Arizona introduces electronic fingerprint application system

Arizona’s Department of Public Safety electronic fingerprint application system (EFAS) now gives state residents the opportunity to apply for a fingerprint clearance card online, dramatically reducing the time necessary to process and issue cards.

It is hoped that teachers, real estate agents, foster parents and those requiring fingerprint-based background checks will be able to apply for licenses or go to work sooner with the EFAS solution.

It currently takes around four weeks to complete a fingerprint clearance. For applicants with no criminal history, a person could have a clearance card in-hand in just a couple of days.

Arizona is working with Fieldprint, Inc. to provide the new electronic fingerprint application system. Fieldprint delivers electronic fingerprinting and identity management services to private companies; the general public, and; the federal, state, local and tribal government sectors.

To apply for a fingerprint clearance card on-line, residents need to visit FieldprintArizona.com and begin the process by opening an account, completing the electronic application, and scheduling an appointment to have their fingerprints electronically “live scanned” at participating vendors state-wide. It will cost $7.95 to use EFAS however, there is no change to the current fingerprint clearance card application fees.

The technology will not cost the state any money to implement and the current paper application process will still remain available to the public.

“The EFAS system will take our agency to less than one percent in fingerprint error processing and will greatly reduce the one thousand-plus paper applications that we regularly receive each day,” said Captain Stephen Enteman of the Department’s Technical Services Division. “The customer may also see that it is cheaper than the current paper method when taking postage and fingerprinting fees into account.”

Article Topics

background checks  |  biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  identity management  |  identity verification  |  livescan