Fingerprint Cards
The FD-258 Fingerprint Card
The FD-258 fingerprint card is the FBI's standard applicant fingerprint form — an 8-inch square card that holds a full set of inked impressions alongside the identity details of the person they belong to. It is what agencies mean when they ask you to submit "a fingerprint card".
The card is only a form. Getting hold of a blank one is the easy part and costs nothing; the part that decides whether your submission is accepted is who takes the prints, how cleanly they are rolled, and whether the format matches what the requesting agency actually asked for.
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The form
What is printed on an FD-258 fingerprint card
The FBI publishes the blank form itself as a downloadable PDF. Every FD-258 carries the same five areas, and a card is only complete when all of them are.
| Area of the card | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Rolled impressions | Each finger printed individually, rolled nail edge to nail edge, in ten labelled boxes. Rolling is what captures the full ridge pattern rather than just the pad of the finger. |
| Plain impressions | The four fingers of each hand pressed down flat together, plus both thumbs. These are used to confirm that the rolled impressions were recorded in the right order. |
| Identity block | Name, any aliases, date of birth, place of birth, citizenship, sex, race, height, weight, eye colour and hair colour. Social Security number is requested but marked optional on the form. |
| Purpose block | The reason the prints are being taken, and the agency the card is going to — including its ORI (Originating Agency Identifier) where one applies. |
| Signatures | The signature of the person being fingerprinted, and separately the signature, title and agency of the official who took the prints, plus the date taken. |
Getting one
Where to get an FD-258 fingerprint card
Blank cards come from four places. Which one is right depends on whether you need the card, the prints, or both.
| Source | What you get | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| The FBI's website | The blank form as a downloadable PDF, free. | Many agencies want the card on card stock rather than plain paper. Check the instructions before printing at home. |
| The requesting agency | Pre-printed cards, sometimes with the ORI and purpose fields already filled in. | If the agency supplies a card, use theirs — some use their own format instead of the FD-258. |
| A fingerprinting provider | The card and the capture together, handed to you completed. | The usual route when you need the prints taken as well as the card itself. |
| Retail and online sellers | Blank FD-258 cards on correct stock, sold in packs. | Only the card. You still need someone qualified to take and sign for the prints. |
If what you actually need is somewhere to have the prints taken and printed, the card printing options cover that, and the location finder shows sites near you.
Who has to take the prints, and how
The card carries two signatures: yours, and separately that of the official who took the prints, with their title and agency. That second signature is the reason you cannot complete a card yourself — an unsigned card is not a submission, however clean the impressions are.
Prints are recorded either with ink directly onto the card, or captured on a digital scanner and printed onto it. Digital capture tends to produce cleaner impressions because a poor scan can be retaken immediately, whereas an over-inked finger is only obvious once it is already on the card. Both are in use, and the receiving agency decides which it accepts.
Check What You NeedRejections
Why FD-258 fingerprint cards get sent back
A rejected card usually means starting the whole request again, and the reasons split evenly between print quality and paperwork.
| Cause | What is going wrong |
|---|---|
| Smudged or over-inked prints | Too much ink fills the valleys between ridges and the pattern is unreadable. Ink should be a thin, even film. |
| Prints too light or partial | An under-inked or under-rolled finger leaves gaps. Each impression needs to run from one nail edge to the other. |
| Incomplete identity fields | A blank date of birth, missing ORI, or an unsigned card is a clerical rejection — nothing to do with print quality. |
| Wrong card format | Some agencies require their own card, not the FD-258. Others will not accept a photocopy or a home-printed card on plain paper. |
| Fingers recorded out of order | The plain impressions are compared against the rolled ones. A finger in the wrong box shows up there and voids the card. |
| Damaged or folded cards | A crease through an impression can make it unreadable. Cards travel flat, not folded into an envelope. |
FAQ
Common questions
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