How to Obtain an FBI Background Check: Fee, Submission, and Apostille

To get an FBI background check, submit a set of fingerprints, a completed request form, and an $18 fee to the FBI’s CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. You can send everything by mail, start the request electronically through the FBI’s website, or go through an FBI-approved channeler. The document you receive is officially called an Identity History Summary, and it reports any federal, state, or local criminal history that agencies have linked to your fingerprints.¹

What to Gather Before You Apply

Every request needs three things: your personal information, a fingerprint card, and payment.

On the fingerprint card, fill in your full name, date of birth, and physical descriptors such as height, weight, eye color, and hair color.² Your Social Security number is voluntary, but including it improves matching accuracy, and if you want the last four digits printed on your response letter you must write either the full SSN or the last four on the card.¹

If you are not a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, indicate your country of citizenship on the request form.³ You do not need an SSN to apply.

Getting Your Fingerprints Taken

The FBI uses a standard Applicant Fingerprint Form, the FD-258.⁴ You can print it from the FBI’s website, though most people find it simpler to let the fingerprinting agency supply the card. Print quality is the single most common cause of rejected submissions, so use a professional service rather than trying to ink prints yourself.

Common options:

Local police departments and sheriff’s offices, which typically charge anywhere from nothing to about $35 for ink-on-card prints.
Private fingerprinting services, which charge in a similar range and often offer easier scheduling.
Participating U.S. Post Offices, which capture prints digitally and send them electronically to the FBI. Availability varies by ZIP code, so check before you go.⁵

Paying the $18 Fee

The FBI charges $18 per Identity History Summary.¹ You can pay by credit card using Form 1-786, which you download, complete, and include with your submission.⁶ The FBI also accepts money orders and certified checks made payable to the “Treasury of the United States.” Personal checks, business checks, and cash are not accepted.

Fingerprinting is a separate cost paid to whoever takes your prints. If you use a channeler, expect an additional service fee, generally $20 to $50, on top of the $18 FBI charge.

The Three Ways to Submit

By Mail Directly to the FBI

Send the completed FD-258, the request form, and your payment to:

FBI CJIS Division – Summary Request
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306⁷

Use a trackable mail service. Do not include a self-addressed stamped envelope — the FBI will not use one.¹ Mail-only requests typically take a few weeks to come back.

Electronically Through the FBI

You can start the request online at the FBI’s website, then either mail in your fingerprint card or use a participating USPS location for digital fingerprint capture.¹ Digital submissions through USPS can sometimes produce results in under 24 hours.

Through an FBI-Approved Channeler

Channelers are private companies authorized to submit fingerprint-based requests to the FBI electronically. You complete an application on the channeler’s site, get digitally fingerprinted at one of their locations or a partner site, and receive results electronically, usually within a few business days. The FBI publishes the current list on its website.⁸ Channelers must be U.S.-based, so this route is generally not available if you are outside the country.⁹

How Long It Takes and How Results Arrive

Turnaround depends entirely on the route. Mail-only requests to the FBI generally take a few weeks. USPS electronic submissions and channeler submissions are considerably faster. Requests sent to the FBI directly, whether by mail or through the electronic option, are returned by U.S. First-Class Mail, and the FBI does not offer expedited shipping.¹ Channelers deliver electronically, and some also mail a hard copy.

If you have a firm deadline for a visa, a job offer, or an adoption filing, build in extra time and consider the electronic or channeler routes. Timing estimates shift during high-volume periods.

What the Report Shows

If the FBI has criminal history information linked to your fingerprints, the report lists each entry submitted by law enforcement over the years. Each entry generally names the submitting agency, the date, the charge, and the disposition where one was reported. The information comes from federal sources and from state and local agencies that sent fingerprint data to the FBI.

If nothing is linked to your prints, you receive a “no record” response. That is the outcome most people applying for immigration purposes, visas, or employment screening are hoping to see.

A few things generally will not appear. Arrests that were never fingerprinted usually do not show up. Juvenile records normally stay off unless the case was transferred to adult court. Dispositions are often missing because not all agencies consistently report case outcomes to the FBI — a blank disposition is not the same as an open case.

