FBI background check for PR --> Digital Fingerprinting in Australia?

Posted by wavelife8888@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 50 comments

I have to complete an FBI background check (Identity History Summary Check) on a tight timeline to apply for PR, and I was wondering if there are any places in Australia deemed "FBI-approved Channelers" that can send digital fingerprints to the FBI? Because I have to get my background check done ASAP I fear I might have to fly to the states to use the USPS digital fingerprinting service if I can't find someone in Australia who can do it digitally. Any advice on how to potentially get it done digitally from Australia (or New Zealand!) and sent to the FBI ASAP would be greatly appreciated !

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

The Rocks police station (Sydney) will take your electronic (digital) fingerprints and send it off to the FBI for you.

1) Just apply for the FBI rap sheet on FBI website and pay the fee. 2) Print the confirmation email they send you (has a barcode). 3) Go to Australia post and buy a prepaid international A4 registered envelope.

4) Go to the station and they’ll charge less than $50 to do your digital prints, print it and let you put the confirmation email and fingerprints into the envelope at the station. Then the station will post it for you.

IM WRITING THIS TO HELP OTHERS - there I no info online :(

I spent WEEKS trying to get this done and my wet ink fingerprints were rejected by FBI as my fingers were too dry.

Thank goodness for NSW Police. Super nice in The Rocks cbd station

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desisyd@reddit

Thank you for the really helpful information! Like you, I am also not a US citizen and don't have a Social Security Number (SSN). When you submitted the online application and posted the fingerprint form, did you leave the SSN field blank? Did you mail any identity documents with the fingerprint form? Lastly, which fingerprint form did you mail - FD-1164 or FD-258?

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

I left it blank yes :)

I did not mail identify documents.

I’m afraid I don’t know which form I used…. The police station printed it and sent it off for me.

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MangoRemarkable137@reddit

you are a huge source of info and can't thank you enough for all these posts - just read over and was able to convince a police station in QLD, based on your info, to offer same service as The Rocks station based on your details. One Clarification : did you use a 3rd party / Channeler for this? If so, who? I do not see National Background Information channeler on the FBI website as approved. Happy to use anyone that works just need this fast and not a 3 month FBI standard timeline. https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/identity-history-summary-checks/list-of-fbi-approved-channelers-for-departmental-order-submissions

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

Happy to help! That’s awesome you persuaded them - doing a service to many of your peers in QLD!

No didn’t use a Channeller, I brought a prepaid postage bag with me (filled in the FBI’s provided address and put my address on the back) and then the police station posted it for me. They wouldn’t let me post it (I am unsure why exactly but I assume it’s to avoid any tampering).

I had read that it would be faster to use a third party channeller so I guess the police may be open to posting it to them.. but it’s an added cost and doesn’t save any time for us. Once the FBI got my package they emailed me the results!

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itsliamn@reddit

Hi, Thanks for the info, I'm in the process of doing it at the moment, but just wondering about the waiting time. How long does it take all together from the time you got your finger print done at the police station till you've got the result back from FBI? I'm on a tight dead line :(

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

3-4 weeks :)

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Wonderful_Relief_596@reddit

Heyy, did you have to book an appointment for the fingerprints or you just went as a walk-in? I’m in Victoria and the website says I have to book an appointment online and they have two options ink or live scan. Did you get the live scan done?

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

I got the live scan yep. No I didn’t book an appointment, I called them and they told me the days/timeframes that their scanner expert was there. So I walked in during those times :)

I tried ink initially (we sent 5 copies in) and was rejected by the FBI as the prints weren’t good enough.

With the digital scan the system will tell you immediately whether the print is a pass or fail. So really minimises any chance the FBI would reject the prints on their end

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woahhaley@reddit

Hey there! I’ve gone through this process 3x for visas in New Zealand and BLESS they’re so much easier. Anyways, I’ve just done my first one here in Australia for my partner visa.. FBI Emailed this morning saying my wet ink prints weren’t readable (i knew this would be the case) I went to Newcastle police station where they said i had to roll my own prints. (they watched, and provided ink) But clearly i didn’t do a great job.. when i’ve read the FBI identity history summary request information online i’ve never seen that i could get them digitally done? I thought it was wet ink only :( I printed off the fingerprinting forms from office works, went to the post office and got the express international postage envelope etc, and the police station sent it off for me. it took about a month to hear back. Is it really just as simple as going back to the station with all the other bits and bobs and getting them done digitally?? 😅 Thank you!!!

