Sponsor Guide

This guide provides Sponsors with helpful tips for completing the Sponsorship portion of USAccess records.
Log on to the Assured Identity™ Portal at https://gsa.usaccess.gsa.gov/AssuredIdentityportal.

Choose Your Role
If you hold more than one role in the USAccess
system, the roles display when you log in to the
Portal. To perform the role of Sponsor, choose
Sponsor.

Search for the Applicant
To edit an existing record or enter a new
Applicant, you must first search for the record.
Text fields are provided for you to search by Last
Name and Date of Birth, or by Social Security
Number and Date of Birth.

Choose an Action
The following buttons display with the search results:
No Applicant records are found. The New Applicant
button allows the Sponsor to create a new Applicant
record. You are given the option to sponsor the
Applicant immediately or wait until a later time.
The Applicant record was found, but the Applicant
requires sponsorship by your Agency. To sponsor the
Applicant for your agency, click New Sponsorship.
Click View Applicant to view and/or edit the
Applicant's personal information.
The Applicant record was found and the Applicant is
sponsored by your Agency. Click View Applicant to
view and/or edit the Applicant's personal information.
Click Edit Sponsorship to edit the sponsorship
information. Click Sponsor Utility to quickly resend
Sponsorship Complete and Card Ready for Pick-up
e-mails, or to reissue and reprint cards.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

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Enter Complete Legal Names
Remember, the Sponsor is the gatekeeper of the
chain of trust. It is critical that the Sponsor enter
accurate, complete information.
 Names are entered on the Biographic Data
page. This is the first page you are presented
with when you create a new record.
 Enter complete legal names of Applicants.
Nicknames or initials cannot be entered as
complete legal names.
 Enter a middle name or middle initial if one is
available. If no middle name is available,
enter NMN for No Middle Name. DO NOT
LEAVE THE FIELD BLANK. Do not use any
other acronym.

Examples:
Applicant name is Donald (Skip) Smith. Enter Donald
Smith. Include a middle name if available. Enter Skip
Smith as an alias.
Applicant name is D. D. Johnson. Look for legal name.
If legal name is not included in the application
materials, contact the Applicant for a complete legal
name.
Applicant name is Donald (Skip) Smith. In this case,
Skip is not a middle name; it is a nickname. This
Applicant has no middle name available. Enter NMN
for "No Middle Name."

Duplicate Social Security Number
A warning message displays to Sponsors when
creating a new Sponsorship record using an SSN
already in use by another Applicant. If entered via
the Sponsorship portal,
Sponsors are asked if they want to continue or
cancel the request.

Enter Foreign Nationals into the USAccess System
Foreign Nationals can be entered into the USAccess system provided they hold a valid Social Security
Number. Indicate an Applicant is a Foreign National by choosing their citizenship country from the
Citizenship drop-down list on the Biographic Data page.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

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Change Citizenship Status
The Foreign National designation displays in the PIV Card Type field on the Sponsor Applicant page in
the Card Information section. USAccess Credentials for Foreign Nationals are printed with a blue color
stripe. Changing an applicant’s citizenship is a two step process. Follow this process to ensure the correct
color stripe is printed on the credential when a change to citizenship is required:
1. Search for the Applicant. Select View Applicant. Change Citizenship to desired country on the
Biographic Data page. Click the Next buttons to click through the Biographic Data section and click
Finish to save the record.
2. Search for the Applicant again and this time select Edit Sponsorship. No changes need to be
made to the Sponsorship record, but it must be saved to save the updated PIV Card Type. Click the
Next buttons to click through the Sponsorship section and click Finish to save the record.

User Principal Name
The User Principle Name (UPN) is a specific identifier
used in the USAccess certificates that are contained
on the PIV Credential. It is constructed in the form
of an e-mail address, but it may or may not be an
actual e-mail address.
The UPN can be created in one of two ways:
 The USAccess system can generate a unique
UPN.
 The Sponsor can enter a UPN specified by the
Agency. Typically, it is an Agency-wide decision
to adopt an Agency-specified UPN or let the
system generate one. If you are in doubt as to
which UPN to assign, contact your Agency Role
Administrator.

Agency Special Use: Restricted Access
Indicator
Currently, this zone is used by Treasury only.
When selected, this field prints a special use
character to the left of the chip on the front of the
credential.
 To mark an Applicant’s record for the indicator
to appear on their credential, choose from the
drop down box.
All existing Applicant records default to not having
the Restricted Access Indicator. When a Sponsor
goes in to an existing Applicant’s record and
chooses to mark the Agency Special Use field, the
Sponsor is prompted for a Reprint Request through
the Card Action Wizard.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

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E-mail
mail Addresses
There are three fields where an e-mail
mail address can
be entered:




The Personal/Home Email field and the
Other Email field on the Biographic Data
page. These two fields are optional and do not
need to be completed.
The Work Email field on the Sponsorship
Information page. This field must be
completed if the Applicant is required to use his
or her card for digital signature and/or
encryption purposes. Leave the default
selection, Yes, beside Require Digital
Signature and Encryption Certificates.
Certificates

All email addresses (Work, Personal/Home, and
Other) must contain a continuous string of
acceptable characters. If the email address entered
contains a space, the Sponsor receives an error
message that the email address is invalid.

