TLC Fingerprints and Background Check Explained

After you file your TLC application, you book a fingerprint and photo appointment with IdentoGO using service code 15425Y. TLC lists the cost as $90.25 (as of 2026-10-12). Your fingerprints are sent to get your criminal history from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). TLC then reviews any record "in a manner consistent with Article 23-A" of the Correction Law. That law limits when a past conviction can block a license. TLC may ask you to upload court papers before it decides.

This guide is about the process: booking, what TLC receives, which papers it may ask for, and timing. Whether a particular record can stop you is covered in can I get a TLC license with a criminal record.

The process from booking to decision

Step 1: Book the appointment

TLC's license page says: "Have your fingerprints and photo taken. Visit IdentoGO to schedule an appointment. Use service code 15425Y." Its missing-requirements page adds that you schedule the appointment after filing the application. The same code and the same $90.25 fee appear on the paratransit and commuter van license pages, so every TLC driver applicant goes through this step.

Do it early. Fingerprints are one of the items applicants most often still owe. In TLC's application tracker on 2026-10-12, 1,744 of 2,967 incomplete applications (58.8%) still listed fingerprints:

Step 2: What TLC receives

Rule 80-04(h) sets out the background check in five parts:

1. You must be of good moral character.
2. You are fingerprinted "for the purpose of securing criminal history records from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services."
3. Your criminal history — including at renewal — is reviewed consistent with Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law.
4. Your application will be denied, and an existing license revoked, after a conviction for a "serious criminal offense" as defined in Vehicle and Traffic Law §498(1)(f).
5. You pay any processing fee the State charges.

TLC's missing-requirements page also says your fingerprint results can alert TLC that you "may have an out of state or federal criminal record." So don't assume an old case from another state will stay unseen.

What counts as a "serious criminal offense"

VTL §498(1)(f) lists seven kinds of conviction. In plain words:

• a felony involving the use of a motor vehicle (certain drug felonies are excluded from this item);
• a drug manufacturing, distribution or dispensing felony, or possession with intent to distribute, where a motor vehicle was used;
• a violation of VTL §600(1) or (2) (leaving the scene of an incident without reporting);
• driving a pre-arranged for-hire vehicle when your driver's license was revoked, suspended or cancelled because of earlier violations committed while driving one;
• causing a death by negligent driving of a pre-arranged for-hire vehicle, such as vehicular manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide;
• homicide;
• a felony involving assault, sex offenses, kidnapping or burglary.

If you are not sure how your conviction is classified, have a lawyer read the court papers before you pay the non-refundable $252 application fee.

Step 3: Papers TLC may ask for

TLC sends texts and emails listing missing items. These are the background-related ones from its Licensing Requirements Checklist:

Upload everything in TLC UP; our TLC UP portal guide shows where. If you need help, TLC's address is LicensingInquiries@tlc.nyc.gov.

Pending cases: the 90-day deferral

If you have criminal charges still open, rule 80-08(c)(3)(iii) says TLC defers your application. If the charges are not resolved within 90 days after you submitted the application, it is denied. Because the fee is not refunded, think hard about filing while a case is open. See when not to apply for a TLC license yet.

Want to see your own record first?

You can request your own New York criminal history from DCJS before you apply. DCJS's record review page says New York residents book fingerprinting through IdentoGO with a different service code — 15464Z (suppressed record) or 15465F (unsuppressed record) — not TLC's 15425Y. It lists a $17.50 fee (as of 2/2/2026) and says the response comes by mail in about three to four weeks. Seeing your record first lets you collect court dispositions before TLC asks, which can save days of your 90.

Practical tips

• Book IdentoGO the same week you file. The background review can't start until your prints are in.
• Use the name on your application. TLC's application guide says your first, middle and last names must be identical on all documents; see name different on documents.
• Order court papers early. Courts can take time to produce a certificate of disposition, and your 90 days keep running.
• Keep copies of every upload and every TLC text in case you need to show what you sent and when.

Not the same as an app background check

Uber and Lyft run their own background checks under their own policies. A problem there is not a TLC decision, and a TLC license does not guarantee an app will accept you. See background check failed for Uber in NYC.

Related pages

• Which license you are applying for: every TLC license type explained.
• The full application: how to get a TLC license.
• Age rules: how old do you have to be for a TLC license.
• After licensing, TLC's public driver list is explained in TLC open data lookups; the portal is described in the TLC UP glossary entry.