Notice2026-09879
Fee for Fingerprints Collected by CBP
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
May 18, 2026
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentU.S. Customs and Border Protection
Abstract
This notice announces that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin collecting a fee for fingerprints collected by CBP from applicants seeking unescorted access to CBP security areas at airports. CBP collects fingerprints from applicants when the applicant submits a paper application or when the applicant is an eBadge applicant for whom CBP has not received fingerprints from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or the fingerprints CBP receives from TSA are unreadable or unusable. The fee is the total of the current Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) user fee for conducting fingerprint checks and the CBP administrative processing fee.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 95 (Monday, May 18, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 95 (Monday, May 18, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28599-28601]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09879]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Fee for Fingerprints Collected by CBP
AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, DHS.
ACTION: General notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) will begin collecting a fee for fingerprints collected by CBP
from applicants seeking unescorted access to CBP security areas at
airports. CBP collects fingerprints from applicants when the applicant
submits a paper application or when the applicant is an eBadge
applicant for whom CBP has not received fingerprints from the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or the fingerprints CBP
receives from TSA are unreadable or unusable. The fee is the total of
the current Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) user fee for
conducting fingerprint checks and the CBP administrative processing
fee.
DATES: CBP will begin collecting the fee described in this notice after
June 17, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guy Cange, Branch Chief, Traveler
Entry Program, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, by telephone at (202) 403-4176, or email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c4a3b1bdeaaceaa7a5aaa3a184a7a6b4eaa0acb7eaa3abb2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ff988a86d197d19c9e91989abf9c9d8fd19b978cd1989089">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for
securing the borders, territorial waters, ports, terminals, waterways,
and air, land, and sea transportation systems of the United States. See
Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law 107-296, sec. 402, 116 Stat.
2135, 2177-78, as amended (6 U.S.C. 202). Within DHS, two components,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA), have responsibilities supporting this
mission by ensuring security at airports of entry. Specifically, CBP
and TSA regulations provide for the designation of secured areas in
airports as well as the requirements and procedures for obtaining and
maintaining access to such areas.
The CBP security area regulations are set forth in subpart S of
part 122 of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). CBP
security areas, or ``Customs security areas,'' are defined as the
Federal Inspection Services (FIS) areas at airports accommodating
international air commerce designated for processing passengers, crew,
their baggage and effects arriving from, or departing to, foreign
countries, as well as the aircraft deplaning and ramp area and other
restricted areas designated by the port director. See 19 CFR 122.181
(defining the term ``Customs security area''); 19 CFR 101.1 (defining
the term ``Customs'' to mean CBP). Generally, persons located at,
operating out of, or employed by any airport accommodating
international air commerce who have unescorted access to a CBP security
area must openly display or produce upon demand an approved access
seal. 19 CFR 122.182(a). The requirements for the application for a CBP
access seal
[[Page 28600]]
include the applicant filing CBP Form 3078--Application for
Identification Card with the port director, in addition to the
applicant's employer supporting the application with a written request
and justification for issuance, the appropriate bond, and attestation
of a completed background check. 19 CFR 122.182(c)(1) and (d).
Additionally, the port director may require other submissions from the
applicant, such as fingerprints, proof of citizenship or authorized
residency, and a photograph. 19 CFR 122.182(c)(1). If the applicant is
required to submit fingerprints, 19 CFR 122.182(c)(1)(i) provides that
the port director will inform the applicant of the current Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) user fee for conducting fingerprint
checks and the CBP administrative processing fee, the total of which
must be tendered by, or on behalf of, the applicant with the
application.
TSA regulations regarding secured areas are set forth in subparts B
and C of 49 CFR part 1542. TSA requires that airports establish at
least one secured area, which must be a security identification display
area (SIDA). See 49 CFR 1542.101, 1542.103, 1542.205. TSA requires that
an individual seeking unescorted access to a SIDA continuously display
the personnel identification medium issued to that individual. 49 CFR
1542.207, 1542.211. Such identification medium has come to be known as
a ``SIDA badge.'' TSA also requires that an individual seeking
unescorted access to a SIDA undergo a fingerprint-based criminal
history records check, which involves the airport operator collecting
the applicant's fingerprints, which are ultimately submitted to TSA and
the FBI. 49 CFR 1542.209.
However, a CBP access seal does not grant access to a TSA SIDA, and
a SIDA badge does not grant access to a CBP security area. To receive
access to both areas, applicants have needed to apply for a TSA SIDA
badge through their Airport Badging Office (ABO) and then visit the
airport's local CBP office to apply for a CBP access seal, as described
above. Upon successful vetting by CBP, CBP may provide the ABO with a
holographic sticker to affix to the applicant's SIDA badge, or the ABO
may print the CBP access seal directly onto the SIDA badge. This
process often results in inconsistent handling of applications and long
waiting periods for approval. Therefore, CBP, in collaboration with
TSA, developed the eBadge system through the Trusted Worker Program
(TWP) to facilitate a faster and more uniform process of handling
applications. See CBP, eBadge Trusted Worker Program, <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/travel/ebadge-trusted-worker-program">https://www.cbp.gov/travel/ebadge-trusted-worker-program</a> (last modified Aug.