If the Agency is not providing an e-mail
e
address for the Applicant, select No beside
Require Digital Signature and Encryption
Certificates and leave the Work Email field
blank.
There currently is no way to reverse this
decision once the Applicant is enrolled and
the card is printed. Be sure this Applicant
will not require an e-mail
mail address before
you select No.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives
representatives without written permission.

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E-mail Notification of Missing or
Inaccurate Data
The USAccess system performs specific criteria
checks on the Applicant's record before it is
released for card printing. When a record fails the
criteria checks for work e-mail address, UPN,
employment status, and/or employment type, the
record is flagged and an e-mail message is sent to
the Sponsor. The Sponsor must verify the
information and edit the Applicant's record to
correct the inaccurate or missing data before the
card can be printed.

Card Expiration Date
Card Expiration Date allows a Sponsor to indicate
either a System Generated date or a User
Provided date.
 If System Generated is selected, then the
credential expiration date is 5 years from the
date of last enrollment.
 If User Provided is selected, a date/calendar
field is enabled and the Sponsor can enter or
select a custom credential expiration date.
The User Provided date must be at least 30
days from the current date or the Sponsor
receives an error message.

Request Reissue during Multi-Agency
Applicant Sponsorship
If the Applicant has already been sponsored and
enrolled with an agency, USAccess allows a new
sponsoring agency for that same Applicant to
request a reissue during their own agency
sponsorship.
At the end of the sponsorship record, the Sponsor
is prompted with a message stating when the last
enrollment was for this Applicant and asks if they
wish to request a re-enrollment.
 Click the Yes button to have the Applicant reenroll.
 Click the No button to send the sponsorship
record directly to card production.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Information Toolbar
When an Applicant has been entered into the system, the Information Toolbar indicates the status of
his/her record on all pages in the View Applicant and Edit Sponsorship sections of the Sponsorship
portal.
The icon indicators in the upper right corner of the Toolbar, beside Hide Applicant Status, show, at a quick
glance, whether there are any problems with the Applicant’s status. More specific status information is
displayed along the bottom of the Information Toolbar.
NOTE: If a blue dot appears next to Hide Applicant Status, it indicates that a replacement credential has
been ordered for the Applicant. In the example below, the blue dot appears. The Information Tool bar
reports the status of the replacement credential in the Sponsorship, Enrollment, Adjudication and Issuance
fields. The status of the current credential (credential in hand of Applicant) appears in the Current
Credential field.
If no replacement has been requested, the replacement credential has been activated, or this is the first
credential for the Applicant (i.e., no other credential exists for the Applicant within this Agency), then the
blue dot and the Current Credential field won’t appear. The Sponsorship, Enrollment, Adjudication and
Issuance fields will report status of the first/initial credential for the Applicant.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

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Issuance Criteria are available on the Information Toolbar. Issuance criteria are the Pre-issuance
Validation rules that must be satisfied for a Credential to move to issuance status. When criteria failures
exist for the selected record, the number of criteria failures and an ‘ ’ are displayed next to the Issuance
Criteria link. Selecting Issuance Criteria opens a drop-down list which shows the status of all the
criteria. Incomplete criteria are indicated by an ‘ ’.

Card Action Request Wizard
Once an Applicant’s Credential has been printed, most changes made to the Applicant’s record will require
a reprint, reissue, or either a credential or certificate renewal card action. The Card Action Request Wizard
prompts you to enter information in the Wizard to determine the required action.
The following are some of the changes to an Applicant’s record that require a card action request:






Name
Employee type
Biometric (lose fingers or hand)
Sub Agency
Credential is expiring







Law Enforcement status
Agency Rank
Card header
Emergency Response Official status
Lost or stolen Credential

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

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Note: Text fields will be grayed-out
out and
unavailable for information that cannot be
changed.
Changes made to a record are indicated by an
exclamation point
icon. Information about the
change is available
ble on the Information Toolbar.
In the following image of the Biographic Data
page, the Applicant’s middle initial has been
changed. Notice the beside Middle Name and a
corresponding
beside Show Previous Card
Info on the Information Toolbar.
Changes
hanges to an Applicant’s record must
be saved before the changes display on
the Information Toolbar or before a card
action can be requested.
Selecting Show Previous Card Info expands the Information Toolbar and displays a side-by-side
comparison of the data elements
ments that have changed. If the Credential has been issued, this is a
comparison between the information currently printed on the Credential (Previous Value) and the recent
changes made to the record (Next Value).
Value)
In the example below, the Applicant’s middle initial was modified. Initially, the Credential was printed
without a middle initial because the Applicant ha
had “NMN” (No Middle Name) for the Middle N
Name value.
The Sponsor then updated the record with the correct middle initial, “P”.
“ . The next time the Credential is
printed, it will be printed with the middle initial “P”.
“
The Card Action Request Wizard will determine if a reprint, reissue, or certificate update is required for this
or any change made to an Applicant’s record.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives
representatives without written permission.

