An Arizona fingerprint clearance card is a background-check credential issued by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) that you must hold before working in dozens of licensed or certified professions in the state. It confirms you have no disqualifying criminal history, stays valid for six years, and is obtained by submitting an online application, having your fingerprints taken, and passing a review against state and FBI criminal databases.1A.R.S. § 41-1758.03; § 41-1758.07
Who Needs One
Arizona law ties the card to jobs that involve vulnerable populations or public trust. Teachers, childcare workers, foster and adoptive parents, behavioral health professionals, home health aides, real estate agents, certain state agency employees, and many healthcare licensees all need active cards. Your employer, licensing board, or certifying agency tells you whether the requirement applies and cites the statute that triggers it.
You cannot start in a covered position until the card is issued, and you have to keep it active for as long as you hold the role. If the card expires or is suspended, your employer can remove you immediately.
Regular Card vs. Level I Card
DPS issues two levels. The Regular card is governed by A.R.S. § 41-1758.03; the Level I card falls under A.R.S. § 41-1758.07 and carries a longer list of disqualifying offenses. Some convictions that block a Level I card will still allow a Regular card.
Level I is required for people fingerprinted under statutes tied to agencies like the Department of Economic Security, the Department of Child Safety, and the Department of Health Services. Childcare providers, foster parents, and behavioral health workers typically fall in this category. The Regular card covers many other licensed professions where statute does not demand the same scrutiny. You do not choose between the two: the reason code your sponsoring agency gives you determines which one you receive.
IVP vs. Non-IVP Cards
Separate from the Regular and Level I split, Arizona also distinguishes Identity Verified Prints (IVP) cards from Non-IVP cards. The background check is the same. What changes is the chain of custody for your prints.
IVP cards are required under A.R.S. § 15-106 for anyone applying for or renewing a teaching certificate, student teaching, working in a charter school that requires fingerprinting, or providing contracted tutoring for a school district or the state. With IVP, the fingerprint technician verifies your identity against photo ID and sends the sealed print card directly to DPS in a special postage-paid envelope. You never touch the sealed prints. With Non-IVP, the technician seals the card and hands it back to you to mail with your application and fee.
If your sponsoring agency requires IVP and you submit Non-IVP prints, your application will not be processed correctly.
How to Apply
Create an account on the Arizona DPS Public Services Portal. You need a valid government-issued photo ID, your Social Security number, your sponsoring agency’s name, and the reason code that ties your application to the statute requiring the card. Your employer or licensing board provides the reason code, and it tells DPS which card level and which set of disqualifying offenses apply.
After you submit the application online, choose between electronic fingerprinting and paper cards. For electronic submission, DPS uses Fieldprint as its scheduling vendor. Book an appointment, get printed at a Fieldprint location, and the data transmits to DPS digitally. For paper, you visit a fingerprint technician (DPS itself does not roll prints) and then mail the sealed card with your application and fee to:
DPS Clearance Card Section
P.O. Box 18390
Phoenix, AZ 85005-8390
Paper applications must be paid by money order, cashier’s check, or a check drawn on a business account. No personal checks, no cash.
Out-of-State Applicants
If you live outside Arizona, start through the Public Services Portal to get a reference number, then have your prints taken by a local law enforcement agency or private fingerprinting service. The technician writes your reference number in the “Miscellaneous No.” box, completes the correct affidavit (IVP or Non-IVP), and seals everything per DPS instructions. IVP applicants must first request a blue postage-paid return envelope through the portal’s message center, providing the IVP number and mailing address.
Fees and Processing Time
The DPS application fee is $67, or $65 for volunteers. It is non-refundable whether your card is approved or denied. Paying online adds a small credit card processing surcharge. The fingerprinting vendor charges its own service fee that varies by location.
Most applicants receive their card within a few weeks after DPS receives usable prints. Delays usually come from FBI print-quality rejections, which force you to be reprinted and resubmit.
Offenses That Block a Card
Arizona sorts disqualifying offenses into permanent preclusions and non-permanent preclusions. Which category applies decides whether you have any path forward.
Permanent Preclusions
Offenses listed in subsection B of A.R.S. § 41-1758.03 and § 41-1758.07 result in a lifetime bar. The list covers homicide (first and second degree murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide); sexual offenses including sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a minor or vulnerable adult, child sex trafficking, molestation, and sexual conduct with a minor; child abuse, felony child neglect, drug-related exploitation of minors, and dangerous crimes against children; sex trafficking, luring a minor for sexual exploitation, and pandering; any felony domestic violence offense (with a narrow exception for certain criminal damage offenses committed before June 29, 2009); and anyone required to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction.
These offenses bar issuance whether you were convicted, are awaiting trial, or were found to have attempted or conspired to commit them. Convictions from other states count if the conduct is the same or similar.
Non-Permanent Preclusions
Offenses in subsection C block issuance but leave open the possibility of a Good Cause Exception. These include theft, shoplifting, forgery, credit card fraud, criminal impersonation, and similar property crimes. For Level I cards, felony drug or alcohol offenses and certain other felonies committed within five years before the application also trigger a denial. The Regular card statute treats some of these differently, which is why a conviction can block a Level I card while still allowing a Regular one.
Suspension After You Have a Card
A card is not a one-time clearance. DPS monitors cardholder criminal records on an ongoing basis. If you are arrested for any offense listed in subsection B or C of either statute, DPS suspends the card immediately, on the arrest rather than a conviction. A subsequent conviction for a subsection B offense triggers full revocation. DPS notifies both you and your sponsoring agency in writing, and the notice includes the criminal history information behind the action. Your employer typically removes you from the position until the matter is resolved.
Requesting a Good Cause Exception
If your card is denied or suspended based on a non-permanent preclusion offense, you can apply to the Arizona Board of Fingerprinting for a Good Cause Exception. This is the only administrative route to overcome a disqualifying record within that category.
The Board first conducts an expedited review within 20 days of receiving your complete application and criminal history from DPS. If the paperwork alone supports the exception, the Board can grant it without a hearing. If not, your case moves to a formal administrative hearing in Phoenix before an administrative law judge, typically 20 to 45 days later. You present evidence of rehabilitation: your own testimony, witnesses, letters of recommendation, proof of stable employment, and completion of treatment or education programs. The judge files a recommended order with the Board.
The full Board then holds a separate hearing to accept or reject the recommendation, and its final decision must come within 80 days of your hearing before the administrative law judge. You can attend the Board hearing to observe but cannot speak or present new evidence there. Do not contact Board members before the hearing; doing so can result in denial.
Renewal and Replacement
Your card is valid for six years from the date of issuance. You can begin renewal up to 24 months before the expiration date, and no earlier. If the card has already expired, you can still renew as long as the expiration was within the past 24 months. Outside that window, you have to submit a brand-new application.
How renewal works depends on your card type. For IVP cards, DPS keeps your original fingerprints on file, so you renew through the Public Services Portal without being reprinted. The FBI can still reject those stored prints for quality, in which case DPS sends a packet for fresh prints by mail. For Non-IVP cards, DPS does not retain fingerprints, so renewal is essentially a new application with fresh prints.
If your card is lost, stolen, or damaged, you can order a replacement through the Public Services Portal or by mail for $5. A replacement does not reset the expiration date; it reissues the same card for whatever validity period remains.