22, 2025).
With eBadge, applicants seeking access to CBP Security Areas and
SIDA at airports can seek both CBP and TSA access privileges with one
electronic application. First, the applicant may request access to the
CBP security area during the SIDA badge application with TSA. After
vetting and approving the applicant for a SIDA badge, TSA forwards the
applicant's biographic information as well as fingerprints and other
biometric data collected during the SIDA application process to CBP to
vet the employees seeking access to CBP security areas. CBP uses the
Automated Biometric Identification (IDENT) System to run the
applicant's fingerprints received from TSA and other information
through multiple databases and watch lists. In cases where IDENT cannot
read the fingerprints, where the fingerprints were not submitted as
part of the application, or where the fingerprints are otherwise
unavailable, CBP can schedule the applicant for fingerprint collection
and submit the applicant's fingerprints to the FBI for processing.
The FBI charges a user fee for performing fingerprint-based
criminal history record information checks for requesting agencies and
periodically publishes fee adjustments in the Federal Register. See 89
FR 70206, 70206-07 (Aug. 29, 2024). As of January 1, 2025, the FBI user
fee for Centralized Billing Service Providers, such as CBP, is $10.00.
See 89 FR 70207. As noted above, and pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 9701, CBP
regulations provide for CBP to recover both the FBI user fee and a CBP
administrative processing fee from the applicant. See 19 CFR
122.182(c)(1)(i). The legacy U.S. Customs Service rule, which finalized
the provision allowing the collection of such fees from applicants,
announced in the preamble that the fee, in 1993, would be the total of
the FBI user fee and an administrative processing fee of 15% of the FBI
user fee. 58 FR 15770, 15772 (Mar. 24, 1993). Additionally, the legacy
rule and the subsequent Access to Customs Security Areas at Airports
rule revised 19 CFR 122.182(c)(1)(i) to state that port directors will
inform applicants of the current FBI user fee and administrative
processing fee.\1\
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\1\ See 19 CFR 122.182(c)(1)(i). The legacy U.S. Customs Service
rule, 58 FR 15770 (Mar. 24, 1993), identified the district director
as the responsible party for informing applicants of the current
fee. Among other revisions, the Access to Customs Security Areas at
Airports rule, 67 FR 48977 (Jul. 29, 2002), revised this provision
to identify the port director as the responsible party.
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Under the legacy fee formula, the administrative processing portion
of this fee would be $1.50 (15% of the $10.00 FBI user fee) and the
total fee according to the legacy formula would be $11.50
($10.00+$1.50). However, this legacy fee calculation would not fully
recover CBP's administrative processing costs for this fingerprinting
service.
Through this notice, CBP is announcing the collection of the fee
authorized by 19 CFR 122.182(c)(1)(i) and updating the legacy fee
formula to reflect the cost of the new FBI fingerprinting user fee and
CBP's processing costs. To update the amount of the CBP administrative
processing fee, CBP calculates its costs per applicant requiring
fingerprinting. CBP collects fingerprints from applicants for access to
CBP security areas, that is, for a CBP access seal, when the applicant
submits a paper application or when the applicant is an eBadge
applicant for whom CBP has not received fingerprints from TSA or the
fingerprints CBP receives from TSA are unreadable or unusable. It takes
approximately 5 minutes (0.083 hours) for a CBP officer (CBPO) to
perform the fingerprinting for an applicant. The wage rate for a CBPO
in FY 2025 is $88.45 per hour.\2\ Multiplying the wage rate by the time
for a CBPO to perform the fingerprinting process results in an
administrative cost to CBP of $7.37 per applicant requiring
fingerprinting. Additionally, as a Centralized Billing Service
Provider, CBP is currently charged a $10.00 fee per applicant whose
fingerprints CBP sends to the FBI as part of a background check.\3\
Adding the $10.00 FBI fee to the administrative processing costs borne
by CBP ($7.37) shows that it currently costs CBP $17.37 per applicant
that needs fingerprinting.
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\2\ CBP bases this wage on the FY 2025 fully loaded salary of
the national average of CBPO Positions.
\3\ This fee will change whenever the FBI announces in the
Federal Register that the amount of the FBI user fee for Centralized
Billing Service Providers has changed. The current FBI fee charged
to Centralized Billing Service Providers is $10.00. 89 FR 70207.
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To fully recover CBP's costs, CBP must charge $7.37 per application
requiring CBP fingerprinting services related to applications for CBP
access seals plus the FBI user fee for Centralized Billing Service
Providers ($10.00 in 2026). Applicants who do not need fingerprinting
because CBP received usable fingerprints from TSA will not be charged
by CBP for fingerprinting services.
[[Page 28601]]
Collection of Fee for Fingerprints Collected by CBP
Accordingly, the new fee under 19 CFR 122.182(c)(1)(i) for
fingerprints collected by CBP is $17.37. The fee will change whenever
the amount of the FBI user fee changes or administrative processing
costs change. CBP will inform those required to submit the fee of the
correct amount. CBP will begin collecting the new fee amount after June
17, 2026.
Markwayne Mullin,
Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2026-09879 Filed 5-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P
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