In order to assist Tribes in determining the eligibility of applicants for key employee or primary management official positions in its gaming operation(s), the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) will obtain criminal history record information (CHRI) from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on these applicants and disseminate it to the Tribe’s Authorized Personnel.  

For additional information on Tribal responsibilities regarding the submission of non-criminal justice fingerprints and the transmittal, receipt, storage, use, and dissemination of Criminal Justice Information and CHRI, please refer to the 2021 CHRI MOU. 

The NIGC annually reviews the cost of processing fingerprint cards and sets a fee based on its actual costs for processing and the amount charged by the FBI. See the 2023 NIGC Fee Rate and Fingerprint Processing Fee bulletin for the current fingerprint processing charge.  

Outlined below are helpful tips for submitting fingerprints to the NIGC. 

Live Scan

  • Review and confirm the Mandatory Fields before submission.
  • Ensure the Reason Fingerprinted field is “INDIAN GAMING LICENSEE.”
  • If a mistake is made please contact fingerprint_admin@nigc.gov immediately.
  • If you have submitted the applicant’s biometric data by livescan, do not send a copy of the hard card to NIGC.
Resources: 

Fingerprint Resubmission

Before a CJIS Biographic Verification Request (formerly known as a “Name Check”) can be submitted to the FBI, the following criteria must be met:​

  • The agency must attempt to send the fingerprint submissions twice and receive a rejection response from the NGI System due to poor fingerprint quality.
  • The second submission must be a new collection of fingerprints.
  • One of the rejection responses must have been the L0008 error message stating “The quality of the characteristics is too low to be used. Candidate(s) were found. Please resubmit a new set of fingerprints for comparison to the candidate(s).”

If the above criteria have been met, and to request assistance with a CJIS Biographic Verification Request, please email fingerprint_admin@nigc.gov.

Please see the FBI CJIS Information Letter resources for additional information.

Resources:

Hard Cards

  • To request Hard Card stock - please email fingerprint_admin@nigc.gov and provide your mailing address.
  • Ensure the Reason Fingerprinted field is “INDIAN GAMING LICENSEE.” 
  • Ensure the applicant signs the hard card.
  • Mail completed hard cards for processing to:
                National Indian Gaming Commission
                1849 C Street N.W. MS 1621
                Washington, DC 20240
  • Please Note: Allow for 7-10 business days for processing. CHRI results will appear in the Tribal Management Services (TMS) Portal when complete.
Resources:

Tribal Management Services (TMS) Portal Resource 
TMS Link                                                   
Resources:
How to Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Fingerprint Administrator                                                Information Security Officer
fingerprint_admin@nigc.gov                                               iso@nigc.gov