Archiving is the process of resubmitting an employee’s federal fingerprints for a current criminal background check. Each program may have different archiving requirements, so please check with your program for the required frequency.

Employees must be archived during the same month their original or last archived fingerprints became available in FARA (Fingerprint Approval Retrieval Application).

Example:
If an employee was fingerprinted in May 2021 and must archive every two years, they would be due for archiving in May 2023.

Note: Employees fingerprinted at the end of a month may have a FARA availability date in the following month. Agencies should submit a list of employees every month, unless no employees are due.

No. Archiving uses previously captured electronic fingerprints. There is no need for the employee to appear in person.

Even if an employee is on leave, they must still be submitted for archiving in their scheduled month.

If an employee has a last name change (e.g., due to marriage), they must be reprinted in person under their new name. Archiving cannot be used in this case.

Submit your archive spreadsheet by the 15th of each month to ensure processing before the month ends.

If someone is accidentally left off, you may submit a corrected list the next business day.

1. Use the Archive Spreadsheet Template to list employees due for archiving.
2. Include the most recent PCN/TCN and ensure the employee’s name matches their name in FARA exactly (no middle initials in the first name field).
3. Save the file using this format:
   • NJ920690Z ARCHIVE SUBMISSION YYYY-MM-DD (program type)#XXXX Agency Name Submitter Name
   • Example:
     NJ920690Z ARCHIVE SUBMISSION 2021-05-20 (program type)#1234 Able Agency Lisa Jones
4. Email the spreadsheet to:
• For DCF applicants: DCF-ECCU.ARCHIVE@dhs.nj.gov
• For DHS applicants: DHS-ECCU.ARCHIVE@dhs.nj.gov

• ECCU will review your submission.
• If no errors are found, it is sent to the fingerprinting vendor (Idemia) for processing.
• If corrections are needed, ECCU will return the spreadsheet with instructions.
• The corrected spreadsheet must be resubmitted for processing.

• The vendor uploads the spreadsheet and verifies the names against the PCN/TCN.
• If the data matches, archiving is completed.
• The spreadsheet is updated with the new archive date and PCN/TCN, then returned to ECCU and forwarded to the agency.

If there are mismatches (e.g., name discrepancies), the vendor will highlight them in the Error Message column.

Minor Spelling Errors, Suffixes, or Punctuation:

• The agency verifies the error.
• Update internal records to match the name format in ECCS.
• Submit a new spreadsheet with only the corrected employee(s) within five (5) business days.
• ECCU will resubmit and return the updated results.

Different First or Last Names:

• Verify the employee’s legal name.
• If the error is due to a legal name change:
• The employee must be re-fingerprinted in person.
• If the original submission was correct, contact ECCU for guidance.

• Archive employees in the same month their last results became available.
• Rehires are not archived—they are treated as new hires.
• Submit the employee’s most recent PCN/TCN.
• Submissions are due by the 15th of each month.
• Archive employees even if they are on leave.
• Return corrected spreadsheets to ECCU within five (5) business days.
• After receiving new PCN/TCNs, agencies must pull employee results from FARA and update their records promptly.