​For Applicants & Employees​ - DPSAC Process Overview​

Enrollment and Badge Authorization

Enr​ollment 

​Once you finish Prescreening and the investigation requirements have been determined, you must wait until DPSAC sends a notification via email to you to complete the Enrollment process. Enrollment is comprised of Identity Proofing, Photographing and Fingerprinting for the PIV/RLA badge. In summary, the purpose of Enrollment is to tie your biometrics and photograph to your PIV/RLA badge.​ As part of the process, you must make an appointment to come onto campus in-person to get officially enrolled and added into our system.

Because DPSAC needs to tie your fingerprints and photograph to your PIV/RLA badge, your fingerprints will be captured during this Enrollment appointment. Please note that the fingerprinting process for Enrollment is different from the fingerprints you submitted for Prescreening. As a reminder, fingerprints collected during Prescreening are known as “Crossmatch fingerprints." Crossmatch is different in that it only captures the your fingerprints needed for the criminal history repository check. These fingerprints are required during Prescreening before Enrollment is authorized. 

You must bring two forms of valid government identification, one of which must contain a picture, to your appointment. Visit FIPS 201-3 PDF to view a complete list of approved identification documents.​


Badge Authorization/Issuance

What is Badge Authorization/Issuance? 

This appointment allows the applicant to receive their authorized NIH ID badge.


Helpful Tip for New Employees/Applicants: Save yourself some time by completing Enrollment and Badge Authorization/Issuance within the same day! This can be done for most cases, but only if you have:

​​​1. Submitted Prescreening fingerprints in advance during the Prescreening phase,

2. Submitted all of your Prescreening documentation and completed any needed corrections,

3. And received DPSAC Prescreening clearance.

Receiving your Prescreening fingerprints in advance will allow us to get started on your background investigation earlier and give the approval/clearance you need to get your NIH badge if your background investigation checks out. ​


What if my fingerprints were not given during Prescreening?

Your fingerprints will need to be taken during the Enrollment phase, which will add at least another two (2) days to do an investigation before we can issue you your badge. This will lengthen the time of your process, as you will be required to come back onto campus again to receive your badge before you can start your work. ​


What happens next?

After Badge Authorization, DPSAC will need to adjudicate any issues that are discovered during the prescreening process before the badge can be issued; this may require additional processing time. To make PIV card eligibility determinations, DPSAC utilizes federal guidelines including, but not limited to:

  • Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12)
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Information Process Standard 201-2 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal 
  • Employees and Contractors  
  • Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) HSPD-12 Credentialing Standards  
  • Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 731

Please feel free to visit our Policy page​ for more information on what polices drive the Personnel Security process.​