The company hiring you may provide a set of fingerprint cards. Usually, it will be the standard FD-258 cards, although some agencies may require a different card. You’ll provide these cards to the fingerprinting technician, and they’ll use them to collect your prints.

These cards will often come pre-filled with the company’s information, as well as your personal information. If not, your instructions will usually include detailed information to help you fill the card out manually.

ORI stands for Originating Agency Identifier Number. It's a special code that identifies the agency requiring you to get fingerprinted, why you’re getting fingerprinted, and where to send the results. There is a space for the ORI Number on the fingerprint card.

If there’s a specific department that needs access to the results, you may also be provided with the Originating Agency Case Number  (OCA) that identifies it. There’s a space for that on the fingerprint card as well.

The requesting agency may require your fingerprints to be sent in a certain format, such as ink or Live Scan. If they don’t specify, the ink will usually be sufficient. 

Knowing the required format will help you determine the best way to go about getting fingerprinted. We’ll talk about that more in a moment.

If the required format is ink, your instructions will tell you where to mail the completed fingerprint card.

If it’s Live Scan, the instructions will include the agency to which your fingerprints must be electronically transmitted.

The required format is another detail that can help you decide how to best go about getting fingerprinted.

The simplest and most common way of collecting your fingerprints is by ink.  

At the appointment, the fingerprinting technician will apply ink to your fingers and then roll them onto an FD-258 fingerprint card (or another card) to collect your fingerprints.

This card has spaces to capture the prints for each finger and thumb – on both hands – as well as spaces for four fingers together and both thumbs individually.

The best thing about the ink method is that it’s the simplest and the least expensive way to go. The downside is that the process can be a bit messy, and the prints have a higher chance of being rejected.

Rejections are rare, but they do happen. Often it will be because you pressed down too hard on the card and the prints came out smudged. To avoid this, it’s best to keep your arms, hands and fingers loose and allow the technician to guide their movement while rolling.

Another reason could be that your prints have characteristics that make them less clearly defined and difficult to capture.  Qualified technicians usually have a few “tricks of the trade'' to compensate for such challenges. 

One such trick is to collect your prints on multiple cards.  That way, there will be at least one clear, usable print in the collection for each finger.

Ink fingerprinting takes about 5 to 10 minutes to complete, depending on the number of cards.

Once your fingerprints have been captured, the technician will certify them by signing and dating the card. You’ll then finish filling out the information at the top of the card, and once it’s complete, you’ll mail it to the necessary address.

The results will usually be mailed to you in about 4 to 6 weeks.

Live Scan is an electronic fingerprinting technology that makes the process of collecting and sending your fingerprints faster and easier than the ink method. 

Live Scan costs a bit more than ink fingerprinting because of equipment expenses and because the receiving agency usually charges a fee when the prints are transmitted electronically.

Here’s what the Live Scan process typically looks like: 

First, your technician will ask you for contact information and information about your physical description, such as your height, weight, and hair color. They’ll enter that information into a computer. 

If the prints are to be transmitted to your local State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), you may be required to present an Electronic Submission form to the technician from the requesting agency in order to get fingerprinted.

Once they verify your identity, the technician will then roll your fingers onto the screen of a special scanner connected to a computer that uses special software, and your fingerprints will be captured electronically and saved as a data file.

Because it’s electronic, the process is faster and cleaner, and the images are clearer and rarely, if ever, rejected. In fact, the scanning software automatically detects unusable prints and prompts the technician to redo them. Again, if there are any challenges in capturing your prints, a qualified technician will have ways to compensate.

Once collected, Your fingerprints can be delivered to the receiving agency in two ways:

1. Print-to-Card: They can be printed onto an FD-258 card and then mailed. Some providers may even offer the option to electronically archive your data file so you can have additional copies printed later. 
2. Electronic Transmission: Using special software, the data file containing the prints can be electronically transmitted either to a federal agency like the FBI or FINRA or to a local state agency. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) even receives transmissions from outside the state.

The whole Live Scan fingerprinting process usually takes about 5 minutes or less.

Once your fingerprints have been reviewed, your results will be sent back within about 48 hours. The agency will either email the results to you or they’ll send you a link to log into a web portal where you can retrieve the results.