Read this first. Training requirements, fees and forms are set by New York State and can change. Every link below goes to the state’s own page or document, and we date our last check so you can tell how current it is. When in doubt, the state’s page wins — not ours.
Required reading
NYS employee statement & security guard application
New York’s Division of Licensing Services publishes the employee statement and security guard application as a single form. Read it before you apply — it sets out the fingerprinting procedure, the fee breakdown, the child-support statement and the declarations you sign.
Download the PDF
A copy of the state’s own file, hosted here for convenience. 998 KB, PDF.
What the form itself says
| Fingerprinting vendor | IdentoGo by IDEMIA |
| Service Code | 1545R1 — the form warns that using the wrong license type or service code may mean you have to be reprinted |
| Scheduling | identogo.com or 877-472-6915 |
| DCJS fee | $75.00, payable to IDEMIA |
| FBI fee | $12.00 — security guard applicants must pay it; payable to IDEMIA |
| Vendor fee | A vendor fee applies — itemized on the state’s e-fingerprinting page as $17.50 at the time of writing — and the form notes it can change each January and July |
| Total, and a warning | That adds up to roughly $104.50. Check the current figure yourself: the state publishes two different numbers — its e-fingerprinting page itemizes $75.00 + $12.00 + $17.50, while its “become a security guard” page states a single “$102.50 — Fingerprint Fee, payable to IDEMIA”. We are not going to pick one and pretend the other does not exist. |
| Receipts | You receive two receipts. Send one with your application; your employer keeps the other. |
| Deadline | Fingerprint receipts are valid for 5 months — submit the original application within that window or be reprinted |
Read from the state’s form on 27 September 2026. Fingerprint fees are separate from application fees.
Read this before you pay any school
Who regulates what in New York
Two state agencies are involved, and confusing them leads people to pay for certificates that were never required.
| Department of State (DOS) | Registers the guard. Your application, registration card and renewal — that is DOS. |
| Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) | Approves the training school. In DCJS’s own words: “Only a New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) approved security guard training school may provide required New York State security guard training.” |
Under General Business Law Article 7-A you can apply for exactly three things — a security guard, special armed guard, or armored car guard registration card. There are no other levels or designations, and the 8-hour pre-assignment course is the only course required to obtain a security guard registration card. Be sceptical of any school that tells you otherwise.
Find a center near you
Electronic fingerprinting
New York takes fingerprints electronically through IdentoGo by IDEMIA. You book directly with them and choose the center closest to you — we cannot book it for you, and you should not pay anyone else to.
Bring the right things. The form asks you to bring an approved form of identification (the acceptable-document list is on the state’s site) and an acceptable form of payment, and to give Service Code 1545R1 when scheduling. Getting the service code wrong is the most common reason people have to go back and be reprinted.
State pages
License, renewal & registry
These are the state’s own pages for the license itself. Requirements, eligibility and any fee are stated there and there alone.
Every link above was checked on 27 September 2026.
From the school
Our own study material
These are ours, not the state’s — written to sit alongside your course.