USA PCC from India - Cheapest way to achieve right finger prints on fingerprint cards
Hi Friends,
I know, the information related to doing USA PCC (criminal history records check from CJIS, FBI) from India is available in earlier threads, however, I found no thread talking how to do it at a cheaper rate from India, than many other private agencies who charge hefty amount for fingerprinting.
I hope keeping this as a new thread to save lots of bucks of people wanting to do PCC would be appropriate. No purpose of hijacking the great threads of earlier people
NOTE: I assume everyone reading this post to have knowledge of entire process of doing US PCC(from FBI online website) and that they know about fingerprint cards(A4 prints) as well.
To start with there are 2 options to do fingerprinting on cards from India.
1. Private agency - Charges INR 4500 per person in Pune city(They have their presence on Satara Road of Pune city)
2. Government - Charges INR 500 per person; located in Pashan of Pune city.
Having given the charges above I don't think that talking about private agencies will make any sense here. After rigorous study of 2-3 days and lot of skepticism about governments quality and professionalism, just because of saving of INR 8000(me and my wife) I did fingerprinting from CID(Pashan, Pune city, Maharashtra), a government agency. I was surprised to see the promptness CID(Criminal investigation department - Kuchch toh gadbad hai DAYA

) has shown in this case just at a rate of INR 500 per person.
Story:
Day1- I visited CID to ask if fingerprinting is done at their offices. The lady at the front desk said no such thing exists at CID. Luckily enough few officers passing by, heard me asking that to lady, on which one of them said that they might do and asked me to contact officer from fingerprinting department. I went to ask that officer and he said that they certainly do process fingerprinting on normal A4 size prints as well. Bingo, there you go! Since it was too late for me to go to CID office(5 pm) the officer asked me to come next day along with few sets of documents to prove I am from Pune only. Not mentioning documents here as I think every CID would have different process.
Day2- I went there with all documents they requested and 3 sets of fingerprint cards (just A4 size papers having print of online fingerprints format FBI provides). They asked me to go to their fingerprint department at a different place than where they are located(Commissioner's office, Sadhuwaswani Chouk, Pune). I drove to that place and got fingerprints printed on all 3 papers from a professional guy within 10 minutes(total time to go to place and come back was around 2.5 hrs).
After that I paid INR 500 to cashier in CID office but unfortunately their main officer was gone so I was asked to come next day. The officer's signature and stamp of CID is must(Make sure to have English stamp printed). The person who was handling my case said everything would be done the next day morning.
Day3- I went to the office at around 11.30 am and as promised and to my surprise my fingerprint cards were ready with stamps and signature of the main officer. Delighted me, took off from there, thanking all, within 15-20 minutes
Then I sent fingerprint cards along with other necessary documents to FBI and got credit card charged on 11-12th week to receive my US PCC delivered at my home(Pune city) approx. after 3 months and 1 week of total time after my documents reached to them. Along with docs, although not needed, I sent a cover note to FBI mentioning process was being done by CID, which is the best Government agency. I think FBI must be knowing that :eyebrows: already. so there is no risk.
Considering overall experience I would ask people to get the advantage of great service offered by Government agencies(CID, Pune, in my case) at a reasonable rate and don't go to private agencies who do the same thing at an expensive tag just to take advantage of our helplessness and lack of knowledge.
Few important NOTES :
1. CID of that particular city would process cases of the area they are assigned for investigations and not all India. So before going to CID place a call(get number online) to them to understand if they process the fingerprint of your area.
2. Get at least 3 papers fingerprinting done, one to be kept by CID and two would be given to you to send to FBI, just in case one does not work the second might get processed.
3. THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT TO SAVE YOUR TIME - I did not know the process and hence it took me 3 days to complete it. In your case call CID(Or any other equivalent gov. agency) directly and ask to transfer call to fingerprinting department(if they allow) and talk with them about documents requirement. Also ask them if main officer would be present on that day you plan to visit them. Go as early as possible in the morning to complete the process within one day.
4. Fill fingerprint cards before going to CID as complete as possible(read guidelines on FBI site). Remember FBI site mentions ORI number is mandatory on card, however CID does not provide that number. Just stamp of CID and signature is sufficient. ORI number is for private agencies I believe. Since it is done by one of the best agencies of government I think there is less chance of rejection.
5. Read all guidelines thoroughly and fill all forms as accurate as possible before sending to FBI, CJIS department.
6. It's a simple process if you study without panicking. Call FBI(+13046255590) after 10-11 weeks of documents received date to do follow up. You need to provide your name and address for verification, in case your case is logged into their database. If not they will tell you which date's documents they are processing.
7. This blog is only for US PCC from INDIA. It worked flawlessly in my case so I hope you also save your money.
I would be glad to address any other information you need. As mentioned other fellows of other threads have given lots of inputs on US PCC from India earlier so read, and research and be confident. I hope it helps people:fingerscrossed:
Thanks!