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 2025 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

Resubmission Policy (Please refer to EBTS version 11.2 at this link: Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification (EBTS)

A brief overview is outlined below: 

  • Transactions rejected for poor fingerprint quality and billed are eligible for second set processed at no fee.
  • New submission must identify NGI transaction control number from rejected print in appropriate system field. (1.009 field (TCN) from rejected response must be entered in 1.010 (TCR) field on the resubmission to receive the transaction free of charge.  Please refer to page 12 under “Identifying Previous Transactions”)
  • Must be within one year from billing date.
  • NGI is automated to check and set at no fee.
  • If not included, invalid or previously used, a fee will be charged.

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
Please allow 2 hours to 24 hours for CHRI responses to appear in the TMS Portal.

CHRI responses will only be available for 30 calendar days from receipt of the
response in the TMS Portal.
TMS Link
 
 
Tribal Management Services (TMS) Portal Resources:
TMS FAQs  | Updated 6/26/2024
TMS Status History Codes
TMS Report Types

How to Guides
 
Fingerprint Administrator                                                Information Security Officer
fingerprint_admin@nigc.gov                                               iso@nigc.gov