OFI Form 86C is a Special Agreement Check request that your sponsoring federal agency fills out and submits to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) on your behalf. It is marked “Agency Use Only,” so if you are the person being checked, you will not fill it out yourself.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. OFI 86C Special Agreement Check Form Your part is giving your agency’s security or human resources office accurate personal information and a set of fingerprints so they can process the request.
What a Special Agreement Check Covers
The 86C initiates what DCSA classifies as a Special Agreement Check, or SAC (case type 92). These are limited-scope national agency checks, narrower than the full background investigations used for security clearances but broader than a simple name search.2Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Special Agreement Checks (SACs) Fingerprint-only checks also fall under the SAC umbrella and use the same form.
Agencies typically request a SAC when a position needs some vetting but not a full single-scope or Tier 1 investigation. Common cases include short-term contractors, excepted-service employees, non-U.S. nationals working in federal facilities, and roles that do not touch classified information. The authority behind the check comes from federal suitability and fitness standards.3Cornell Law Institute. 5 CFR Part 731 – Suitability and Fitness
One variant, coded “Code 8” on the form, handles background screening for child care workers in federal settings. This check pulls state criminal history repository records in each jurisdiction where you have lived, so it requires more information from you than a standard SAC.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. OFI 86C Special Agreement Check Form
What You Need to Give Your Security Office
Items 1 through 4 on the form are your personal identifiers. Your security office will ask you for:1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. OFI 86C Special Agreement Check Form
- Full legal name — last, first, middle, and any suffix, exactly as it appears on your ID.
- Date of birth (month, day, year).
- Place of birth — city and two-letter state abbreviation, or country if you were born abroad.
- Social Security Number.
- A completed fingerprint card, usually the FBI’s FD-258.
If the SAC is for a child care role, add every residential address you have had in the past five years, listed most recent first. That address history is what lets DCSA query the right state repositories.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. OFI 86C Special Agreement Check Form
Check every field against your government-issued ID before you send it back. Mismatches on name, date of birth, or SSN are the most common reason a check gets returned unprocessed.
Getting Fingerprinted
The FD-258 is the standard FBI applicant fingerprint card used for civil background checks, and a completed card almost always accompanies the 86C.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. Applicant Fingerprint Form (FD-258) Your security office will either roll your prints in-house or send you to an approved provider. Some agencies accept electronic livescan capture instead, in which case the digital prints travel separately and no physical card is needed.
If you go to an outside provider for ink-rolled prints, expect a fee in the neighborhood of $30, though it varies by location. Your agency may pay the provider directly or reimburse you. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID; the technician has to verify who you are before capturing prints.
What the Agency Fills In
The rest of the form uses codes and billing data assigned by DCSA to each participating office, so you cannot look them up yourself. Your security officer supplies:
- The Submitting Office Number (SON), a four-character code identifying the office that initiated the request.
- The Security Office Identifier (SOI), a separate four-character code telling DCSA where to send the finished results.
- IPAC-ALC and accounting data so investigation costs are charged to the correct agency account.
- The specific check type — fingerprint-only, a broader national agency check, or a child care repository search.5Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Background Investigations for Security and HR Professionals Terms and Definitions
How the Form Gets Submitted
Once the security officer has completed every field and attached your fingerprint card, the packet goes to DCSA. Electronic submission through DCSA’s NP2 Secure Portal is the preferred route; the form and attachments are uploaded to the “(S) e-QIP Attachments (NTC)” channel.2Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Special Agreement Checks (SACs)
When electronic submission is not available, the agency mails the packet to DCSA’s Federal Investigative Processing Center:6Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Start a Background Investigation
- Standard mail: DCSA-FIPC, PO Box 618, Boyers, PA 16018
- Deliveries needing a street address: 1137 Branchton Road, Boyers, PA 16016
Individuals do not submit this form themselves. If someone gives you a blank 86C and asks you to mail it in, that is not the process. The sponsoring agency handles submission.
After the Form Goes In
DCSA analysts run the requested checks against federal databases, FBI criminal history records, and any additional repositories the check type calls for. Fingerprint-only results tend to come back faster than broader national agency checks, and DCSA does not publish fixed turnaround times for SAC products. Your security office is the best source for a realistic estimate.
Results go to the office identified by the SOI code on the form, not to you. Your agency then reviews the findings and makes the suitability or fitness determination for your position. If anything in the results needs a response from you, the agency will contact you before making a final decision.