Fingerprints
No more waiting days or weeks for an appointment

State and Federal Electronic Fingerprinting
Kids ID Program

What is Live Scan Fingerprinting?
Live Scan Bay Area's fingerprint stations are available to assist the public for the purposes of pre-employment background checks. Live Scan Bay Area has the ability to digitally transmit your fingerprints to the Calif. Dept. of Justice.

Results are recieved within days, versus a minimum of 10 weeks required fro the old ink rolling method. LiveScan is inkless electronic fingerprinting. The fingerprints are electronically transmitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for completion of a criminal record check. The Live Scan technology replaces the process of recording an individual's fingerprint patterns through a rolling process using ink.

Digitizing the fingerprint minutiae (the characteristics that make fingerprints unique) enables the electronic transfer of the fingerprint image data in combination with personal descriptor information to central computers at the DOJ in a matter of seconds, instead of the days required to send hard copy fingerprint cards through the mail. Additionally the DOJ will coordinate other processing resulting from the automated submission of fingerprints, including forwarding the fingerprints to the FBI (if required).

History of Live Scan Fingerprinting
As a result of legislation passed in late 1997, the DOJ has developed an automated background check process that requires digitized fingerprints ("Live Scan"). Digitizing the fingerprints enables the electronic transfer of fingerprint image.

How Does the Process Work?
A trained technician will scan your fingerprints using the most advanced live scan equipment . That's all there is to it. The electronic fingerprinting appointment takes five to ten minutes and your prints are immediately available for electronic transmission to the California Department of Justice for background processing.

Who Needs Live Scan?
Live Scan Fingerprints are required to be submitted by Real Estate Licensees, Notaries, Vehicle salespersons, vehicle dealers, driving instructors, or any other vehicle industry related occupation licensed by DMV, Foster Parents, Stock Brokers, Teachers, Appraisers, Elder Care Givers, as well as anyone having contact with children or the elderly, Security Guards, Immigration Visa, etc.

What are the benefits of Live Scan?
Live Scan will avoid many of the problems associated with ink prints, such as smudging, smearing, and over or under inking. A major benefit of Live Scan is in processing speed since nearly all of those without criminal records are done within 72 hours and up to 30 days if there is a criminal record. Rolled ink prints (traditionally submitted on a fingerprint card) can take 10 to 12 days to process (plus mail time) and up to 60 days if there is a criminal record.

Payment Options
Fingerprinting services can be paid for by Cash, Check, Money Order, Visa, MasterCard The applicant must also produce a "Request for Live Scan Service" form. They can be obtained from the requesting agency or online. We do provide some Live Scan service forms.

Advantages of Live Scan
The processing time for fingerprints submitted at a Live Scan facility are much less than fingerprints submitted on paper hard cards.

		Live Scan Response Time		DOJ: 3 - 7 Days FBI: 7 - 15 Days
		Hard Card Response Time		DOJ: 6 - 8 Weeks FBI: 60 - 90 Days

Checking on Status of Fingerprint Submission
Please allow a minimum of seven days before making a status inquiry. Applicants should check first with the agency that requested the background review since the Department of Justice sends results directly to the applicant agency. While most results are sent electronically to the applicant agency, some organizations require the results to be sent by regular post. Requests that require the manual processing of criminal history information, such as those involving pre-1945 cases, also may delay the reporting of results.

24-hour Automated Telephone Service Available: 916-227-4557
If a requesting agency does not have results yet and digital Live Scan fingerprints were submitted, you can use the automated telephone system to check on your submission. You will need the following information: (1) your date of birth; and (2) the 10-digit Automated Transaction Identifier (ATI) number that appears at the bottom of the Department of Justice form requesting Live Scan fingerprint background checks. The ATI number always appears in the following sequence: 1 LETTER; 3 NUMBERS; 3 LETTERS and 3 NUMBERS.