To obtain a No Criminal Record Certificate in the USA, request an FBI Identity History Summary Check for $18, submit your fingerprints at a participating U.S. Post Office or through an FBI-approved channeler, and, if you need the document for use in another country, add a $20 apostille or authentication from the U.S. Department of State. Electronic submission is the fastest route. Mail works if you have several weeks to spare.
Which Certificate You Actually Need
A No Criminal Record Certificate goes by several names: Police Clearance Certificate, Certificate of Good Conduct, or the FBI’s official term, Identity History Summary Check. The document reports whether the FBI’s national databases contain any record of your arrests, indictments, or convictions, drawn from fingerprint records that law enforcement agencies across the country submit to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division.1Federal Bureau of Investigation. Criminal Justice Information Services The FBI’s authority to maintain and exchange these records comes from federal law.2GovInfo. 28 USC 534 – Acquisition, Preservation, and Exchange of Identification Records and Information
Do not confuse this with a state background check. A state-level criminal history check pulls records only from that state’s identification bureau, so an arrest in another state or a federal charge won’t show up. State checks can work for domestic employment or in-state licensing. They almost never satisfy immigration authorities or foreign governments. If your certificate is for an immigration case, a foreign work visa, international adoption, or anything else outside your home state, the FBI Identity History Summary Check is the one to request.
What You Need Before You Apply
Two things: fingerprints and a valid government-issued photo ID such as a passport or driver’s license. The ID verifies your identity at the fingerprinting appointment and confirms the personal details on your application.
Fingerprints are where most people slow themselves down. If you submit electronically through a participating U.S. Post Office, the USPS staff captures your prints digitally at the appointment and you never touch a physical card. If you submit by mail, you’ll need a completed FD-258 Applicant Fingerprint Card (the FBI also accepts the FD-1164 card on standard white paper stock).3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions Blank FD-258 cards are available from the FBI at no charge by calling (304) 625-3983.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. Guidelines for Preparation of Fingerprint Cards and Associated Criminal History Information Every field must be typewritten or legibly printed in black or blue ink, and the FBI will reject cards with missing required fields without processing them.
A local police department, county sheriff’s office, or private fingerprinting service can roll your prints for a fee. That fee varies by provider and is separate from what the FBI charges.
Three Ways to Submit Your Request
Electronic Submission Through USPS
Start your request on the FBI’s website. Once you complete the electronic application, you’ll receive instructions to schedule a fingerprinting appointment at a participating U.S. Post Office. Your prints are captured and transmitted digitally, which is why this route is faster than mail. The Post Office charges its own service fee on top of the FBI’s $18.
Mail Submission
Fill out the FBI’s application, get your fingerprints rolled onto an FD-258 card, and mail the package with payment to the FBI’s CJIS Division. Requests are processed in the order received, and results return by U.S. First-Class Mail. Between postal transit in both directions and manual handling, this is the slow lane. Fine if your deadline is months away. A poor choice if it isn’t.
FBI-Approved Channelers
A channeler is a private contractor authorized to accept your fingerprints and transmit them directly to the FBI.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. Channeler FAQs Channelers charge their own fee on top of the $18, so total cost is higher, but they can be worth it for speed and convenience if no participating Post Office is nearby. The FBI publishes the list of approved channelers on its website.
What It Costs
The FBI charges $18 for an Identity History Summary Check.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions For mailed requests, pay by money order or certified check made payable to the U.S. Treasury. Do not send personal checks, business checks, or cash; the FBI destroys personal and business checks without returning them. Electronic requests typically take a credit card at the time of submission.
The $18 covers FBI processing only. On top of that, budget for fingerprinting (variable, paid to whoever rolls the prints), a channeler’s service fee if you use one, and $20 per document if you need a State Department apostille or authentication afterward.
If you cannot afford the $18, the FBI offers a fee waiver process. Contact (304) 625-5590 or email identity@fbi.gov to request waiver instructions before submitting your application.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
How Long It Takes
The FBI does not publish guaranteed processing windows and does not expedite requests for any reason. All requests are handled in the order received, and electronic submissions are processed faster than mailed ones.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions In practice, electronic results tend to arrive within days to a few weeks. Mailed requests take considerably longer because of postal transit in both directions plus manual processing. Build a cushion into your timeline, especially if you’ll also need apostille authentication afterward.
Reading Your Results
The report will say one of two things. If nothing is on file, it will state that no arrest data or disposition information was found linked to your fingerprints. That clean result is what foreign governments and employers typically want to see.
If the FBI does have records tied to your prints, the report lists them: arrests, indictments, and convictions reported by law enforcement agencies across the country. Traffic tickets and minor non-criminal infractions generally do not appear, because the database is built on fingerprint submissions from law enforcement and only events that generated a fingerprint submission show up.
If your report contains information you believe is wrong or incomplete, you can challenge it at no cost. Your challenge must clearly identify the disputed information and include supporting documentation. The FBI requires fingerprints to verify your identity before releasing or modifying records, so you may need to submit a new set of prints. Challenges are processed in the order received, with an average response time of about 45 days.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions Requesting your report early leaves room to fix errors before a deadline hits.
One boundary to know: a state court order sealing or expunging a record does not automatically remove that record from the FBI’s federal files. The FBI directs questions about non-federal arrest data to the State Identification Bureau where the offense occurred, and federal arrest data comes out of the FBI’s file only at the request of the submitting agency or upon a federal court order that specifically states expungement.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions If an old record that should be gone still appears, the challenge process is the starting point.
Apostille or Authentication for International Use
Most foreign governments will not accept the FBI report on its own. They require an apostille or a full authentication to verify the document is genuinely issued by a U.S. government agency. Which one you need depends on the destination country.
If the receiving country is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, you need an apostille from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications. If it is not a member, you need a full authentication certificate from the State Department, followed by legalization at the destination country’s embassy or consulate in the United States.
The State Department charges $20 per document for either service.6U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services Processing times depend on how you submit:
- By mail: allow at least five weeks from the date the State Department receives your request.
- Walk-in drop-off: about seven business days, limited to 15 documents per customer per day.
- Emergency appointment: same-day processing, available only if you need to travel internationally within two weeks due to a life-threatening family emergency.
Complete Form DS-4194 and submit it with your FBI report and payment. Mailed requests take a check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State. In-person requests take credit card, debit card, or contactless payment.6U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services
Many countries require the certificate to have been issued recently, with typical validity windows of three to six months. Confirm the destination country’s rules with its embassy or consulate before you start, so the certificate does not expire while the apostille is in process. Plan backward from your deadline: figure the apostille time, add FBI processing, and begin that many weeks ahead of when you actually need the finished document in hand.