How to Apply Through New Jersey’s Firearms Application and Registration System (FARS)

You apply through the New Jersey Firearms Application and Registration System by going to njportal.com/NJSP/Fars, entering the ORI number for your local police department, and completing the online application in a single sitting. FARS is the only way to apply for a Firearms Purchaser Identification Card (FPID), a Permit to Purchase a Handgun, or both. The New Jersey State Police runs the system; your municipal police department reviews what you submit. There is no paper form, and once you advance past a screen you cannot go back to fix it, so preparation matters.

The FPID card is what you need to buy any rifle or shotgun. A Permit to Purchase a Handgun covers a single handgun purchase, so if you plan to buy two, request two. Decide which credentials you want before you log in.

What to Gather Before You Log In

Collect all of this first. The system runs in a fixed sequence and will not let you save and return to add something you forgot.

Your ORI number. This is the code that routes the application to the correct police department. Your municipal police can give it to you, and some post it online. FARS will not open the application without it.¹
Social Security number and driver’s license or state ID number.
Ten years of address history, with the month, year, city, and state for each.
Current employer information.
Two personal references. You will need each one’s full name, home address, phone number, and email. FARS emails them a questionnaire automatically.²
A passport-style color photo taken within the last six months. Light background, civilian clothes, no hat, no glasses. Crop it to a square before uploading.¹
The Mental Health Consent Form (SP-066), if you have lived outside New Jersey at any point in the last ten years. Your police department handles this one outside the portal.¹
A credit card or e-check for the fees at submission.
Alien Registration Number, if you are a lawful permanent resident.

Who Can Apply

You have to be at least 18 for an FPID card and at least 21 for a Permit to Purchase a Handgun.² Beyond age, the statute lists specific disqualifiers:

Any crime conviction in New Jersey, or a felony conviction in another state or under federal law. A New Jersey disorderly-persons domestic violence offense (or its out-of-state equivalent) also disqualifies you.
A current voluntary admission or involuntary commitment to inpatient or outpatient psychiatric treatment.
An active substance use disorder, unless a licensed physician or treatment provider certifies that the condition no longer affects your ability to handle firearms safely.
A current or violated domestic violence restraining order from any state.
A juvenile adjudication for an offense that would be a weapons or explosives crime if committed by an adult.
Placement on the federal consolidated Terrorist Watchlist.
A finding by the issuing authority that you lack the temperament necessary to be entrusted with a firearm.²

Federal law adds a few more disqualifiers that overlap with the state list, including dishonorable discharge from the military, renunciation of U.S. citizenship, and fugitive status. One trap: even though New Jersey allows recreational marijuana, federal law still classifies it as a controlled substance, and ongoing use disqualifies you from possessing firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3).³

Filling Out the Application

Go to njportal.com/NJSP/Fars and enter your ORI number on the landing page.⁴ Once accepted, the system walks you through screens in order: personal information, address history, employment, references, mental health authorization, and credential selection. You confirm each screen and advance. You cannot skip ahead or jump back.

The mental health consent screen authorizes the State Police to search clinical databases for any disqualifying commitment or admission. If you leave it blank, the application is incomplete and FARS will not transmit it. The separate SP-066 applies if you had any out-of-state residence in the last ten years, and your local department will tell you how to get it to them.

On the credentials screen, pick the FPID, the number of handgun permits you want, or both. Pay the application and processing fees by credit card or e-check.

Review carefully, because final submission locks the application. FARS then issues a confirmation number and a summary page. Save both, along with your payment receipt. That confirmation number is how you and your police department will track the application from this point.

Fingerprinting Through IdentoGO

First-time applicants must be fingerprinted. FARS generates a contributor case number tied to your submission, which you use to schedule an appointment with IdentoGO, the state-contracted vendor.⁵ You can book at the IdentoGO enrollment site.⁶ IdentoGO charges its fee at scheduling, by credit or debit card, and the charge is non-refundable.

Your prints are run against the State Bureau of Identification files and the FBI’s national databases. At the same time, your local police department checks criminal history records, contacts your two references, and reviews any mental health records covered by your consent. The local chief of police, or the Superintendent of State Police in areas without municipal police, makes the final call.

If you have been fingerprinted for a prior New Jersey firearms application, you skip IdentoGO and pay a reduced $21 database reprocessing fee.⁷

What You’ll Pay

The fees split across up to three parties:

FPID card: $50 to the issuing police department.
Permit to Purchase a Handgun: $25 per permit, also to the issuing police department.²
Fingerprinting: paid to IdentoGO at scheduling.
Portal processing fee: added by FARS at online submission.⁷

Some departments collect the statutory fee through FARS at submission. Others require a check or money order at the municipal building. Confirm with your department before submitting, because an unpaid balance keeps the application pending indefinitely.

Tracking Your Application and Getting Your Credentials

FARS sends automated emails when your application is received, when the background check finishes, and when a final decision is made. Watch the email address you gave at submission. Approvals arrive with a link to download or print your Electronic Firearms Purchaser Identification Card (E-FPID) and view active E-Permits. Nothing comes by mail.

How Long Your FPID Card Is Good For

Cards issued on or after October 25, 2022, expire in the tenth calendar year after issuance. Renewal means filing a new FARS application before expiration. Cards issued before that date remain valid for life, provided you stay a New Jersey resident and stay eligible.⁷

How Long a Handgun Permit Is Good For

Each Permit to Purchase a Handgun is valid for 90 days from approval.² FARS automatically extends it for another 90 days and emails you when it does. After 180 total days, it expires with no further extensions.¹ A lapsed permit means starting a new application and paying again. When you use a permit to buy a handgun, the dealer records the transaction in the state’s electronic database and the permit is consumed.

If You’re Denied

The issuing authority has to give you a written explanation of the reasons. You then have 30 days to request a hearing in the Superior Court of the county where you live, or where you filed if you are a non-resident. Put the request in writing and serve a copy on both the municipal chief of police and the Superintendent of State Police.²

The court has to hold the hearing and make a record within 60 days of getting your request. There is no filing fee. If the court upholds the denial, you can appeal further through the appellate process. The hearing is also where you can present evidence correcting a record if the denial was based on criminal history that does not belong to you.

Penalties for Providing False Information

Lying on a firearms application is a third-degree crime in New Jersey. That covers a false name, a fake address, or any other misstatement on the application for an FPID card, handgun purchase permit, or carry permit.⁸ A third-degree crime carries three to five years in prison. Federal law separately criminalizes false statements on ATF Form 4473 at the point of purchase, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.⁹

1
New Jersey State Police. Firearms Application and Registration System (FARS) Instructions for N.J. Residents and Dual Residents of New Jersey
2
Justia. New Jersey Code 2C-58-3 – Permit to Purchase a Handgun
3
ATF. Identify Prohibited Persons
4
State of New Jersey. Firearms Application and Registration System
5
New Jersey Department of Human Services. New Jersey Firearms Application and Registration System – Frequently Asked Questions
6
IdentoGO. New Jersey Firearms Licensing – State and Federal
7
New Jersey State Police. Firearms Application and Registration System – Help Section
8
Justia. New Jersey Code 2C-39-10 – Violation of the Regulatory Provisions Relating to Firearms
9
ATF. Don’t Lie for the Other Guy