When do I have to get my Florida fingerprints taken?

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) requires fingerprints from each sales associate applicant in order to perform a background check as part of the approval process.

You may use any Florida Department of Law Enforcement-approved Livescan Service Provider to submit your fingerprints to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. You will need to provide the Originating Agency Identification (ORI) number to the provider when you submit your fingerprints.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement keeps the criminal results from each applicant’s fingerprints for six months, starting from the date the fingerprints were collected.

You should complete the fingerprinting process prior to applying for your license. This provides the Florida Real Estate Commission enough time to complete their background check prior to determining your approval for taking the state exam.

Pearson VUE has many locations across the United States and offers testing on U.S. military bases as well. You can find the closest test center using their online search feature. Pearson VUE also allows you to take the exam online with a remote proctor, using a computer, microphone and webcam.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation encourages candidates to obtain fingerprints through an approved Livescan Service Provider at least five days prior to submitting an application for a real estate license.

The cost of obtaining a copy of your fingerprints in Florida varies depending on the vendor chosen from the Livescan Service Provider list. Each fingerprint vendor has the option to set the price for their fingerprint services. Typically, the cost ranges from $50 to $80.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement retains the applicant’s fingerprints for only 180 days. If you fail to submit the licensing application within the 180 days you will need to submit new fingerprints. DBPR will retain the results of the prints for 12 months from the date they received the digital fingerprints.