Reading Room Document

FBI Authority to Charge User Fees for Record Check Services

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has authority to charge the Department of State user fees for FBI record check services used by the State Department to determine whether visa applicants have criminal records and are thus ineligible for visas. The imposition of user fees by the FBI for record check services is discretionary. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23281/download.

February 11, 1991