How Long Does a Background Check Take? Learn About Background Checks

There are many background checks, and the turnaround time varies for each, making it hard to answer how long a background check takes exactly? The duration of a background check depends on various factors, including the type of background check, information requested, and data sources.

A background search can sometimes take just a few minutes or as long as five business days. This article highlights 5 background check providers that offer the best turnaround times regardless of the type of background check performed.

Instant Checkmate holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has been accredited since 2014. This background check provider gathers information from public records. It casts a wide net and includes several details such as contact information, criminal records, location history, civil court records, properties, vehicles, bankruptcies, and others.

Its background check diversity makes it suitable to perform almost any background check for federal, employment, universal, or criminal purposes. To perform a background search, all you do is enter the person’s name and the city and state where they live. Instant checkmate also offers phone and email lookup.

Since Instant Checkmate casts a wide net, your background reports may take a little longer than most. A basic background check from Instant Checkmate may take as little as 12 minutes, and a more detailed check will take hours or even days. However, given the amount of information an Instant Checkmate background report provides, it is well worth the wait.

You can try Instant Checkmate by taking advantage of their 5-day trial or signing up for a monthly membership if you plan to use it for longer.

Pros

• BBB Accredited
• Provides reports on time when compared to the amount of information you get.
• Easy to use search tools

Cons

• No free trial

TruthFinder was launched in 2014 and, since its inception, has tried to bring the most refined version of the truth to anyone who seeks it. It has positioned itself as a premium background check provider with access to public and private databases, allowing for a more profound and insightful background check report. This background check provider also has an A+ rating with the BBB.

The report may include address history, social media accounts, driving records, court records, and more. Truth Finder also scans the dark web to uncover other information that may be hidden and can’t be found with a basic background check provider.

The best thing about this background check company is that it takes to prepare reports quickly. Truthfinder’s background check process takes just 10 minutes, and it is why most people turn to truth Finder when they need to perform a background check in a hurry.

TruthFinder offers a monthly paid plan that gives you unlimited access to its services.

Pros

• 10 minutes to prepare a report
• It covers both public and private databases.
• It scans the dark web as well

Cons

• No single search option, only a monthly subscription

Intelius has been dominating the industry since 2003 by pulling information about individuals through public records and organizing them into a comprehensive report. It is an excellent tool for in-depth background reports and when performing reverse phone lookups.

Intelius reports contain information from personal to professional to property and criminal, etc. It provides a background check report between 3 to 30 minutes. However, it may take longer depending on the type of search performed on some occasions.

Unlike most background check providers, Intelius offers one-time reports. There is no free trial, but there is an “S report for $1.99,” which allows you to perform unlimited standard background searches for five days.

Pros

• Fast
• Offer one-time reports
• 7 background search options

Cons

• Automatically charges card after the trial period is up if you don’t cancel