Fingerprint Process

Some tribal gaming facility employees and managerial positions must obtain a gaming license from their tribal regulatory authority. Different tribes require different licensing based upon the specific position in the gaming facility. Part of the licensing process includes a background investigation. NIGC assists tribal gaming regulatory authorities in processing over 67,000 fingerprint cards each year as part of the background investigation process. The NIGC conducts training for gaming facilities and tribal gaming commissions to assist with the submission of fingerprints.

The NIGC annually reviews the cost of processing fingerprint cards and sets a fee based on its actual costs for processing and the amount charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  See Fee Rate Bulletin for current fingerprint processing charge. 

Outlined below are the process requirements for submitting eFingerprints and hard cards to the NIGC.

• Review the document’s Mandatory Fields before inputting your fingerprints.
• If a mistake is made (i.e. incorrect Social Security number, date of birth or misspelled name), contact the NIGC Fingerprint Administrator immediately.
• Applicants with Sr., Jr., II or III should be entered in following the applicant’s last name. 
• If you see the following statement on a RAP sheet: “A CRIMINAL HISTORY REQUEST NOTIFICATION(S) WAS SENT BY THE FBI TO THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS, EXCEPT FOR THOSE INDICATING THAT THE REFERENCED SUBJECT IS DECEASED.” This indicates that the state is not obligated to report to the FBI that the applicant is deceased.
• Ensure in the Reason Fingerprinted field, you enter “INDIAN GAMING LICENSEE.”
• If you mail the initial set of prints to NIGC, they will be recorded as duplicate prints. You do not need to mail in hard copy prints if you have submitted them through eFingerprints.

• Resubmissions must be done within 45 days from the first “invalid” notification.
• Generate a new set of prints, which will generate a new TCN number automatically.
• Follow the finger printing process as normal.
• In the TCN TCR field, manually enter the 16-digit FBI TCN number that begins with an E.
• At the bottom of the screen, click the Resubmit button.

• When sending the NIGC your hard cards, make sure to manually write “INDIAN GAMING LICENSEE” in the Reason Fingerprinted field.
• Ensure the applicant signs the hard card copy
• It will take between 3 to 5 days, including shipping for the response to be returned.
• If you need hard cards, please contact the NIGC Fingerprint Administrator.

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