Identity management has become an important part of our homeland security since September 11, 2001.The 9/11 Commission Report recommends that all federal employees or contractors be screened with biometric identifiers across all government agencies as a global strategy to protect against terrorist attacks.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) developed the USAccess Program as an efficient way for federal agencies to issue common HSPD-12 approved credentials to their employees and contractors. You will receive a USAccess credential if your agency has elected to participate in the USAccess Program. (You may hear the credential referred to with another name within your agency because some agencies have opted to re-brand their program and credential.)
Most of the contents of this page are also printed in the About The USAccess Credential Guide [1].
As a federal employee or contractor, you may need your USAccess credential in order to gain access to buildings and systems for which you are authorized. Over time, all existing federally issued badges will be replaced with a PIV-compliant credential. Without a PIV credential, you may not be able to enter certain buildings, or will need to be registered as a guest.
The information about you that is stored on your PIV credential includes:
The digital certificates stored on your credential can be used for authenticating your identity, digita signatures, and encrypting email.
Your credential can ensure your security by allowing you to easily, quickly, and reliably identify yourself to any federal agency using a single credential, as well as, trust the identity of other USAccess credential holders.
As a USAccess credential holder, you have important responsibilities to do your part to safeguard the security of the nation, your fellow employees, and yourself.
When activating your card, you will be prompted to select a unique PIN. Your new PIN:
IMPORTANT: Never store your PIN with your USAccess credential or share your PIN with anyone!
Contact your agency’s security officer if you have lost your credential or believe it has been tampered with. Your current credential will be terminated, and the process for issuing you a new credential will be initiated.
View the complete directives and policies governing the USAccess Program available on this website and the USAccess Privacy Statement [2]. It is important that you understand how data is collected and stored on your USAccess credential, not only for your security, but also as a reminder of how important it is to protect and safeguard your credential.
It is your responsibility to protect your USAccess credential and exercise the same care with it as you do with other identification credentials. For best protection, please keep your card in your badge holder when not in use.
Your USAccess credential contains digital certificates. The certificates must be renewed 3 years after initial activation to keep your credential active. The start of the 3 year period begins on the day your credential is activated when the certificates are encoded on your card. As the certificate renewal date of your credential nears you will be contacted by email (i.e., 90, 60 and 30 days before expiration) to make an appointment at a nearby enrollment/activation center to update your certificates. If you do not update your certificates your credential will be terminated.
Your USAccess credential is active for a period of 5 years. The credential expiration date appears on the front of your credential. As the expiration date of your credential nears, you will be notified by email to make an appointment at a nearby enrollment/activation center to renew your credential.
Acceptable Forms of ID [3]
View a List of
Acceptable Forms of Identification [3]
How and when applicants get their credentials is based on when their agency decides they are eligible to receive them. GSA MSO does not decide when applicants are eligible to receive their credentials. If you have any questions about when you will be receiving your credential, contact your agency's supervisor.
[4]
Steps to Achieve
an Active Credential
(select for full image)
The USAccess Program has developed an integrated, end-to-end system to automate and ease the process of issuing a credential to applicants.
The 9 steps to obtain a credential include:
Applicant data such as name, address, date of birth, employee type, and Emergency Response Official (ERO) status is entered into the system by the sponsoring agency. This completes the applicant sponsorship record in the USAccess system.
Using the GSA Online Scheduling System, the applicant makes an appointment [6] to enroll for the USAccess credential.
During the enrollment appointment, the applicant must present proper identification documents (List of Acceptable Forms of ID [3]) to the registrar at the center, have a photo taken, and have fingerprints captured using an electronic fingerprint capturing system. Provided there are no issues during the enrollment process, the appointment typically takes 15-20 minutes.
If the applicant notices that any information in their record is incorrect prior to the appointment, the applicant must contact the agency sponsor (see FAQs on how to locate your Sponsor [9]). The registrar is not able to make changes to applicant sponsorship record during the enrollment process.
Following a successful enrollment appointment, a background check is conducted on the applicant by the sponsoring agency. Once the background check is completed, the agency adjudicator will record the adjudication decision for the applicant in the USAccess system. When adjudication is complete and approved, the applicant’s credential is printed and shipped to the pick up location.
When the applicant’s credential is ready for pickup, the applicant will receive an email explaining where to pick up the credential. The applicant will also be prompted to make an appointment in the GSA Online Scheduling system to activate the credential.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This email may also contain the temporary one time use password that is needed to activate the credential for self-activation. Applicants must bring this password with them to their appointments, or they may experience difficulties during Activation.
Using the GSA Online Scheduling System, [5] or other system per agency:
NOTE: If your agency has deployed Light Activation stations, you have the opportunity to use one of those locations to have your credential activated. The GSA Online Scheduling System is not used to make appointments at Light Activation stations at this time. Please contact your agency’s program management office or check your agency’s intranet for information about Light Activation stations available for your use.
The applicant visits an activation station, and activates the credential using Attended or Unattended Activation. Attended Activation is performed by the activator. Applicants are encouraged to attempt activation unassisted. Please see the Unattended Credential Activities Guide [10] for more infomation on how to complete these steps.
During activation, the applicant is prompted for their temporary password. This password is contained in the "Credential Ready for Pick Up" email sent to the applicant. The applicant’s credential is then “personalized” with security certificates and the applicant is prompted to create a PIN for the USAccess credential. Applicants will also be prompted to digitally sign a USAccess Privacy Statement [2] that explains the USAccess credential holder responsibilities. Provided there are no issues in activating the credential, this appointment can take as little as 10 minutes.
USAccess credential holders can now use the credential and should care for their USAccess credential as they would any other valuable form of personal identification. For guidance on how to care for the credential, as well as what information is stored on the credential, view the Your Credential page and the About the USAccess Credential Guide [1] located on this website.
Links
[1] https://www.fedidcard.gov/document/about-usaccess-credential?download=1
[2] https://www.fedidcard.gov/document/usaccess-privacy-act-statement?download=1
[3] https://www.fedidcard.gov/document/acceptable-forms-id?download=1
[4] https://www.fedidcard.gov/sites/all/themes/gsa_fedidcard/images/legacy/credentialflow_large.gif
[5] https://portal.usaccess.gsa.gov/scheduler
[6] https://www.fedidcard.gov/credential-appointments
[7] https://www.fedidcard.gov/find-usaccess-centers
[8] https://www.fedidcard.gov/
[9] https://www.fedidcard.gov/faq/8
[10] https://www.fedidcard.gov/document/unattended-activation-activities-guide?download=1