Out-of-State Fingerprints | Mailing a Hardcopy Fingerprint Card

We are often asked if you need to physically be in Colorado to have your fingerprints taken.

The short answer is no. If you are outside of Colorado, IdentoGO has locations in many states, so we recommend starting the appointment process with them first, by clicking here. During the setup process, you will have the opportunity to view nationwide locations that offer electronic fingerprint centers that have been approved by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that are nearest to you. We do not recommend searching from IdentoGO's website directly, as they may have a location near you, but they may not be approved for Colorado fingerprinting by the CBI and so we suggest you use the link we have provided that is already coded with the information for fingerprinting for CDE. This is the only fingerprinting vendor approved by CBI outside of Colorado which may limit your choices. While you are submitting fingerprints for licensure with CDE, it is important to note that we do not oversee the fingerprinting process as that is overseen by the CBI and the FBI.

If you determine that there are no locations near you and you want to mail a fingerprint card into a card conversion center, you will need to have your fingerprints taken by a law enforcement agency. Then follow the instructions in the next section regarding the mail in process. Unfortunately, with so many locations all over the country, CDE does not have a list of available centers and we cannot tell you where centers might be located, you will determine that during your appointment setup from the link above. We also cannot provide you with law enforcement agencies that offer applicant fingerprinting. Call or visit the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction where you live to ask if they offer applicant fingerprinting, what the fee is and if they supply the required fingerprint card or if you have to supply the card. If they only offer livescan fingerprinting and cannot print a hard copy for you, then you cannot use them for this purpose.

We also get asked if you can mail a fingerprint card in.

The short answer is yes, but not directly to CBI or CDE. You first must have your fingerprints taken by a law enforcement agency on the standard blue FD-258 Applicant fingerprint card. To purchase a FD-258 Applicant card, either search the internet or click here where they are readily available on Amazon.com. You also must pre-enroll with IdentoGO by visiting their website by clicking here to start the process.  Scroll to the bottom of that screen and click on the link titled "Submit a Fingerprint Card by Mail," and then continue the pre-enrollment process and submit your payment for this service. After you have submitted your payment you will be directed to the final registration page where you will complete some information, print the document that you will need to mail along with your fingerprint card. Do not omit this step as your fingerprints will not be processed without this form.

Click here for step-by-step instructions as it is important that you understand what is needed on your fingerprint card before you have your fingerprints taken at the local law enforcement agency.

Risks

Mailing in a fingerprint card should be a last resort as this process comes with some risk. You will risk significant time delays as the process. For instance, if you have your fingerprints taken at an fingerprint center, CDE generally receives those results anywhere from a few hours to a day or two. Mailing a fingerprint card into the card conversion center, can increase this time from a few hours to several weeks as there are many circumstances that could further delay this process. Some examples we've seen are, misdirected or lost mail, quality issues with your fingerprints that cause a rejection of your fingerprints, required data on that fingerprint card is omitted, not including the signed confirmation page your fingerprint are a few examples of why your card may be rejected. When any of these occur, you may need to repeat this process all over again from the beginning and at your expense and loss of time.

Considerations

You have choices that only you can make and CDE is unable to advise you on. If you are attempting to be fingerprinted out-of-state in order to apply in Colorado because you are moving here, consider waiting to be fingerprinted until after you're in Colorado. This may be especially important for you if you do not have an IdentoGO in your state. You may not actually be saving anytime trying to do this ahead of time from out-of-state. Application processing times can be up to 6 weeks in Colorado, but generally we only see this in the busy summer months (May through September). If you are applying and it is between October and April, your application may be processed in as little as a few days.

If you live outside of Colorado and live within a few hours of an IdentoGO, it may be worth the drive for peace and mind that the process is finished and that you can apply without worrying about when your fingerprint results will be received by us.

Keep in mind, that your application and your fingerprint results should be received by us around the same time, but no later than 30 days from the date we receive your fingerprint results as without a qualifying application on file, we can only keep your results for 30 days.You can always check your fingerprinting status by logging into your eLicensing account and by viewing the alert shown at the top of the "My Profile" section.

Lastly, if you do elect to mail your fingerprint card in, and you begin completing your application in the section that asks if you are in compliance with the fingerprint requirement, you can indicate that you are in compliance as we will consider your fingerprints "in process" as long as you either have a fingerprinting appointment set up at a center or you have completed the pre-enrollment process and have mailed your fingerprints into the card conversion center. In either event, you do not need to wait for results to post to your account before applying, but again, they need to come in as close to the same time as possible.