To complete the First Advantage background check form, open the personalized portal link your prospective employer emailed you, enter your legal identifiers and history exactly as they appear on your official documents, review each screen for typos, sign the disclosure and authorization electronically, and submit. The process moves faster when you gather your information before you start rather than after the form is already open.
Gather Your Information Before You Open the Link
The email from your employer’s HR team contains a unique link to the First Advantage candidate portal. Pull your documents together first so you can finish in one sitting.
At a minimum, have the following ready:
- Your full legal name — first, middle, and last — exactly as it appears on your government-issued ID. Nicknames or shortened versions can trigger identity-matching flags.
- Your date of birth and Social Security number, which First Advantage uses to cross-reference criminal, credit, and identity databases.1First Advantage. Pre-Employment Background Checks
- Every residential address for the past seven years, with full street address, city, state, and zip. Gaps slow the check because the agency needs the correct county and state jurisdictions to pull records from.
Employment and Education
Depending on the role, the form asks for previous employers with job titles and start and end dates. A supervisor’s name and current phone number for each job helps First Advantage reach someone who can confirm your tenure. For education, expect fields for the institution’s name, the degree or credential you earned, and your graduation date. Keep copies of diplomas, final transcripts, and old W-2s within reach. If a school or former employer doesn’t respond to a verification request, the agency may ask you for one of those documents to close the gap.
Professional Licenses
Roles in healthcare, finance, law, education, and similar regulated fields usually include a license verification. Confirm your license number and issuing authority before you start the form. If you recently renewed a license or changed your name, check that the issuing board’s records reflect the update. A mismatch between the license record and the name you enter creates the same kind of delay as a wrong address.
International History
If you lived, worked, or studied outside the United States in the past seven years, be ready to provide a passport number or national ID for each country involved. International criminal, employment, and education checks follow the rules and timelines of the country in question, and they can stretch from days into weeks.
Working Through the Portal Screens
The portal walks you through one section at a time. Use standard formatting: ten-digit phone numbers, full street addresses without abbreviations. The automated systems process clean entries without errors and flag inconsistencies for manual review.
Review every field before advancing. A transposed digit in your Social Security number or a misspelled employer name is the kind of small mistake that pulls your file out of automation and adds days. If a screen lets you save and return later, use it only if you have to; picking up a half-finished form later means hunting for the same addresses and dates you already had in front of you.
Signing the Disclosure and Authorization
The final screens present the Disclosure and Authorization documents. Federal law requires your employer to give you a standalone written disclosure — a document that does nothing except tell you a background check will be obtained — and to get your written consent before the screening begins.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
“Standalone” is meaningful. The disclosure cannot be buried inside an employment application or mixed in with other paperwork. Read what you’re signing. You acknowledge these documents by clicking through several consent screens and applying an electronic signature.
Once you hit submit, the system generates a confirmation email with a reference number. Save that email. You’ll need the reference number if you contact First Advantage about your file later.
What Happens After You Submit
First Advantage begins pulling records right away. About 90 percent of U.S. criminal searches complete the same day they’re submitted, and education and employment verifications typically come back within one to three days.3First Advantage. How Long Does a Background Check Take? Turnaround varies by what your employer ordered. Some results arrive in minutes; others, particularly international records or county court searches in slow jurisdictions, can take several weeks.4First Advantage. Care Portal USA
Track progress at fadv.com/screening-status.5First Advantage. First Advantage Candidate Background Check Information If a former employer or school doesn’t respond to a verification request, First Advantage may email or call and ask for supporting documents like a W-2, pay stub, or official transcript. Upload those to the portal promptly. Slow responses on your end are the single most common reason a check drags on longer than it should.
If a Drug Test Is Bundled In
Some employers include a drug test with the background check. If yours does, First Advantage’s National Scheduling Center handles the appointment. You enter your availability in local time through their scheduling tool, and requests received before 6:00 p.m. EST are processed the same day, with a scheduling confirmation typically sent within four business hours.6First Advantage. National Scheduling Center You’ll get an email with the collection site location and appointment details. Expired drug test orders can’t be processed, so if you wait too long, your employer will need to reissue the order.
If Something on Your Report Is Wrong
Mistakes happen. A criminal record belonging to someone with a similar name, an old employer reporting the wrong dates, a degree that doesn’t show up because the school changed its name. If your report contains inaccurate information, you can dispute it directly with First Advantage through any of these channels:
- Online, using the dispute form at fadv.com/privacy-center/us-residents/dispute-report
- By phone at 800-845-6004
- By email at consumer.documents@fadv.com
The form asks for your name, date of birth, the organization that requested the background check, and a description of what’s wrong.7First Advantage. How to Dispute Your Background Check
Once First Advantage receives the dispute, it has 30 days to investigate and either correct the information, delete it, or confirm it as accurate. That window extends by 15 additional days if you submit new supporting information during the original 30-day period. Within five business days of receiving your dispute, the agency must also notify whoever originally furnished the information so that source can review its own records.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy
If the investigation resolves in your favor, First Advantage must correct or remove the disputed item and notify any employer that received the inaccurate report. If you disagree with the outcome, you can add a brief statement to your file explaining your side, and it must be included in future reports. For questions about your report or the dispute process, First Advantage also offers live chat at help.fadv.com.5First Advantage. First Advantage Candidate Background Check Information