FBI Identity History Summary
The most common reason — obtaining your own FBI record for immigration abroad, foreign employment, adoption, or because you've lived or worked in the United States.
FBI fingerprinting →Looking for an FD-258 fingerprint card near you? We roll FD 258 applicant cards by hand at our RCMP-accredited Barrie office — blank cards supplied free, about 10–15 minutes, open seven days a week with evening appointments to 9PM by arrangement.
Book Your Appointment →The FD-258 — written variously as FD 258 or FD258 — is the FBI's standard applicant fingerprint card. It's a physical card with spaces for each finger rolled individually in ink, plus identifying details and, usually, a reason-fingerprinted code supplied by whoever is requesting it.
It exists because the receiving agency needs a card in hand. Canada's digital LiveScan system submits electronically to the RCMP and produces a Canadian result — it never creates a physical card and it doesn't communicate with the FBI or any US agency. If your instructions name an FD-258, digital will not satisfy them.
The most common reason — obtaining your own FBI record for immigration abroad, foreign employment, adoption, or because you've lived or worked in the United States.
FBI fingerprinting →Nursing, medicine, pharmacy, teaching, real estate, insurance, security and legal boards frequently require an FD-258 or their own equivalent card completed from Canada.
US licensing →HazMat endorsements for commercial drivers, TSA programs, federal agency submissions and employer background checks that require a card rather than an electronic file.
All ink services →Need a foreign police clearance instead? That usually uses a different card — see police clearance certificate fingerprinting.
Two government-issued photo IDs plus any letter, reference number or reason-fingerprinted code you were given. No card? We supply blank FD-258s.
Each finger rolled individually by an RCMP-accredited technician, every impression checked before you leave, anything unclear re-rolled. About 10–15 minutes.
You send the completed card to the FBI, an approved channeler, or the agency that requested it. We hand you a card that will stand up to review.
This trips people up constantly, and getting it wrong means starting over. The three cards look similar but serve different purposes. Written variously as FD-258 / FD 258 / FD258, FD-1164 / FD 1164 / FD1164, and SF-87 / SF 87 / SF87 — the spelling varies by whoever sent your instructions.
| Card | Who it's for | Typical situation |
|---|---|---|
| FD-258 FD 258 · FD258 |
Agency-driven checks — someone else is asking | An employer, a US state licensing board, an adoption agency, a HazMat endorsement, an ATF form, or a foreign process that asks for the FBI's standard applicant card |
| FD-1164 FD 1164 · FD1164 |
You, requesting your own FBI record | Applying directly to the FBI for your own Identity History Summary — to see what's on your record, to check it before an employer does, or to correct or update it |
| SF-87 SF 87 · SF87 |
US federal employment applicants | Standard Form 87, used for US federal government positions and certain agency applicants |
| C-216C C216C |
Canadian criminal record checks | The RCMP's own civil applicant fingerprint form, used on the Canadian side rather than for any US purpose |
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 →