The most direct way to find out if your fingerprints are in the system is to order an Identity History Summary Check from the FBI for $18. It tells you whether your prints are tied to a criminal history record in the FBI’s database, or confirms that no such record exists. For a fuller answer, pair that request with a check from the state identification bureau in any state where you’ve lived, worked, or been arrested, because state and federal systems don’t always hold the same information.
Before you order, it helps to know why your prints might be stored in the first place, and which system is likely to hold them.
Why Your Fingerprints May Already Be on File
You don’t need a criminal record for your fingerprints to sit in a government database. Any of these routes puts them there:
- An arrest or booking, even one that never led to charges. Local law enforcement submits prints to the state, which forwards them to the FBI.
- Employment background checks for security clearances, government jobs, and roles working with children or vulnerable populations. Federal child care regulations, for example, require both a state and FBI fingerprint check.
- Military service. The Department of Defense collects prints at enlistment, and federal law allows reuse of those prints for later security and background checks, including naturalization for service members.
- Immigration applications. Visa applicants give prints at U.S. embassies and consulates; green card and naturalization applicants give them at a USCIS Application Support Center.
- Professional licenses and concealed carry permits. State regulators submit these prints for FBI background checks, and the FBI often retains them.
- Trusted traveler programs such as TSA PreCheck and Global Entry.
A single job application, license renewal, or border crossing years ago could be the reason your prints are on file today.
Where Prints Actually Sit
There is no single national fingerprint database. Three main places store prints, and they don’t fully overlap.
The FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system is the largest, holding both criminal and civil fingerprints submitted by agencies nationwide. Civil prints from employment or licensing checks flow into NGI when the submitting agency chooses retention.
The Department of Homeland Security runs its own biometric database, currently transitioning from IDENT to the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) system, with full transition expected in fiscal year 2026. HART stores prints, iris scans, and facial images collected during immigration and border encounters.
Every state also maintains its own fingerprint database through a state identification bureau. State systems connect to NGI, but some arrests or dispositions may appear in a state file before reaching the FBI, and in rare cases may never reach the FBI at all.
How to Request Your FBI Identity History Summary
The FBI’s Identity History Summary Check is what most people mean when they talk about pulling their own rap sheet. You submit fingerprints so the FBI can positively identify you, and it returns either a summary of any criminal history tied to your prints or a confirmation that no record exists. The fee is $18. You have three ways to submit.
Electronic Submission at a Post Office
This is the fastest route. Start on the FBI’s online portal, pay the $18 fee, and get an order confirmation number. Then visit a participating U.S. Post Office for electronic fingerprint scanning, which costs an additional $50. Not every Post Office offers the service, so check availability first. When the FBI and USPS launched this program, response times fell from over 100 days to under a week, with some Post Office submissions returning results in under 24 hours.
Mail-In Submission
You can also mail in a completed Applicant Information Form with a fingerprint card (Form FD-1164 or an equivalent from a fingerprinting agency) showing legible rolled and flat impressions. Pay the $18 by money order, certified check, or credit card. The FBI does not accept personal checks, business checks, or cash. Mail requests are processed in the order received and take considerably longer than electronic ones.
FBI-Approved Channelers
Private companies known as FBI-approved channelers collect your prints and submit them on your behalf, often faster than the standard route. They charge their own service fee on top of the $18 FBI fee.
Fee Waivers
If you can’t afford the $18, the FBI allows fee waiver requests. Contact the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division at (304) 625-5590 or identity@fbi.gov for instructions before submitting.
What Your Results Do and Don’t Tell You
The Identity History Summary reports one of two things: a summary of criminal history tied to your prints, or confirmation that no criminal history record exists in the FBI’s database.
A “no record” response is narrower than it sounds. It means the FBI’s criminal history files don’t have a hit on your prints. It does not mean your fingerprints are absent from every government system. Your prints could still be in the FBI’s civil files from a past employment check, in the DHS biometric system from an immigration encounter, or in a state database. The Identity History Summary specifically searches FBI criminal history records.
If your report does show criminal history, it will list arrests, charges, and dispositions reported to the FBI by law enforcement. These entries sometimes contain errors or outdated information, especially when a state failed to report a dismissal or expungement. Reviewing the report is the only reliable way to know what an authorized agency will see when it runs your prints.
Results are delivered electronically or by mail. Electronic reports have a limited download window, so retrieve yours promptly.
Checking State Records
The FBI check only reaches federal records. For a complete picture, request your criminal history from the state identification bureau in any state where you’ve lived, worked, or been arrested. Each state has its own process, most require fingerprints and a fee, and costs and turnaround times vary. State records sometimes carry information that never made it to the FBI, particularly for minor or very old offenses. Contact the state’s bureau of investigation or department of public safety for specifics.
How Long Your Prints Stay on File
Federal fingerprint records are effectively permanent. The National Archives and Records Administration has approved destruction of fingerprint cards only when the subject reaches 110 years of age, or seven years after the FBI receives confirmed notification of death. Criminal history record information in the FBI’s automated systems is classified as permanently retained.
Civil prints are treated differently. Under the older IAFIS system, the FBI generally didn’t retain prints submitted for employment or licensing. Under NGI, the submitting agency can choose retention, and if it did, your prints stay in the system and are continuously searched against new criminal and latent submissions. Prints can be removed earlier than the standard retention period in two ways: at the request of the agency that submitted them, or by order of a court with proper jurisdiction.
The FBI’s Rap Back service extends this further. When an employer or licensing agency subscribes, your retained prints are searched against every new criminal fingerprint submission that comes in. If you’re arrested anywhere in the country, the subscribing agency gets an electronic notification. Depending on what the agency selected, alerts can also cover case dispositions, outstanding warrants, sex offender registry changes, and death notifications. For certain jobs and licenses, the background check never really ends.
Fixing Errors or Requesting Removal
If your Identity History Summary contains inaccurate information, you can challenge it. The Privacy Act of 1974 defines fingerprints as “records” and gives you the right to review and request corrections to records held by federal agencies. An agency must acknowledge a correction request within 10 business days and either make the change or explain why it won’t.
The practical path depends on where the entry came from:
- Federal arrest data. The FBI removes or corrects federal entries either at the request of the agency that submitted the information, or on receipt of a federal court order specifically directing expungement.
- State arrest data. The FBI directs you to the State Identification Bureau in the state where the offense occurred. State expungement and sealing laws vary widely, and the FBI won’t alter a state record until the originating state confirms the change. Contact information for each state’s bureau is on the FBI’s website.
You can submit a challenge electronically through the FBI’s online portal or by mail to the FBI CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Either route requires supporting documentation such as court orders, dispositions, or letters from the relevant agencies. The FBI verifies your claim with the original source agency before making changes, so an assertion alone won’t move the record. Expect the process to take roughly 45 days.
If an agency refuses to amend a record you believe is inaccurate, you can request a formal review, which the agency must complete within 30 business days. Agencies holding fingerprint data are also required to maintain security safeguards against unauthorized access and are prohibited from maintaining records about how you exercise First Amendment rights unless specifically authorized by law or tied to a law enforcement investigation.