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Step-by-step guide

New Jersey Resident – FID & Purchase Permit

Quick GlanceThe Firearms ID card (FID) and Permits to Purchase a Handgun, for New Jersey residents and dual residents, through FARS.

Last checked 11/08/2026 · 9 sections

The Firearms Purchaser Identification Card (FID) and the Permit to Purchase a Handgun, for New Jersey residents and dual residents. Both are applied for online in FARS, the NJSP's Firearms Application & Registration System.

At a GlanceFID card $50, paid to the police department you applied toPurchase permit $25 each. One permit for each handgunFingerprints First application only. Paid to IdentoGO at the appointmentLater applications $21 background fee ($3 service + $18 statutory)FID valid Until the tenth calendar year after it is issued; each later approved application renews it for 10 more yearsPurchase permit valid 90 days, renewed once automatically for 90 more: 180 days total, no extensionsApply Online in FARS, to the police department that covers your home (its ORI number)
Dual Residents

Dual residents: use this guide. NJSP's resident instructions are written for "N.J. Residents & Dual Residents of New Jersey". If you have a home in New Jersey and another state, you apply as a resident, to the police department that covers your New Jersey home.

You count as a dual resident only if you can prove you live in the NJ home: a government ID showing the NJ address, a government tax record, or a government utility bill (for example, the town water bill). You cannot rent the home to someone else and claim to live there.

Planning to carry? You need the FID first: its SBI number goes on the Permit to Carry application. Then follow the Resident Permit to Carry guide.

Step 1: Check If You Qualify

Step 2: Before You Apply

2.1 Find Your Police Department and ORI

The ORI is the number of the police department that covers your home. Enter the wrong one and the application goes to the wrong department and is cancelled with no refund. Some NJ towns have the same or similar names in different counties, so check the county too.

NJSP Station Emails & ORI List

2.2 What You Need

  • Social Security number, driver's license or state ID number, and employment information.

  • Every address you lived at in the last 10 years (month/year, city/state).

  • Your best phone number and email. NJSP and your police department contact you by email.

  • Alien Registration Number, if it applies to you.

  • Your references' first name, middle initial, last name, address, phone and email.

  • A photo that meets the rules below (first FID only).

  • If you were fingerprinted for a NJ firearms application before: your SBI number.

List from the NJSP FARS instructions.

Photo Rules (NJSP)

  • A recent, clear color photo of your face, taken within the last 6 months

  • Civilian clothes, light background, no hat or glasses

  • Cropped to a square headshot. A "selfie" is fine if no one else is in it

  • Do not use the photo from your driver's license or passport

  • A photo that does not meet the rules can get the application cancelled, with no refund

2.3 Mental Health Records Forms

If you lived outside New Jersey in the last 10 years, your police department will ask for form SP-066. Fill in part one only. The "investigating police department" is the department processing your application. Anyone can sign as witness: no police and no notary needed. More addresses go on page 2.

If you live or lived in New York State or the City of Philadelphia in the last 10 years, you may also be asked for their own forms.

SP-066 (PDF)New York form (PDF)Philadelphia form (PDF)

Step 3: Apply on FARS

Read the steps first. Mistakes on the review page are final.

Open the FARS Application

3.1 Choose What You Are Applying For

You can pick more than one in the same application. Example from NJSP: if you are applying for your first FID and plan to buy a handgun in the next six months, pick both.

3.2 The Training Slideshow

The required course on safe handling and storage is built into the application as the Firearms Safety & Awareness PowerPoint. NJSP suggests reviewing it before you apply, because it is long.

3.3 "Have You Been Fingerprinted for Firearms in New Jersey Before?"

3.4 Number of Purchase Permits and the Multiple Handgun Exemption

You can buy only one handgun in 30 days, unless you also apply for a Multiple Handgun Purchase Exemption in the same application.

⁠From Personal Experience

I recommend applying for no more than 3 permits at a time. Every time you want to purchase a pistol, you will have to go through this entire process (minus the fingerprinting).

3.5 References

Each reference gets an email questionnaire and may be contacted. If they do not answer in time, your application is not processed. Double-check every name and email before you submit.

Wrong reference email after you submitted? Contact the police department processing your application to fix it. You do not need to reapply.

3.6 Review, Pay and Save

A review page lets you edit everything before you submit. Mistakes you do not fix there are final. A misspelled name, wrong date of birth or wrong Social Security number gets the application cancelled and cannot be edited. An approval with the wrong address cannot be used. Print or save the review page and the confirmation page.

Applied to a NJSP station: all fees are paid online. Applied to a municipal police department: any fees still owed are on the confirmation page and email; pay them right away. Your application is not started until every fee is paid.

Step 4: Fingerprints (First FID Only)

First FID only. After you submit, the confirmation page and email give you a confirmation number, contributor case number (CCN), ORI, and how to be fingerprinted.

IdentoGO service code: 2F164B

Schedule With IdentoGO

To change or cancel an appointment, call IdentoGO at 1-877-503-5981. It cannot be done on the website.

Applied to the Wrong ORI?

Reapply to the correct department, cancel the old fingerprint appointment by phone and book a new one with the new ORI and CCN. Already fingerprinted under the wrong ORI? Ask the correct department for your SBI number before you reapply.

Step 5: After You Apply

NJSP Station Emails

Once Approved

Changes, Renewal and New Residents

Change of Address, Name or Sex

Update your driver's license or state ID first. Then apply in FARS for the change, with the $21 background fee, before you buy anything.

Moving to New Jersey with Your Guns

A new NJ resident who brings in guns owned in another state must apply for an FID within 60 days of becoming a resident, and register any handgun within 60 days (N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3(o)). In FARS choose "Register handgun(s) with change of residency to New Jersey / Voluntary Registration", plus "Initial Firearms Purchaser Identification Card" if you never had one.

Renewal and Replacement

Lost, stolen or renewing: apply for "Replacement for Firearms Purchaser Identification Card". Any later approved application renews the card for another 10 years.

Next: The Permit to Carry

With your FID (SBI number) in hand, follow the Resident Permit to Carry guide.

Tips

  • Pick the right department. Wrong ORI means cancelled, no refund.

  • Follow the photo rules exactly. NJSP says many applications are cancelled for photos and fingerprints that do not meet the standard.

  • Get printed early. The check only starts once your prints are in.

  • Check your email, spam included, for the whole process.

  • Read the review page twice. Name, date of birth and SSN cannot be fixed later.

All from the NJSP FARS instructions (02/16/2026).

Official Sources

⁠New to the terms? See the 2A Glossary.

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  • We Prepare the PaperworkEvery form filled out and submitted for you, with your authorization. Notary services available.*
  • We Check Every DocumentEvery requirement checked before anything goes in.
  • You Show Up ReadyYour 18-hour training scheduled, and you're prepped for fingerprinting and the interview.

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    Tell Us What You NeedFill out the short request form.
  2. 2
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  3. 3
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Last updated: 11/08/2026 · כ״ח חשון תשפ״ז

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