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

You just need to find a police station that can do it digitally! It’s a special machine so not all of the stations have it I’m afraid. The wet ink is such a gamble 😩

Sounds like they didn’t have the machine at the Newcastle station?

The Rocks police station (in Sydney cbd) may be worth the train/drive trip if you can’t find a station closer to you.

Otherwise if ring around a few times perhaps until a kind officer picks up the phone and knows where you could go!

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Ok_Reindeer_9441@reddit

Question: do you take the special fbi form with you or do they already have the template? Or do they just print it on an empty sheet?

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

Hello! Assume you’re talking about the fingerprint form? I did take mine with me but they didn’t use it. They took fingerprints on a machine digitally and printed a sheet that had all the prints on them.

I DID need the confirmation email with a barcode as you put this in the envelope alongside the fingerprints.

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Ok_Reindeer_9441@reddit

Thanks mate, that helps a lot.

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woahhaley@reddit

Awesome thank you for the reply!!! i’ll ring around a few places, though I know the Newcastle station does do digital prints but I said no sorry I have to ink roll them 🤦🏽‍♀️ They’ll print it out on the print form that the FBI requires, because i’ve seen the Australian fingerprinting form and it’s just a little different. Thanks x

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

Excellent!! :) All the best

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kermadii@reddit

hi there! when you downloaded the rap sheet, it says you can pay via credit card by filling out the credit card form and mailing it, or mail the 18USD to them right? how did you pay the fee straight up?

also, with the confirmation email, did you get that from requesting the rap sheet or by paying the fee?

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

Yep paid straight up with credit card. Got confirmation email after paying the fee :)

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Cute-Conversation647@reddit

hi, I am unable to pay and get confirmation. Could you please provide any link of that?

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Serious-Hope-3550@reddit

Hi, you may have already figured this out but I'm going through the process now and I was able to pay and get the barcode via this link: https://www.edo.cjis.gov/#/do-info

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CeeFlo9@reddit

Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm in a real time-crunch regarding my visa situation. After the police station mailed your digital fingerprints to the US for you, how did you receive your background check? Did the FBI email it to you or snail mail it to you? I have about a month and a half to get this all done, unfortunately. Thanks again for your help!

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

Email :) the postage to US took the longest.. 3 weeks! Then the FBI processed within 1 week and sent an email with PDF of the results!

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Cute-Conversation647@reddit

This is great information shared by you...thank you...i have a question regarding validity of this FBI check...for how long this will stay valid? so that I can share for different purposes.

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

Yep, I’m not an American citizen. I’m not sure of validity as it doesn’t say on the report from FBI.

I think it’s dependant on the organisation requesting it. I’m sure the Aussie govt had requested that it was a new background check, not a previously requested one.

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Cute-Conversation647@reddit

thank you for replying back...

could you please let me know the website or third party, from where I can download the forms?

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robireng@reddit

Do I have to bring a blank fingerprint sheet to the police station?

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Fuzzy-Wombat-2610@reddit

Sorry for delay! No I didn’t need to. They run it digitally and print it.

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TheMarketingNotary@reddit

One option is to get your fingerprints onto a FD-258 Card, then send them to be "digitized" and then uploaded to the FBI from an approved channeler who specializes in this process. If you need help finding someone I can help. The turnaround time for the FBI Background Check is generally 24-72 hrs (US Citizens Only).

Jim

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Lopsided_Arrival_730@reddit

Hi, where can I find an approved channeler in Australia?

