Illinois Background Check from Abroad
State criminal history check
Illinois Background Check from Abroad
Difficult. Access and Review is built around Illinois law enforcement agencies and licensed in-state vendors taking your prints electronically.
- Fee
- No state fee; the fingerprinting vendor charges its own
- Processing
- Varies; confirm when you submit
- From abroad
- Restricted
This is one of the few states you probably cannot use from overseas. Before spending anything, ask the authority requesting the certificate whether the FBI check alone will do. It very often will, because the federal record already includes arrests Illinois reported to the FBI.
What to send, and where
| Agency | Illinois State Police, Bureau of Identification |
|---|---|
| Form | Access and Review request |
| Fee | No state fee; the fingerprinting vendor charges its own |
| Payment | No fee payable to the state. |
| Processing | Varies; confirm when you submit |
| Post to | Illinois State Police, Bureau of Identification, 260 North Chicago Street, Joliet, IL 60432-4075 |
The Illinois State Police, Bureau of Identification page for this request
Specific to Illinois
- Illinois charges nothing for Access and Review, which is rare, but the submission route assumes you are in Illinois.
- Contact the Bureau before posting anything from abroad: 815-740-5160 or ISP.BOI.Customer.Support@illinois.gov.
Getting fingerprinted where you are
Local police, a private fingerprinting service, a U.S. post if it still offers it, or ink at home. Take more than one card. Use the FD-258 unless Illinois specifies its own form above, in which case order that form first and allow for it reaching you overseas.
After it arrives
A Illinois criminal history check is a state document, so it is authenticated by Illinois, not by the U.S. Department of State. Most states require the response to be notarised or certified before the authenticating authority will touch it, and several sell a notarised version for exactly this purpose. Buy it at the time rather than discovering later that you have to start again.
We handle the apostille
Once your Illinois check exists we can authenticate it, legalise it for a non-Convention country, and have it translated. Tell us the destination and the deadline.
Questions people actually ask
Can I request my Illinois record from outside the United States?
Difficult. Access and Review is built around Illinois law enforcement agencies and licensed in-state vendors taking your prints electronically.
What does it cost?
No state fee; the fingerprinting vendor charges its own No fee payable to the state.
How long does it take?
Varies; confirm when you submit. Add international postage in both directions on top of that.
Do I need the Illinois check as well as the FBI one?
Only if the authority asking has said so. The FBI record already includes arrests that Illinois reported federally. Ask before paying for both.
Will it need an apostille?
If it is going to a foreign authority, yes. A Illinois check is a state document, so it is authenticated by Illinois rather than by the U.S. Department of State, and it usually has to be notarised or certified first.
This guide is published by a private document processing service. It is not legal advice and we are not a government agency. Requirements change without notice, so confirm anything critical with the mission before you post documents.
