Manual Card Process Overview

The Department of Justice does have limited statutory authority to issue an exemption to Penal Code section 11077.1(a) if an electronic transmission site is regionally unavailable or internal processing procedures dictate a need. If an exemption is sought, applicants, not the regulatory entity, must submit a CJIS 9004 - Request for Exemption from Mandatory Electronic Fingerprint Submission Requirement along with the FD-258 fingerprint card.

If you reside outside the State of California, you will need to use the manual fingerprint card process. Fingerprints should be rolled at a local law enforcement office, or by a person professionally trained in the rolling of prints. Fingerprint Card (FD-258) is the only card accepted by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) for processing.

Be sure to complete all information. Failure to provide any of the requested information will result in your application being considered incomplete. You can get fingerprint cards by contacting the Bureau's Licensing Unit at (916) 574-7870, or you can check with the agency rolling your fingerprints to check to see if they have the correct fingerprint card (FD-258).

A background response from fingerprint cards can take six to eight weeks or longer for processing. Poor quality prints may result in rejection and will substantially delay licensing, as additional cards will be required from you for processing.

If you need to use the manual card process, please refer to the Instructions for Completing the Manual Card Process.