How to Get an Arizona Livescan Fingerprint Clearance Card

To get an Arizona Live Scan fingerprint clearance card, submit an application and pay the $67 fee through the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Public Services Portal, schedule a fingerprinting appointment with Fieldprint (the state’s authorized vendor), bring valid photo ID to the appointment for a few-minute electronic scan, and wait roughly four to eight weeks for AZDPS to run the state and FBI background check and mail your card.¹

Confirm You Need a Card and Which Type

Your employer, licensing board, or certifying agency decides whether you need a card and tells you which statute requires it. Teachers, child care workers, foster and adoptive parents, DES employees, healthcare workers serving vulnerable adults, real estate and insurance professionals, and contractors with access to sensitive government systems are common examples.¹

Arizona issues two card types: standard and Level I. A Level I card screens against a longer list of disqualifying offenses and is required for roles with the most direct contact with children and vulnerable adults, including child care facility employees, Child Protective Services workers, foster and adoptive home licensees, Division of Developmental Disabilities employees, and DES contractors.² You don’t pick between them. Your sponsoring agency’s authorization code tells AZDPS which to run, and the fee and procedure are identical.

Confirm your requirement with your sponsoring agency before applying. The $67 fee is nonrefundable regardless of the outcome.¹

Step 1: Apply and Pay Through the Public Services Portal

Everything starts in the AZDPS Public Services Portal (PSP). The portal walks you through the application, collects payment by credit card ($67 plus a $1.34 processing fee), and generates a reference number you’ll need to schedule your scan.¹ If you prefer to submit a paper application by mail, AZDPS accepts money orders or cashier’s checks but not personal checks, cash, or credit cards.³

Depending on the type of background check, your employer or licensing agency may also give you a purpose code, which is separate from your PSP reference number. You enter the purpose code during the portal application for employment and licensure checks.⁴

Keep your PSP login. You’ll use the same account to track status, change your sponsoring agency, and renew the card years later.

Step 2: Schedule With Fieldprint

AZDPS does not fingerprint applicants itself.¹ After you finish the PSP application, you’ll get a portal message with your reference number and a link to Fieldprint’s scheduling site. Fieldprint locations are spread across the state, and some local law enforcement offices also offer fingerprinting. The vendor’s scanning fee is separate from the $67 AZDPS fee and varies by location.

One sticking point trips up a lot of applicants: on Fieldprint’s site, do not use the “Fieldprint Code” box. Scroll down, select your reason from the list, then enter the reference number (it begins with the letter “A”) that AZDPS assigned.⁵

Step 3: At the Fingerprinting Appointment

Bring valid government-issued photo ID. A state driver’s license, passport, or military ID all work, and the name on the ID must match the name on your application exactly. If you’re using an Arizona driver’s license, confirm it carries the REAL ID star.⁶

The technician verifies your identity and reference number, then captures your prints digitally on a Live Scan glass scanner. The scan itself takes only a few minutes and produces cleaner images than old ink-and-roll cards. For most clearance card applications, the prints transmit electronically to AZDPS. For certain other background checks, the vendor may instead produce a high-quality inkless image on an FD-258 card that is physically mailed to AZDPS; your sponsoring agency’s requirements determine which method applies.¹

Two small things cut your odds of a rejected scan: wash your hands with soap and water beforehand, and skip hand lotion that day. Dry, residue-free skin reads cleanly. Save your receipt in case you need a re-scan.

Step 4: Processing, Tracking, and Delivery

Once your prints reach AZDPS, the agency runs them against state and FBI criminal history databases.³ Processing typically runs four to eight weeks. The timeline stretches when application volume is high or when AZDPS has to research an arrest record that lacks a final disposition. Because you generally cannot perform certain job duties unsupervised until the card arrives, apply well before any start date.

Track status by logging into PSP and checking the message center. The first notification about your application also appears on the dashboard, but later messages only show up in the message center.⁵ AZDPS mails the card to you directly and notifies your sponsoring agency of the clearance status separately.³

If Your Prints Are Rejected

A rejection means the scan quality was too poor to process, not that your clearance was denied. You’ll go back to a Fieldprint location for a re-scan. Many vendors offer one free re-scan within 90 days if you bring the original receipt and the rejection notice.

If AZDPS Denies Your Application

AZDPS compares your criminal history against a statutory list of disqualifying offenses. If none appear, your card is issued. If a disqualifying conviction appears, the application is denied.⁷ When a record shows an arrest without a final disposition, AZDPS spends up to 30 business days researching the outcome and denies the card by default if nothing turns up.

Disqualifying offenses fall into two tiers. Some are absolute bars with no exception, including sex offenses, homicide, child abuse, and sexual exploitation. A second tier blocks approval but allows you to petition the Board of Fingerprinting for a “good cause exception.”⁸ Certain felony drug, alcohol, and domestic violence offenses fall off the disqualifying list entirely if they occurred more than five years before the application date.

The good cause exception process runs through an expedited Board review, an administrative hearing before a judge, and a final Board decision. It can take several months.⁹ If the Board grants the exception, it notifies AZDPS and the card is issued.⁸

After You Have the Card

The card is valid for six years from the date of issuance. You can change or add a sponsoring agency at any time during those six years through your PSP account or by emailing the Clearance Card Section, without reapplying.¹

AZDPS recommends submitting your renewal roughly three months before expiration. The renewal fee is the same $67. If the front of your current card shows an IVP number, AZDPS already has your prints on file electronically and you won’t need another Fieldprint visit; enter the IVP number on the renewal application. The FBI occasionally rejects stored prints for quality, in which case you’d be reprinted.¹

Your card doesn’t just sit idle until renewal. AZDPS monitors cardholders and will revoke your card on conviction of a disqualifying offense. An arrest alone for certain disqualifying offenses triggers an immediate suspension, and AZDPS notifies you and your sponsoring agency in writing.¹⁰ A suspension based on an arrest can be challenged through the same good cause exception process used after a denial.

1
Arizona Department of Public Safety. Fingerprint Clearance Card
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Arizona Board of Fingerprinting. Difference Between Level I and Standard Fingerprint Clearance Card
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Arizona Department of Public Safety. Applicant Processing Team
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Arizona Department of Public Safety. Electronic Fingerprint Submissions APT
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Arizona Department of Public Safety. I Am Having Trouble Scheduling With Fieldprint – What Is My Fieldprint Code?
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Transportation Security Administration. REAL ID
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-1758.07 – Level I Fingerprint Clearance Cards; Definitions
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-1758.03 – Fingerprint Clearance Cards
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Arizona Board of Fingerprinting. Applying for a Good Cause Exception
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-1758.04 – Denial, Suspension or Revocation of Fingerprint Clearance Card