What to bring to your Live Scan appointment

Live Scan is electronic fingerprinting. Instead of ink and a card, your fingerprints are scanned and sent straight to the California Department of Justice, and to the FBI as well if the check calls for it. They run a background check and send the result to whoever asked for it — the school, the employer, the licensing board. In most cases the result goes to them and not to you.

The request form. Whoever told you to get fingerprinted has to give you a form first, usually called a Request for Live Scan Service. In California it is normally the form numbered BCIA 8016.

It matters because it carries the codes that tell the fingerprinting site who to send your results to. Without it, the person doing the scan has nowhere to send anything. Bring the form even if it looks half-empty — the parts you don't recognise are filled in by the requesting agency, not by you.

If you weren't given a form, go back to whoever asked for the Live Scan and ask for their Request for Live Scan Service. Fingerprinting locations cannot create one for you.

• Your Request for Live Scan Service form, from the school, employer or agency that asked.
• Valid photo identification.A current driver's licence, state ID or passport is what people normally bring. Expired ID is usually refused, so check the date before you set off.
• A way to pay that the location accepts. Not everywhere takes cards, and some take cash only — the listing for each location on this site shows the payment methods we know about, but it is worth a phone call if you are unsure.

There are normally two separate charges, and this catches people out.

• The rolling fee goes to the business doing the scan. Each one sets its own, and it genuinely varies — which is why this site shows it on every listing and lets you sort by it.
• The government fees go to the Department of Justice, and to the FBI when a federal check is included. These are set by the state and are the same wherever you go.

Sometimes the agency that asked for the check pays the government portion and you only pay the rolling fee; sometimes you pay everything. Your request form usually says which, and the location can tell you before they start.

Ask for the total before you begin. Comparing only the rolling fee can be misleading if one location bundles differently from another.

Many locations take walk-ins and many require an appointment. You can filter for walk-ins on any county page here. Even where walk-ins are accepted, a quick call saves a wasted trip — staffing changes, and the person who does the scanning may only work certain hours.

You should be given a receipt showing your ATI number — the reference for your submission. Keep it. If the agency says they never received your results, that number is how anyone traces it.

Results often come back within a few days, but they can take longer if anything needs manual review. The fingerprinting location cannot speed that up or tell you the outcome; only the agency that requested it can.