This is immigration attorney Parviz Malakouti and in this video, I want to talk about a
very powerful tool that we can use to get your arrest, and criminal history from the
FBI using our fingerprints.
I am talking about a criminal rap sheet aka a "criminal record history" aka an "identity
history summary" from the FBI.
Now, in my context as an immigration attorney, I utilize this, along with other immigration
attorneys, to run the histories of immigrants before we take on their applications, especially
if we're sending them abroad for consular processing because we want to make sure that
they're able to come back once they're but the reality is that this is not the only use
of this type of record.
Plenty of Americans who are applying for visas to other countries may need to run this record
check and submit it as part of their application and this can also be used for employment.
This can also be used for applying for professional or business licenses.
So it's a very useful tool.
The way you do it, basically, the way you request one of these is you go to the FBI
site and I'm going to link exactly to where you need to go.
You fill out an online form.
You open an account.
You get an email from the FBI site which has a case number.
You print that email, then you go back to the site and you pick a location to get your
fingerprints.
That can be at various livescan locations.
It can also be done at one of eighty one post offices all across the United States, in Los
Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Houston Atlanta, all over the place.
You print the email, you go to the post office and you basically submit the email with the
case number and you're going to be sat down in front of a livescan machine and you're
going to do your "left four fingerprints", you're "right four fingerprints, "both thumbs."
Then you pay the fee.
The post office charges $50 dollars.
Different livescan locations charge different prices and the FBI fee is $18.
So if you do it with the post office, it's going to be $18 plus $50.
So when you leave the post office, you're going to get an email (if you do it at the
post office) from the FBI site saying that your biometrics, your fingerprints, were received.
Depending on whether you have a history or not, you're going to get a response back in
a short period of time or maybe a little bit longer period of time.
So if you have no criminal or arrest record history, you're going to get a response back
pretty quickly.
I'm going to actually post up on the screen a sample of what one of these looks like.
What one of these identity history summaries look like for somebody who doesn't have any
criminal or arrest record.
If you have no record, it's going to come back within a couple of days.
If you have a record, it could take a few weeks.
Once you have this document, now you can review the arrests and the convictions and make sure
that you assemble, you gather and assemble all the relevant documentation for that, especially
if you're applying for an immigration benefit, but also, as I mentioned if you are applying
for a license, or a visa from another country.
Now, one other thing that I recommend as an immigration attorney is that you run a check,
not just with the FBI but also with the relevant department of justice ("DOJ") in the state
that you live in.
So for example, California where I practice.
I practice in Los Angeles.
California has the CalDOJ, which has a separate process for submitting fingerprints to get
records on arrests and convictions from California.
So, if you live in Texas, for example.
If you live in another state, you should do the same thing that I recommended for the
FBI, in each one of those states that you've lived in if you've had an arrest or a conviction
in that state.
I'm not going to cover the specifics in this video, but I'll probably do another video,
at least showing how to run your CalDOJ biometrics to get a criminal rap sheet.
So, that's it for this video.
I hop this was helpful and if you have any comments or questions, general questions,
post them in the comments below.
If you want a full consultation, email me at info@malakoutilaw.com or click the link
below to schedule on calendly.
It is a paid consultation and we can sit in private and talk about your case one on one.
That's it.
Hope everybody has a great day.