U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a draft solicitation seeking one company to operate its nationwide electronic fingerprinting program, covering employees, contractors, consultants, and applicants who require fingerprinting as part of background investigations.
The solicitation, posted to SAM.gov on March 12, is structured as a blanket purchase agreement for recurring fingerprint services supporting CBP’s Office of Human Resources Management and other agency offices. CBP indicated a target price under $9 million, while noting that the agency retains flexibility to select a proposal above or below that figure based on best value.
The winning contractor would take responsibility for the full service chain: operating fingerprint collection sites, employing trained staff, providing on-site computer equipment, maintaining a scheduling system, electronically transmitting captured prints, and running a web-based portal that CBP personnel can access remotely to monitor request status, contact attempts, appointment data, and billing in real time.
Geographic coverage requirements are demanding. The contractor must provide fingerprinting within a 60-mile radius of each candidate’s zip code. Where no facility exists within that distance, the company must notify CBP’s contracting officer representative within one business day and resolve the gap within two additional business days. Candidates must be able to self-schedule around the clock through a web-based system and cancel up to 24 hours in advance.
Timeline requirements set clear performance standards. Within one business day of receiving a request, the contractor must identify a potential site and make first contact with the candidate. Appointment coordination must be completed within three business days, and the fingerprinting itself must occur within ten business days of CBP’s initial request. The agency noted that demand can spike sharply, with several thousand requests possible in a single day.
CBP has been expanding its biometric capabilities on multiple fronts. The agency has tested facial recognition at vehicle border crossings and has expanded iris recognition at ports of entry. The fingerprinting solicitation is focused on the agency’s internal personnel vetting pipeline rather than traveler processing, but it reflects CBP’s broader push to modernize biometric infrastructure across all functions.
Sources: SAM.gov
–
By Ji-seo Kim
