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- Fingerprinting
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A person must complete an FBI Fingerprint Check if any of the following conditions apply:
- The person is non-DFPS staff who needs access to DFPS systems, facilities, or other resources and currently lives outside Texas or has lived outside of Texas in the past two years.
- The person is a DFPS PCS/PEI contractor who currently lives outside of Texas or has lived outside of Texas in the past five years.
- The person is applying to work for DFPS and provides an out-of-state drivers license at the time of the application.
- The person is applying to work for DFPS and currently lives outside of Texas or has lived outside of Texas in the past two years.
- DFPS has reasonable belief that a person has criminal history in another state.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) website provides the list of acceptable documents you can use to verify your identity. Please see the List of Documents to Prove Identity for FingerprintingPDF DocumentExternal Link.
Fingerprinting is required for children ages 14 - 17 years if they live in a:
- CPS placement
- Foster/adoptive home
Note: Fingerprinting is NOT required for children in DFPS care.
Minor applicants must arrive at the scheduled fingerprinting appointment with their parent or legal guardian. To verify a minor's identity, parents or legal guardians can use either:
- A document from the List of Documents to Prove Identity for FingerprintingPDF DocumentExternal Link.
or
- One of the documents listed in the Identification Requirements for Minor Fingerprinting ApplicantsPDF Document document, AND the Texas Photo ID Waiver for Minors form which is included in the Identification Requirements document.
If a minor applicant uses the Texas Photo ID Waiver for Minors form, parents or legal guardians must complete the information on the waiver form in the presence of the fingerprint enrollment agent.
UEID stands for Universal Enrollment Identification.
The UEID number is a unique identifying number that is assigned when you request an FBI check. A UEID number may be used to:
- Schedule a fingerprint appointment.
- Check the status of a fingerprinting appointment.
- Track the status of fingerprints to see if they were processed or rejected.
If you provided an email address as your "Method of Contact for Fingerprint Scheduling" when your background check was requested, you will receive an email containing your UEID from the DPS fingerprinting vendor.
If you do not receive the email or you did not provide an email address with your background check request, email us at Ask Background Checks. You must include your full name and date of birth with your request.
Yes. The person can schedule a fingerprint appointment on the fingerprinting vendor’s websiteExternal Link, but must bring valid identification to the appointment. See the FAQ for What are the ID Requirements for Fingerprinting.
The total fingerprinting fee is $39.75 for a DFPS employee or Purchased Client Services Contractor. The total fee is $37.75 for the following persons:
- DFPS volunteers and interns
- Children’s Protective Services (CPS) Foster or adoptive household members, visitors, and adoptive parents
- Children’s Protective Services (CPS) Kinship applicants
The fingerprinting fee is paid directly to the fingerprinting vendor, and must be paid with a business check, money order, or credit card.
NOTE: DFPS pays a portion of the FBI Fingerprinting fee for specific individuals. See the Fees for Background Checks and Fingerprinting page for more information about these fees.
If an email was provided when your background check was requested, the fingerprinting vendor sends your service code to that email address. If you do not receive the email or you did not provide an email address, contact askbc@dfps.texas.gov.
Are you a paid employee?
Do you receive financial compensation for the role in which this background check is being requested?
Note that DFPS stipends for foster and adoptive parents are not considered financial compensation.
When an individual is unable to leave his/her place of residence due to a physical disability, the individual may be eligible to be fingerprinted using the DFPS homebound process. This process requires the individual or family member to complete the Homebound Fingerprint Request FormWord Document, and email it to the Health and Human Services Centralized Background Check Unit (HHSC CBCU) at the Contact CBCU mailbox.
Once the Homebound Fingerprint Request Form is submitted, someone from HHSC CBCU contacts the family to go over the process to collect and process the person’s fingerprints at his/her place of residence.
If you have additional questions about this process, please email HHSC CBCU.
DFPS requires using an online system to automate and speed-up the processing of fingerprint checks. IdentoGO, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) fingerprint vendor, is the sole company DPS contracts with to accept electronic fingerprints for the purpose of criminal history checks.
Electronic fingerprinting allows DFPS to:
- Receive electronic results which can be automatically processed very quickly; and
- Receive notification from DPS if a person has additional criminal activity in the future, based on retained electronic fingerprints.
The list of the current fingerprinting locations is available on the fingerprinting vendor's websiteExternal Link. You must enter your service code in order to search for enrollment centers. See How do I find my Service Code.
Sometimes DPS or the FBI rejects fingerprints. If this happens, the fingerprinting vendor will attempt to contact you to schedule a reprint. If you are not contacted by the fingerprinting vendor, you must call (855) 845-7434 to schedule your reprint appointment and ask for a “reprint” appointment to avoid any additional fingerprinting fees.
The reprint must be completed within one year of the initial appointment. If the second set of fingerprints is also rejected and was completed within one year of the initial appointment, email Ask Background Checks to determine if you are eligible for a name-based search. This type of search must be requested within 90 days of the second set of fingerprints. If DFPS is not notified of the second rejection within the 90-day timeframe, you will require a new set of fingerprints, and will be required to pay a new fingerprinting fee.
If you have not received your FBI results and it has been more than seven days since you were fingerprinted, please send an email to Ask Background Checks.
In most cases, DFPS cannot utilize fingerprinting results obtained for another purpose or entity, outside of DFPS.
- If you submitted fingerprints for regulated child care, please contact the Ask Background Checks mailbox for assistance.
- If you submitted fingerprints for any another purpose outside of DFPS, you will have to submit new fingerprints for DFPS.
A person does not need to complete new fingerprints for DFPS if one of the following conditions apply:
- A person was fingerprinted for DFPS and has remained continuously employed with DFPS since the date the fingerprints were submitted through DFPS.
- An external user was fingerprinted for DFPS and the external user has remained continuously employed with the external agency and a name-based background check (DPS criminal history) and DFPS Central Registry check have been completed at least every 24 months since the date the fingerprints were submitted through DFPS.
If a person is unable to access a DPS fingerprinting vendor because he or she is unable to leave his/her place of residence due to a physical disability, he or she may be eligible to submit fingerprints on a hard card.
- If the person is disabled and unable to leave his/her residence, see the FAQ for How does a person submit fingerprints if he/she is homebound to request assistance with this process
- If the person has a disability or condition, and the person is not considered homebound, the following must be completed:
- Request the background check through the Automated Background Check System (ABCS) or by submitting a background check request form.
- Schedule a fingerprint. See Scheduling Your Fingerprint Appointment on the Background Checks Fingerprinting page.
- Send an email to the Ask Background Checks mailbox with the Subject Line of "Fingerprinting Assistance Requested" and include the person's name, date of birth, disability or condition, any accommodations that may be needed, and the date, time, and location of the fingerprinting appointment.
BC staff notify DPS and the fingerprinting vendor in advance of the person's scheduled appointment of any accommodations or special consideration that may be needed due to the person's disability or condition.
If you have not received the person's fingerprint results from DFPS within seven days from the date the person was fingerprinted, please send an email to the Ask Background Checks mailbox.
Last updated: June 29, 2023
