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• If You Need to Have Department of Education Fingerprint Records Processed for the First Time

If You Need to Have Department of Education Fingerprint Records Processed for the First Time

• Video: Fingerprint Clearance Verification Tutorial

To avoid a delay in signing up for classes, please plan to complete the steps to get a fingerprint verification letter from the certification officer early. It can take three months, more or less, and cannot be expedited.

This information is for Brooklyn College students enrolled in School of Education programs.

As of May 5, 2022, The New York City Department of Education (DOE) will transition all fingerprinting to the external vendor IdentoGO by Idemia (IdentoGO). The NYC DOE will no longer process fingerprints in-house at the HR Connect Service Centers at 65 Court Street, Brooklyn and Vernon Blvd, Queens.

How to Get Department of Education Fingerprint Records Processed for the First Time

1. Send an e-mail to PETSAdminsupport@schools.nyc.gov. In your e-mail, you will need to include all of the following:

• A scanned image of signed social security card
• College ID with recent validation - You can get a digital ID through the BC Navigator app. New students should send an e-mail to the Enrollment Services Center id@brooklyn.cuny.edu with a passport style photo, name as it appears in CUNYfirst, EMPLID, and indicate if you are an in an undergraduate or graduate program. The information will be uploaded to the ID system and the picture will be displayed in the digital ID. You can take a screenshot of the digital ID. If you cannot get a college ID because you have not enrolled in classes yet, you can fill in this form https://forms.office.com/r/aKrL3abYmR to get an Enrollment Verification letter to use as one of the documents needed for fingerprint clearance verification.
• A validated government issued ID (driver’s license/state ID/NYC ID and/or U.S. passport). 
• Proof of residence: a recent utility, cable, phone bill and/or lease, received under your name (or your family's name)
• Name, phone number, home address, date of birth
• If you have questions about documents required, please write to PETSAdminsupport@schools.nyc.gov.

In your e-mail to PETSAdminsupport@schools.nyc.gov, ask for your data to be entered into the PETS “roster” for Brooklyn College. Let them know that you are going to be a student teacher or you will be doing fieldwork through Brooklyn College (or indicate any other reason you are registering).

2. You should get a letter from PetsAdminSupport@schools.nyc.gov that states “Hello, Thank you for submitting the required documentation to be added to your college roster in PETS.” If you don’t have that letter, allow time to receive it. Check all of your e-mail folders. Please do not get your records processed with IdentoGO until after step 3.

3. After about a week or more later, you should get a letter from PETS that will include instructions and a specific “service code” to get your records processed with IdentoGO. When you use that code, it should save time getting your fingerprint confirmation. The cost is $101.75.

Check your e-mail for a letter from PetsAdminSupport@schools.nyc.gov that starts with "Congratulations! This e-mail confirms that an organization or agency providing services to the NYC Department of Education (NYCDOE) has nominated you for a position." You are not necessarily being hired yet; you are receiving the same letter that new employees receive.

Check the letter for "Next Steps." Be sure to complete the Applicant Gateway forms online if you are instructed to do that. If the "nomination" is marked "withdrawn" or "expired" in the Applicant Gateway, that means it timed out. If it timed out, you will need to write to PetsAdminSupport@schools.nyc.gov, and ask for a new "nomination" letter. When you get that letter, be sure to fill out the forms before the link expires.

4. Log into the Applicant Gateway system using your email address and password.

• Once you are logged in, you will be on the home screen.
• Click on the "Status" link to view your forms. This will bring you to a Nomination Status screen.
• Click on the "Application Forms" link under "Processing."
• A screen will pop up with a display of all Applicant Gateway forms and their current statuses.

5. Click on the "Fingerprint Instructions Form" to access the steps and service code required to schedule your fingerprinting appointment with IdentoGO.

6. If you used the service code described above to process your records, you will need to send an OSPRA 104 form to release your fingerprint records to the New York State Department of Education Office of Teaching Initiatives (OTI) for your New York State certification needed for employment in New York State public schools.

Here is the link to the OSPRA 104 form: http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/ospra104.pdf

If the information in section two of the OSPRA 104 form does not apply to you, you can leave it blank.

