If you are a summer intern or an individual who will be at the NIH for less than 6 months, you will be considered a "Short Term Employee" and will receive our short-term RLA orange-striped badge.
Steps to Obtain Your NIH RLA ID Badge
Step 1: NIH Enterprise Directory (NED) Sponsorship
The first step in the ID badge process is for your Summer Coordinator to work with your Administrative Officer (AO) to enter your information into the NIH Enterprise Directory (NED) and to request an RLA ID badge for you. The NED system will invite you enter your own Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as your place of birth, address, email address, etc. Ensure your contact information is accurate as this is how NIH will contact you regarding your badge requirements.
If you do not enter your information online into NED, you will be required to fill out a paper Badge Request Form (HHS-745), which will be provided to you by the Summer Coordinator for your Institute. After your Summer Coordinator receives your completed HHS-745 form and processes your information into NED, you will be able to confirm that you have been entered into the NED System by visiting: http://ned.nih.gov. If you do not see your name in the NED or the badge request is not complete, you will need to contact your Summer Coordinator.
Please note that all non-immigrant foreign nationals must first have their U.S. employment eligibility authorization validated by the NIH Division of International Services (DIS). DPSAC cannot process applicants for a badge until the AO sponsors your badge request in NED, and until DIS completes validation for any non-immigrant foreign nationals.
- Note: DIS does not process U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR). Please visit the DPSAC website for more information.
- Note: Summer students under the age of 18 must also provide parental/legal guardian consent to undergo the necessary security screening. Parental/legal guardian consent is not available using the secure NED portal. These students must complete a paper copy of the HHS 745. The parent/legal guardian's signature on the FORM HHS 745 must be notarized.
Once you submit your Badge Request Form in a timely fashion and have been entered into NED by your Summer Coordinator, you will be contacted by NIH regarding next steps to obtain your NIH Badge.
Step 2: ORS DPSAC Prescreening, Badge Enrollment and Badge Issuance
After your AO sponsors your badge request in NED, and once DIS completes validation for non-immigrant foreign nationals (if applicable), your case is routed to the NIH/ORS Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC) to process your badge and complete Prescreening. Before issuing an NIH badge and before 'clearing' anyone for employment at NIH, DPSAC conducts Prescreening.
Prescreening is the process of collecting preliminary information, such as fingerprints, to determine if an individual is eligible to receive an NIH badge or to occupy their position at NIH. Prescreening for summer interns includes submitting a set of Fingerprints to conduct the necessary criminal history check, and Badge Enrollment to verify identity and collect the photograph for the NIH badge.
You must wait until DPSAC sends a notification via email to make an appointment for Badge Enrollment. You will be authorized for Badge Issuance once the FBI criminal history check shows that you are 'cleared' and eligible for an NIH ID badge and once Badge Enrollment is complete.
Badge Enrollment and Badge Issuance can only be done at an NIH PIV Card Issuance Facility (PCIF). You may find PCIFs located at the NIH Main Office Location in Building 31 and at Other DPSAC Locations (PCIFs).
Where can I submit Fingerprints and/or complete Badge Enrollment for my Badge?
For Summer Interns Located LESS THAN 50 MILES from an NIH PCIF:
1. DPSAC can collect your fingerprints at our Main Office in Bethesda, Maryland. Once you receive an email authorizing Badge Enrollment, Summer Students who are local can visit an NIH PCIF in advance of their start date to complete Badge Enrollment. At Badge Enrollment, DPSAC will conduct the following:
- Collection of Fingerprints (to conduct an FBI fingerprint criminal history check and biometric integration to badge)
- Identity Proofing (requires 2 forms of valid, government issued ID)
- Take Your Photograph
2. The fingerprint results will take 1-5 business days to process.
3. Once approved, summer interns will receive an email to schedule their Badge Issuance appointment. Summer interns may schedule a badge issuance appointment for their start date.
For Summer Interns Located MORE THAN 50 MILES from an NIH PCIF:
These summer interns will need to utilize Fieldprint for the Collection of Fingerprints only in order to remotely submit an FBI fingerprint criminal history check for DPSAC to review. (Enrollment will be completed once the summer intern can travel to an NIH PCIF.)
1. In order to use Fieldprint, summer interns need to wait to receive an email authorizing Badge Enrollment, then summer interns who are not local may contact ORSFingerprintService@mail.nih.gov or call 301-402-9755 to request “Fieldprint scheduling." Please follow the instructions on how to use Fieldprint.
- Note: Utilizing Fieldprint will save summer students who are not local time by having to complete the FBI fingerprint check portion in advance of their start date, as it takes 1-5 business days to process. There are many Fieldprint locations across the United States.
2. Once the summer intern completes their Fieldprint appointment and the summer intern is cleared by DPSAC, summer interns should use the original Badge Enrollment email to schedule both their Badge Enrollment and Badge Issuance Appointments on their start date at an NIH PCIF.
Note: Summer interns who do not use Fieldprint and who did not complete Enrollment prior to their start date, will need to complete Badge Enrollment first and wait for the fingerprint results to be returned (1-5 business days) before DPSAC can issue the badge.
Otherwise, summer interns who do utilize Fieldprint ahead of time (or who are able to complete Enrollment ahead of time) will be able to pick up their RLA badge on their start date once approved (subject to appointment availability).
What Must I Bring to my DPSAC Badge Appointments:
You will need to bring two (2) forms of valid, unexpired, government-issued identification with you to your appointments; one of which must contain a photo. This may include:
- Driver's license
- Social security card
- Passport
- Birth certificate
- School ID card with a photograph
Please visit the FIPS 201-3 flyer to view a complete list of approved identification. Your identifying information on both forms of ID must match exactly – no exceptions (i.e. first name, middle name and last name, date of birth, etc.). IDs must also be original documents (photocopies are not accepted). DPSAC will not enroll you without the correct forms of ID.
Please allot additional time to complete the security screening upon your arrival and be prepared to show verification of your DPSAC appointment to NIH Security to be allowed onto NIH campus. Please arrive on-time for your appointment. To see a map on how to arrive at our Main Office Location in Bethesda, MD, please visit our website here.
