a Certificate of Naturalization.³

Both documents must be originals, not photocopies, and neither can be expired or cancelled. If the two documents show different names, bring proof of a formal name change such as a marriage certificate or court order.

Individual agencies sometimes narrow the list. Some require documents that also satisfy Form I-9 employment eligibility verification, so confirm with your agency’s security office before the appointment which documents they will accept.⁴

The Steps From Sponsorship to Activation

Sponsorship and Background Check

The process starts before you set foot in an enrollment center. A federal official called a Sponsor, typically your supervisor, a contracting officer representative, or someone in human resources, submits the credentialing request and confirms your need for access. That request triggers the background investigation. Your agency’s security office will tell you when the investigation has progressed far enough for you to move to enrollment.

Some agencies use a two-step process that issues the card after an initial check and completes the full adjudication later. Others wait for the entire investigation to finish. Either way, no card is issued until the agency has at least initiated the investigation and found no immediate disqualifying information.

Enrollment and Biometrics

Enrollment takes place at a credentialing center. Many agencies use the USAccess system operated by GSA. At the appointment, a registrar captures your electronic fingerprints, takes your photograph, and scans your two identity documents.⁵ Your fingerprints and photo are encoded onto the card’s chip and linked to your identity record through cryptographic methods, which is what makes the card resistant to counterfeiting or use by someone else.

Adjudication

After enrollment, security officers review the investigation results. If the outcome is favorable, the card is printed and loaded with the digital certificates that let it communicate with government systems.

Issuance and Activation

When your card is ready, you’ll get a notice to pick it up at an approved location. At the issuance station, you verify your identity one final time with a biometric match against the fingerprints captured at enrollment.⁶ You choose a PIN of six to eight digits, which you’ll enter every time you use the card.⁵ Once the system confirms the PIN and links the certificates to your identity record, the card is active.

If Your Application Is Denied

If your agency determines you’re not eligible based on the credentialing standards, you have the right to a reconsideration process. FIPS 201 requires each department and agency to establish its own reconsideration procedure for people who’ve been denied a card or had one revoked, and the specific procedures vary by agency.⁷

The credentialing reconsideration process does not apply if the denial stems from an unfavorable suitability determination, a security clearance denial, or a decision to disqualify you from an excepted service appointment or contract work. In those situations, you’re already entitled to seek review through the applicable suitability or national security appeals channels, and the PIV denial is a downstream consequence of that underlying decision.⁷

After You Have the Card

A PIV card is valid for a maximum of six years from issuance, and many agencies set a shorter window such as five years.³⁸ When it expires, you’ll go through a re-enrollment process similar to the original: new biometrics, new documents, new card. The digital certificates on the card expire more often than the card itself, and your agency’s identity management system will email alerts before they lapse. Renewing before the expiration date can often be done through a self-service application; letting them expire usually means an in-person visit to reactivate.

Report a lost, stolen, or damaged card to your supervisor and your agency’s credentialing office immediately so it can be revoked in the system. A replacement typically takes about five to seven business days to be printed and shipped, and you’ll need to visit an issuance station to pick it up, re-verify biometrics, and set a new PIN.⁹ If you forget your PIN or lock yourself out, most agency badging offices handle PIN resets as walk-ins during business hours.

When you leave federal employment or your contract ends, your agency is required to collect, revoke, and destroy your PIV card as part of offboarding.¹⁰

1
Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 – Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors
2
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Credentialing Standards Procedures for Issuing Personal Identity Verification Cards under HSPD-12
3
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201-3 – Personal Identity Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors
4
Department of Homeland Security. DHS PIV Card Acceptable Identity Source Documents
5
Bureau of Indian Education. Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credentials
6
IBC Customer Central. PIV Card Enrollment/Re-enrollment
7
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Final Credentialing Standards for Issuing Personal Identity Verification Cards
8
General Services Administration. Federal Credentialing Services
9
IBC Customer Central. Lost, Stolen or Damaged PIV Card
10
Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General. DHS Did Not Always Promptly Revoke PIV Card Access and Withdraw Security Clearances for Separated Individuals