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Seeker627@reddit

OP, I live in Australia and just had to go through this for PR last year. Here's what you do:

Find a channeler you want to use. I picked https://www.nbinformation.com/index.php and they worked great!
Download their forms and fill them out.
Go to AusPost and get a prepaid envelope, addressed to the channeler (address on the forms).
Contact your local police station and tell them you need fingerprinting done for a background check. I went to the station in Sydney CBD and they were very helpful. You probably need to go to a station in a major metro for this to work best.
Show up to the station with your forms and envelope. They will take your fingerprints, then take the envelope+fingerprints+forms from you and mail them on your behalf.
This is the tricky part. Once you hear back from the channeler with a download link for your report, you won't be able to access this link outside the US. A VPN won't work either, it is detected. To get around this, you can have a family/friend in the US download them for you, or if you're tech-savvy do what I did: rent a virtual machine on US soil and remote into it to download your report.

It's....a process but these steps worked perfectly for me last year and we just got PR in October. Good luck!

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Elegant_Self_6485@reddit

Thank you for the information. But the website only provides service for US citizen, so does some other websites I saw. It is so hard to find where I can get my fingerprint done as non-citizen who lived in America for 9 years. Any clue? Thank you.

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Delicious-Bluebird51@reddit

Did you manage to figure this one out?

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Mavrik-1987@reddit

Thanks for the process, I have a question - which format have you printed FD -258. In website its saying standard paper stock. The size in US and Australia is different. Also is that a standard paper or any thick paper

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Possible_Ad_6924@reddit

Did you just print the fingerprint forms on paper, or did you use card stock?

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Strong-Escape-1885@reddit

Hey, this is great info thanks. I'm in the same boat right now. Can I ask, did you put a US or Australian address on your FBI form? I know it doesn't matter if you're only getting a digital report but I was worried if I put an Australian address they might not allow it. I do have a US address I can use.

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Seeker627@reddit

US address of a family member, picked up the hard copy report when we visited next

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Individual-West-1940@reddit

I had been to Paramatta Police station, they asked me to get a ink pad and then they told it may smudge. If it smudged on the forms the FBI may reject. when you went to CBD , was it digital form and then took printout ? Or you took inkpad and got it done on the paper?

if it was manual were there any smudges when you folded the paper ?

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Seeker627@reddit

The CBD station had a nice digital machine. No smudges

They mailed off the package for me, wouldn't let me have the printout.

So I got everything except the fingerprint prepped before I went, they took the scan, then mailed it off

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Probablepaws@reddit

Thanks Much OP! Just used this same process for PR in Australia as well. Your post saved me such a headache.

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Individual-West-1940@reddit

do we have to take inkpad and go to police station ?

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kam47@reddit

How did you send money to pay for it? Did you put the credit card authorization form or can they accept checks or money orders from overseas?

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Itchy-Can-9880@reddit

Hi! I’ve seen some say that if you go through a third party, you’d need to get it apostilled. Is this true?

I am a U.S. citizen currently living in Vietnam and I am trying to apply for the WHV visa. I DHL’d my fingerprints to the FBI office almost three weeks ago. If I redo them with NBI, I just want to make sure I don’t have to get the background check apostilled.

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wavelife8888@reddit (OP)

Thank you so much! How long did this take from when you sent it off to when you got the background check result?

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iiwinterkittenii@reddit

About to do this myself- did you go through it, how did it work?

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Seeker627@reddit

We got an express envelope so it took about 5 days total

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No-Pea-8967@reddit

I faced a similar thing in the UK. There are no FBI approved international channelers - they have to be US based. I worked with a company in the UK that acted as a go-between. They took my fingerprints digitally, sent them to a channeler in NYC and I got my report within 48 hours.

You should have something similar in any major city. I did a Google search and found these people. Not sure if they are any good but maybe check them out or contact them (and check their reviews):

https://www.globeia.com/au/services/fbi-identity-history-summary-check

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TheMarketingNotary@reddit

The best way to do this, especially if you are a US Citizen, is to be fingerprinted on a FD-258 Card and send it to a channeler who can digitize the card and upload to the FBI for your report. It generally takes 24-72 hrs to process and you have your FBI background report.

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