Fixing Errors, Pardons, and Expungements

You can challenge anything on the report that is inaccurate or incomplete. The quickest fix is usually to contact the agency that originally submitted the record; a correction at the source flows back to the FBI. For a missing disposition, a certified court docket or sentencing record from the court that handled the case is the kind of documentation that resolves it.¹

You can also submit a challenge directly to the FBI’s CJIS Division at the Clarksburg address or by phone at 304-625-5590.⁷ Identify each disputed entry and include supporting documents such as court orders or disposition sheets. The FBI’s average response time on challenges is about 45 days.¹

Pardons and expungements do not automatically disappear from an FBI report. For a federal arrest, the entry is removed only when the FBI receives a federal court order specifically directing expungement or a removal request from the original submitting agency. For a state expungement or sealing order that still appears on your FBI report, contact the State Identification Bureau for the state where the offense occurred; that office coordinates the update with the FBI.¹

How Long the Report Stays Valid

The FBI does not put an expiration date on the report. Validity is set by whoever is asking for it. USCIS treats FBI fingerprint results as valid for 15 months from the FBI’s processing date for immigration purposes.¹⁰ Foreign governments, employers, and licensing boards commonly accept reports that are three to six months old, though some will take one up to a year old. Confirm the acceptable age with the requesting party before you order, so you do not end up paying twice.

Getting an Apostille for Use Abroad

If the report is going to a foreign government, you will almost certainly need it authenticated by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications. Countries in the 1961 Hague Convention require an apostille; other countries require an authentication certificate.¹¹

Complete Form DS-4194 and send it with your FBI report and $20 per document.¹² You can mail the request or drop it off in person in Washington, D.C. Mailed requests take about five weeks after receipt. Walk-in drop-offs are processed within seven business days. Same-day service is limited to life-or-death emergencies by appointment.¹¹

Between waiting on the FBI and waiting on the apostille, six to eight weeks is realistic if you use mail throughout. Some destination countries also require translation and notarization of the apostilled document, which adds more time.

Requesting from Outside the United States

Living abroad does not block you from requesting your report, but it does narrow your options. Because channelers must be U.S.-based, that route is generally unavailable overseas.⁹ The mail-in method is your main path.

Find a local source for ink-on-card fingerprinting; U.S. embassies and consulates sometimes offer the service or can refer you. Mail the completed FD-258 with payment to the Clarksburg address. Results come back by U.S. First-Class Mail, so international delivery adds time on both legs and tracking becomes unreliable once the envelope leaves the country.¹

If an Employer Is Running the Check

If an employer is obtaining an FBI-based background report through a third party, or asking you to hand one over, federal law applies. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, an employer using a third-party consumer reporting company must give you a standalone written disclosure that a report may be used for employment purposes and get your written authorization first.¹³ The disclosure cannot be buried inside an employment application. Before taking adverse action based on the report, the employer must give you a copy of the report and a notice of your rights.

Federal anti-discrimination law adds a further layer. EEOC guidance holds that blanket exclusions of anyone with a criminal record can violate Title VII if they disproportionately affect a protected group and are not tied to the job.¹⁴ The EEOC’s position is that an arrest alone does not establish that criminal conduct occurred, and that employers weighing convictions should consider the seriousness of the offense, the time that has passed, and the relationship of the offense to the job. Many state and local “ban the box” laws add further restrictions on top of the federal rules.

1
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
2
FBI. Identity History Summary Request Checklist
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FBI.gov. Identity History Summary Request Form
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Federal Bureau of Investigation. Applicant Fingerprint Form FD-258
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USPS. Register for Fingerprinting at the United States Postal Service
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FBI. Credit Card Payment Form
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Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting FBI Records
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FBI. List of Approved Channelers
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Federal Bureau of Investigation. Channeler FAQs
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USCIS. Chapter 2 – Background and Security Checks
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Travel.State.Gov. Office of Authentications
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Travel.State.Gov. Requesting Authentication Services
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Federal Trade Commission. Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act