RCMP-accredited ink fingerprinting on the FBI's FD-258 and FD-1164 cards for your FBI Identity History Summary — for immigration to another country, foreign employment, licensing and adoption. Walk-ins welcome; done in about 10–15 minutes.
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DirectionsAn FBI Identity History Summary Check — also called an FBI background check, FBI clearance, FBI criminal record check, FBI police check, FBI record, or "rap sheet" — is a report of any criminal-history information the FBI holds about you in the United States, based on your fingerprints. It's requested using rolled ink prints, taken the traditional ink-and-roll way on the FBI's FD-258 fingerprint card (also written FD 258; some applications instead call for the FD-1164 card, and we roll that one too). We take those prints for you, on the correct card, to the standard the FBI expects — then you submit the card to the FBI, or to an FBI-approved Channeler, along with your application. It's the go-to document when an organization outside the US needs proof of your American criminal history.
Your US criminal history from the FBI is fingerprint-based and taken as rolled ink prints on the FD-258 card. This is what you need if you have lived or worked in the United States, or if a foreign process specifically asks for your FBI Identity History Summary.
Book FBI ink prints →Your Canadian criminal record from the RCMP is a different document, taken by digital LiveScan. If you need your Canadian record — for example for a US entry waiver — that's the digital service, not this ink one. Not sure which you need? Call us and we'll sort it out.
Foreign police clearances →The simple rule: FBI = the American record, on ink FD-258. RCMP = the Canadian record, on digital LiveScan. We do both — this page is the FBI ink service. Unsure which your application wants? Call 705-999-7903. Applying from outside the US? See every type of ink fingerprinting we offer →
Bring two valid government-issued photo IDs. If your application gives an FBI/agency reference number, ORI, or a specific mailing address for the card, bring that too.
We take clean, rolled ink fingerprints on the FBI FD-258 card — RCMP-accredited technicians, done right the first time so the card isn't rejected for quality. About 10–15 minutes.
You send the completed FD-258 card to the FBI, or to an FBI-approved Channeler, with your application and fee. The FBI issues your Identity History Summary directly to you.
If you've lived or worked in the United States, or an organization abroad wants your American record, you'll likely need an FBI Identity History Summary. We regularly take FD-258 prints for:
Our part is taking accurate, acceptance-ready FD-258 ink prints. Processing times, fees, and how the summary is returned are set by the FBI or your chosen Channeler and can change, so check current FBI requirements before submitting. Requirements can also vary by the country or organization asking for it — if your request letter lists specifics (a channeler, an apostille, an ORI number), bring it and we'll make sure the card matches.
Need your Canadian record instead? See foreign police clearances (ink) or RCMP digital fingerprinting.
We stock and roll both, free with your appointment. If your instructions name a card, bring them and we match it exactly — if they don't, this is the usual rule.
The familiar blue-and-white applicant card. This is the one most people are asked for, when someone else — an employer, a licensing board, an agency — is requesting the check about you.
The white card, generally used when you are requesting your own FBI Identity History Summary rather than someone asking for it. Same rolled prints, different pre-printed card.
Either way the impressions are identical — ten rolled and flat prints, taken by hand. Not sure which yours is? Call 705-999-7903 and read us the instructions before you come in.
This is one of the most common reasons Canadians come to us for FBI prints, and it rarely gets explained properly. If you're applying to a US state licensing board — nursing, medicine, pharmacy, teaching, real estate, insurance, security, law, accounting, childcare, trades — the board will usually ask for an FBI Identity History Summary, or send you their own fingerprint card to complete and return.
Because you're in Canada, you can't walk into a US LiveScan site. The prints have to be rolled here, in ink, on the correct card, and submitted from here. That's exactly what we do.
Note: we take the fingerprints. We are not the FBI, not a US licensing board, and we don't file your licence application or obtain the summary on your behalf — you submit it through your board's own process. What we're responsible for is a card clean enough to be accepted the first time.
We roll the prints; you submit them. That part trips people up more than the fingerprinting does, so here is the whole route in plain terms. None of it is our process — it is the FBI's, and it can change — but knowing it before you leave our office saves weeks.
Your completed FD-258 goes to the FBI's CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia, together with the FBI's applicant information form and the fee. Alternatively an FBI-approved Channeler can submit for you — usually faster, though most are set up for submissions inside the United States, so confirm they accept a card mailed from Canada first.
Mailed requests generally take about two to six weeks from the day the FBI receives a complete package, plus international post in both directions. Channeler submissions are typically quicker. These are the FBI's timelines, not ours, and they move — check the current figures before you plan around a deadline.
If the summary is for a country in the Hague Apostille Convention — for a visa, residency or licence — it will usually need an apostille before that country accepts it. That is a separate step you arrange after the FBI returns your result.
To be clear about what we do and do not do: we take and roll your fingerprints on the correct card, to the standard the FBI expects. We do not submit your request, obtain your summary, or arrange apostilles, and we are not the FBI or the U.S. Department of State. The steps above are provided so you know what comes next — verify the current requirements with the issuing authority, because they change without notice.
Ink and FD-258 work is a specialist service — and we are the only RCMP-accredited office in Simcoe County open seven days a week, with evening appointments to 9PM by arrangement. Read the reviews →