Fingerprinting

Fingerprint Clearance Requirements

New York State law requires fingerprinting as a means to perform criminal history background checks for applicants for certification and all prospective employees of school districts, charter schools, and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) within New York State. All students in teacher preparation programs as well as programs in school counseling need to be fingerprinted so that they are cleared to work with children in various settings including New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) public schools, charter networks, and other organizations. Fingerprint clearance is a professional expense related to certification. As such, candidates are responsible for related costs.

Students enrolled in programs leading to certification in teacher preparation and school counseling programs who do not yet have fingerprint clearance from both the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) must complete all steps of the fingerprinting process.
If you are in a program in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), you only need fingerprint clearance from NYSED.
Students in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Development and Learning (ECDL) programs that lead to certification and who may be placed in non-NYCDOE settings that serve children from birth to age 3 years and select Pre-K programs must be fingerprinted by both NYSED or NYCDOE and the Department of Investigations (DOI) as records cannot be shared between the DOI and other entities. Note that this only applies if the students are placed in sites subsidized by the Department of Health not the NYCDOE.

What Are My Next Steps?

Please select the statement that applies to you.

I Am a Current Student in an Initial Certification Program or in School Counseling and Have Never Been Fingerprinted

Candidates who will be placed in a New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) school will need to be fingerprinted, and the records shared between the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the NYCDOE.

Get fingerprinted by IdentoGO for the NYCDOE and have your fingerprinting record transferred to NYSED

Getting Fingerprinted:

Complete the PETS Registration Form and upload the document to the Google Form.
After PETS Entry (a.k.a “nomination”), you will receive a nomination email from PETSAdminSupport@schools.nyc.gov with instructions to log into NYCDOE’s Applicant Gateway.
You MUST activate your NYCDOE’s Applicant Gateway within 10 business days after PETS entry “nomination”.
- Use the same email address you used when you enrolled in PETS. Verify that your Social Security Number is correct in the Applicant Gateway, and notify PETSADMINSUPPORT@schools.nyc.gov immediately if there is an error.
Fill out the required online forms and use the code provided for you to schedule a fingerprinting appointment at an IdentoGO location.
- Please note: If you get fingerprinted prior to submitting the online forms on the NYCDOE’s Applicant Gateway, the fingerprint results will not have a confirmed profile to be transmitted to; therefore you will need to be fingerprinted again and pay a second time.
Visit IdentoGO and select “Schedule or Manage an Appointment.” Please note: Fee as of January 1, 2022 is $101.75.

Transferring Your Fingerprinting Record from NYCDOE to NYSED:

Once you have confirmed fingerprint clearance on your NYCDOE’s Applicant Gateway account, you can proceed with the steps below to transfer your fingerprinting record to the New York State Education Department (NYSED):

Complete Sections 1 through 3 of the OSPRA 104 to transfer your fingerprint clearance from the CITY to the STATE.
Follow the steps provided in Section 4 (on the OSPRA 104) to submit and upload the form to the HR Connect Web Portal.

I Am Enrolled in a Program in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Have Never Been Fingerprinted

Getting Fingerprinted

To begin the process, create or log in to your TEACH Account. Teacher candidates must have a TEACH account with the New York State Education Department of Education (NYSED), a system designed for users to perform various functions regarding teacher certification and fingerprinting.
Read through fingerprinting procedures for certification on the NYSED website.
Visit IdentoGO and select “Schedule or Manage an Appointment.” Note your service code: 14ZGQT. The fee as of July 1, 2020 is $102.00
Once your fingerprints are processed and are in accordance with the agency policy, they will be sent to your TEACH account within 4 weeks where it will read as “Your DCJS and FBI results have been received.”

I Have Already Been Fingerprinted for the NYCDOE

If you have previously been fingerprinted for the NYCDOE, your information will need to be entered into the Personnel Eligibility Tracking System (PETS), a New York City Department of Education database system that provides Hunter College staff with the ability to confirm students’ fingerprint clearance prior to their placement in a New York City school and/or agency.

Complete the PETS Registration Form and upload it to this Google form. This step authorizes the Office of Clinical Experiences (OCE) to enter your personal information and nominate you into the PETS system. The PETS Registration Form MUST include the social security number and your complete address.
Accurate completion of the PETS Registration Form ensures a quicker and more efficient process.
Please wait 3-5 business days to receive confirmation from the OCE office that your PETS entry is complete.

I Am an International Student

International Students should contact the Office of Clinical Experiences (OCE) who will support you in this process. Email oce@hunter.cuny.edu with the subject line “International Student Seeking Fingerprint Support”.

International students should gather the following items for fingerprinting:

Passport
Unexpired Student visa
Proof of enrollment in an education program (a letter from your college will suffice)
College ID card

The timeline can take approximately 4 to 8 weeks, so students should contact the Office of Clinical Experiences to begin their fingerprinting process as early as possible.

I Am an Undocumented Citizen

Contact the Hunter College School of Education Certification Officer, Melissa Boronkas at mb74@hunter.cuny.edu. Certification officers will email the New York State Education Department (NYSED) State Office of Teaching Initiatives (OTI) to request a nine-digit identifier.
Once this identifier is received from the New York State Education Department (NYSED), you will create a TEACH account.
Once you create a TEACH account, but before you are fingerprinted by IdentoGo, you must contact OSPRA at OSPRA@nysed.gov for further instructions on how to proceed with fingerprinting. Staff at the New York State Education Department (NYSED) want to make sure students receive good advice on how to register for fingerprinting with their new identifier so they do not end up having to pay IdentoGo more than once.
Once a student obtains the Teach Access Number and contacts OSPRA, please review the acceptable documents to bring to your IdentoGo appointment. Acceptable documents include a New York City Identification Card (NYC ID).
Once you have reviewed the acceptable documents, request a fingerprinting appointment from IdentoGo.

Verifying Your Fingerprint Clearance Status

Once you have completed the steps above and initiated the transfer of your records to the appropriate agency, you will need to wait for the state and/or city agencies to process your forms. Remember, all students in teacher preparation programs and school counseling must have fingerprints on file at both NYSED and the NYCDOE.

: Confirming that Your Fingerprints Are on File in your TEACH Account at the State

To verify that your fingerprints are on file at NYSED, first log into your TEACH Account, select “Teach Online Services,” and then “Fingerprinting” under the Account Information menu. When your fingerprint clearance is on file, you will see the message “Your DCJS and FBI results have been received” or “We have received your fingerprint information from NYC” in the Fingerprint Information section.
: Confirming that Fingerprints Are on File with the City (NYCDOE)

Activate or log into your New York City Department of Education Applicant Gateway account using the same email account you provided in the PETS Registration Form, and check your “Nomination Status”; if all components are marked “Complete,” then you have met the NYCDOE background check requirement.

Fingerprinting Quick Guide

Support

If you have questions regarding fingerprinting, contact the Office of Clinical Experiences at oce@hunter.cuny.edu.