Nursing License Fingerprinting Guide

Nearly every state board of nursing runs an FBI and state fingerprint check before it issues a license. You book an appointment with the board’s vendor (IdentoGO in Texas, a Live Scan site in California, Fieldprint in Oregon and Virginia), pay somewhere between $35 and $82 depending on the state, and the results go straight to the board, usually within days to a couple of weeks. Do it first. It’s the step most likely to hold up an otherwise complete application.

Why do nursing boards fingerprint applicants?

Two reasons, and both are about the database rather than the ink. A name-based background check can miss records filed under a maiden name, a misspelling, or a different state. Fingerprints tie the search to you, and they let the board query the FBI’s national file and the state’s own criminal history repository at the same time.

The board, not you, receives the results. In most states you never see the report unless something on it prompts a follow-up letter. That’s why applicants with a record do better disclosing up front; the fingerprints will surface it either way.

According to our verified state data, 49 of 50 states fingerprint RN applicants for licensure by exam and by endorsement. New York is the exception: per NYSED’s licensing requirements, no fingerprinting is required for an RN license there.

What does fingerprinting cost, and who takes the prints?

Here’s what the board fee schedules list for ten states where the vendor is named. Fees are from our verified state data, last checked between early 2025 and mid-2026; the “payable to” column is who actually runs the check.

State	Payable to	Fee
Texas	IdentoGO	$43
California	Live Scan provider (DOJ $32 + FBI $17)	$49
Florida	Livescan provider	$82
Georgia	GAPS (Idemia)	$42
Kentucky	IdentoGO	$50
Louisiana	IdentoGO	$55
New Jersey	IdentoGO	$65
New Mexico	Idemia	$50
Oregon	Fieldprint	$50
Virginia	Fieldprint	$50

A few outliers worth knowing. Colorado’s $40 fee goes to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and is the lowest among states that name a vendor; Alaska’s $75 goes to the Department of Public Safety. Idaho doesn’t charge separately at all; per the Idaho Board of Nursing fee schedule, fingerprinting is included in the $98.25 application fee.

One catch on the California number: the $49 covers DOJ and FBI processing only. The Live Scan operator charges its own rolling fee on top, and that varies by location. Elsewhere, the amount on the board’s schedule is usually the full charge, but confirm on the board’s fingerprint page before you go.

How do you schedule fingerprinting?

The order is almost always the same: apply to the board first, then fingerprint. The board’s instructions include a code or form that routes your prints to the right agency. Print without it and the results go nowhere useful.

In Texas, you apply through the Texas Nurse Portal, then schedule at an IdentoGO location. Per the Texas BON timeline in our Texas RN guide, the fingerprint appointment takes one to three days to arrange, and the BON’s standard processing for a complete application is 15 business days. In California, you submit through BreEZe and take the BRN’s Live Scan request form to any Live Scan site; results transmit electronically to the DOJ, which forwards them to the BRN. Our California RN guide puts full application review at 10 to 12 weeks, and fingerprints are the part you control.

Other boards route prints through IdentoGO or Idemia (Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, West Virginia), through Fieldprint (Oregon, Virginia), or straight through the state police or bureau of investigation (Alabama’s ALEA, Kansas’s KBI). The board’s page tells you which.

Bring a government photo ID, the board’s form or service code, your payment method, and your appointment confirmation. Use the exact legal name that’s on your board application. A mismatch between the name on your prints and the name on your application is a common reason for a “we need more information” letter.

How long do results take, and what can go wrong?

Boards rarely publish a firm turnaround. From what applicants report and what the board timelines in our data suggest, electronic prints usually land at the board within days to two weeks, and mailed ink cards take several weeks. We can’t verify a specific number for your state, so treat anything under a month as normal.

The common failure is print quality. Nurses and nursing students wash their hands constantly, and worn ridges get rejected by the FBI. If that happens you reprint, and in some states a second rejection triggers a name-based check instead. Ask the vendor to check the scan before you leave.

Prints are also tied to the application. Most boards won’t reuse fingerprints from a previous application or from your CNA certification, and several treat results older than a set window as expired. If your application stalls for months, ask whether you’ll need to print again.

What if you’re applying from out of state?

Endorsement applicants get fingerprinted for the new state, even if they were printed for their original license. Some boards let you enroll at their vendor’s locations in other states; others mail ink cards that you have rolled at a police department and send back. Per our California data, the BRN accepts either a Live Scan or a hard card. Ink cards add weeks, so if you’re relocating, print while you’re still in the new state’s vendor network if you can.

A multistate license through the Nurse Licensure Compact avoids all of this in the other compact states. The moment you move your primary state of residence, though, you apply by endorsement in the new state and get printed again. Our endorsement guide covers the rest of that process.

What shows up on the check, and what if you have a record?

The FBI Identity History Summary lists arrests, charges, and convictions reported to the FBI, and the state repository adds local records. Sealed or expunged records can still appear on FBI results in some cases, so don’t assume a cleared record is invisible.

States handle what they find differently. California’s Board of Registered Nursing, under AB 2138, no longer asks about criminal history on the application and generally disregards convictions older than seven years, but the fingerprints still run and anyone with history is referred to Enforcement for individual review. Texas offers a Declaratory Order: for $150 and a 90-to-180-day wait, the BON tells you before you apply (or before you enroll in nursing school) whether your history is a problem. Our criminal record and nursing license post walks through disclosure and board review in detail.

Bottom line

• Fingerprint as soon as the board gives you the code. It’s the slowest step you control.
• Budget $35 to $82; Texas is $43 through IdentoGO, California $49 plus the Live Scan site’s own fee.
• Use your exact legal name, and get the vendor to check print quality before you leave.
• Out of state? Ask about ink cards early; they add weeks.
• If you have a record, disclose it and read the board’s rules before you apply.

For the full sequence from application to license, start with our how to get an RN license guide, then confirm the current fee and vendor on your state’s board page.