Send the form by email to the address at the bottom of the form.

How to check your application: Check your TEACH account at www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert about a month after you send in the OSPRA 104 form and look for the statement: “We have received your fingerprint information from NYC.” When you see this note, your fingerprint requirement for NY State and NY City is complete. Your TEACH account will only indicate if your records were received, not if your NYC records are currently "cleared."

7. After you follow all of these steps, you should receive a verification letter from Helen Spencer, hspencer@brooklyn.cuny.edu, with the subject "Keep this information: Fingerprint /security clearance verification for NYC DOE."

If you followed all the steps above and do not have the verification letter from Helen Spencer:

You will need to check all of your e-mail folders for the "nomination" e-mail from PETS that will state, "Congratulations! This e-mail confirms that an organization ... has nominated you for a position..." Check the letter for “Next steps”. Be sure to complete the Applicant Gateway forms online if you are instructed to do that. If the "nomination" is marked “withdrawn” or “expired” in the Applicant Gateway, that means it timed out. If it timed out, you will need to write to PETSAdminsupport@schools.nyc.gov, and ask for a new “nomination” letter. When you get that letter, be sure to fill out the forms in the Applicant Gateway and send in the OSPRA 103 form before the link expires.

If Follow-Up Is Required With the NYCDOE

If there are any changes in your fingerprint clearance status, and you are not cleared to work in NYCDOE schools, you will be notified, and then it will be your responsibility to stop working in NYCDOE schools and complete the steps needed before returning to work.

If you apply for substitute teaching after your clearance is confirmed, you may need to allow time for a further review, which may cause you to have a few days without clearance.

International Students (Students Without an Official Social Security Number)

If you do not have an official Social Security number, you must e-mail the Office of Personnel Investigations (OPI) at to make an appointment. Indicate to the OPI representative that you are an international student teacher without a Social Security number. You will be directed to the correct person. You must have an appointment, and you must bring in the following four items:

• Passport
• Student visa
• Proof of enrollment in an education program (a letter from your college program office will suffice: Early Childhood/Art Education, Childhood, Bilingual and Special Education, Secondary Education, or School Psychology/Counseling/Educational Leadership)
• College ID . You can get a digital ID through the BC Navigator app. New students should send an e-mail to the Enrollment Services Center esc@brooklyn.cuny.edu with a passport style photo, name as it appears in CUNYfirst, EMPLID, and indicate if you are an in an undergraduate or graduate program. The information will be uploaded to the ID system and the picture will be displayed in the digital ID.
• DACA students must apply for apply for a USA social security number.

After your records are processed, contact the certification officer. After you receive your Social Security number, you will need to bring your Social Security card to the OPI, 65 Court Street, Room 200, Brooklyn, New York. Indicate that you are an international student teacher who was previously fingerprinted without a Social Security number. Ask to be added to the Brooklyn College PETS roster so that your fingerprint records can be on file with Brooklyn College.

If you use a number obtained from any source other than the Social Security Administration (including numbers generated by CUNY and/or Brooklyn College) to be added to the NYCDOE PETS fingerprint roster, you will lose your security clearance and will be required to be fingerprinted a second time at your expense.

If you do not have a valid Visa or a Social Security Administration-issued Social Security number, you cannot student teach in New York City schools. You should consult with your advisor about completing your fieldwork and student teaching in Charter Schools, private schools or schools outside New York City. You can consider employment in those same schools.

If you do not receive a Social Security number (either for employment purposes only or otherwise) before you complete your requirements for New York State certification, you may need to process your fingerprint clearance again with IndentoGo.

Note that New York State teacher certification, for work in public schools, has two stages, Initial and Professional. For the initial certificate, citizenship is not needed. Initial certificates are valid for five years with the possibility of a time extension. After that, you will need to complete the requirements for a professional certificate: three years of relevant paid teaching experience, a related master’s degree, and any other requirements needed such as INS Permanent Residence or U.S. Citizenship. You can find more information about the citizenship requirement at the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) Office of Teaching Initiatives (OTI) website and at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/citizenshipreq.html.