National Federal Criminal Search

Frequently asked questions about national federal criminal searches.

• What's the difference between the National Federal Criminal and National Criminal Plus searches?

  While they may sound similar, these two types of searches are distinct:

  • National Federal Criminal Search reports information from federal district courts and contains specific high-level crimes, white-collar crimes, and crimes that cross state lines.

  • National Criminal Plus is sourced from a database that compiles potential records from thousands of sources at the county, state, and federal levels.

  Learn more about National Criminal Plus searches ›

• What is the difference between a County Criminal and National Federal Criminal Search?

  Federal crimes are tried at the highest level of the government for the commission or omission of an act defined by Federal statute or regulation having legislative authority with Congress. County criminal searches identify crimes against local laws, which include more common criminal offenses.

  Learn more about County Criminal History Searches ›

• What are "white-collar crimes" and why are they prosecuted in a different court?

  "White-collar crimes" include cases involving capital punishments, fraud, and embezzlement. Crimes such as tax evasion, robbery, kidnapping, illegal sale of firearms, pornographic exploitation of children, and intrastate crimes are also classified as white collar. These types of crimes are typically found only in a National Federal Criminal Search.

• What are the key differences between federal and state criminal record checks?

  The key difference between federal and state criminal record checks is the source of information. Federal criminal record checks investigate Federal District Courts for high-level, white-collar crimes and crimes that cross state lines, while statewide criminal record checks search state- and county-level records for localized results.

• How long does a federal criminal background check take?

  At Verified Credentials, we process 96% of federal criminal background checks within 24 hours and 99% in under 48 hours. Due to the serious nature of federal-level crimes like kidnapping, cybercrimes, or drug trafficking, we strive to maintain the fastest turnaround times possible.

• How do you support adverse action workflows when federal records are identified?

  We support adverse action workflows pertaining to federal records in the same manner as other criminal record searches, complying with Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state, and local regulations:

  1. Our employment screening platform allows clients to create and deliver a pre-adverse action notice to the individual with a summary of their rights and copy of their report. This notice should be tailored to your organization and used as a template for future adverse action proceedings.

  2. The candidate is provided with a minimum waiting period, typically of five (5) days, to dispute any findings. After that deadline, if no dispute has been made, the official adverse action notice may be sent.

  3. Once the official notice is delivered, the applicant has 60 days to dispute the findings.

  For more information on making the adverse action process seamless, read Your Guide to Simplifying and Understanding Adverse Action >

• Are federal searches automated or manually reviewed?

  Verified Credentials manually reviews federal criminal search results. The popularity of automated review tools may be on the rise, but we proof all research outcomes to reduce the chances of false positives or other errors.