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When the Next button is selected, you will be
prompted to run the Card Action Request Wizard
to determine the required card action.
For this example, let’s assume a Credential
Holder has married and requested her last name
be changed on her Credential. The Sponsor has
changed
d her last name in her record and will now
run the Card Action Request Wizard to determine
the correct card action.
A card action request may also be made
from the Card Actions tab on the
Sponsor Utilities page. See the
“Sponsor Utility – Card Actions”
Actions section
below.
The Card Action Request Wizard asks you a
series of questions. Your answers will determine
whether a Reprint, Reissue,, or Certificate Update
is needed.
Since the Credential Holder in our example has
an existing credential and has possession
possess
of her
Credential,, the Sponsor answers yes to this
question.
If a credential was never issued for the
Credential Holder, then this first question
does not display.
1. Select Yes or No and click Next..
The reason for our card action is a Data Update
U
because the
he Sponsor updated the Credential
Holder’s biographic data with the last name
change.

2. Select a reason for the Card Action and click
Next.

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outside of the Government or authorized representatives
representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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At the end of the process, the Wizard presents
the recommended action.
 In the Select An Action section, you can
choose to follow the recommended action
or select an Upgrade Action from the
drop-down list.
 In the On Completion section, select a
radio button to choose the page to which
you would like to return on completion of
the card action. The choices are Applicant
Search page or Sponsor Utilities page.
3. Click Finish to complete the request.

Sponsor Utility – Card Actions
A card action request may also be made from the Sponsor Utilities page. Select Sponsor Utilities from
the Applicant Search page. Select the Card Actions tab, and then select the Start button to run the
Card Action Request Wizard.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Sponsor Utility - System Notifications
The Sponsor can send e-mails from the Sponsor Utilities page on the System Notifications tab.

Applicant needs to Enroll or Re-Enroll
When you click the Send Email button, the
system detects whether the Applicant needs
to enroll for the first time, or if the Applicant
needs to re-enroll.
 If an Applicant needs to re-enroll, the
system asks if you want to send the Reenrollment email. If you click Yes, the
system sends the Reminder to Re-enroll
email to the Applicant. The Reminder to
Re-enroll email reminds Applicants they
must visit an enrollment workstation to
present their identity documents, have
their picture taken, and submit
fingerprints. It informs them they will not
receive their new Credential until they
complete this step. It also provides
instructions for how to make an
appointment to re-enroll.
 If the Applicant needs to enroll for the
first time, the system asks you if you
want to resend the Sponsorship Complete
email to the Applicant. The Sponsorship
Complete e-mail contains the Applicant's
Sponsorship information and directions
for completing enrollment in the
USAccess program.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Credential Checked-In
In and Ready for Pick Up
The Credential Ready for Pick-up e-mail contains the subject “USAccess - Credential Ready for Pick Up" and
explains where to pick up the Credential,
redential, how tto
o make an appointment for card activation,
a
and how to
activate the Credential using the p
password included.
The Credential Ready for Pick Up e-mail
e
can only be sent
ent if the Applicant has been enrolled and
his/her Credential has been printed and inventoried by the pick-up
up location. If the Credential has not
been printed and inventoried by the pick-up location, the option to send the e
e-mail is disabled/grayed
out.
The Sponsor can also resend the card pick up emails for a card renewal.
renewal As with re-enrollments, the
system will detect which template ne
needs to be sent to the Applicant. If it is a first issuance for the
Applicant, the standard Credential Ready for Pick Up email will be sent. If it’s a reminder to pick up a
renewed credential, the Credential Ready for Pick Up for Renewals email is sent.

Record/Editing is Blocked
During Card Printing
A warning message is displayed if card
printing is in progress for the selected
Applicant. The message states that Sponsors
can only terminate or suspend the employee’s
status because the card is being printe
printed. This
is part of the effort to “lock down” the
Applicant’s record and prevent changes from
being made (such as name, ship to address,
etc.) because these types of changes will not
take effect while card printing is in progress.
The Sponsor must wait untill printing is
completed to make changes (e.g., reprint,
change name, etc.).

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives
representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Select Card Shipping Address
Credentialing Centers and locations where cards can be shipped often change. They may move to a new
location or be decommissioned and permanently closed. If you attempt to select an address within 21
calendar days of the site closure (End Date), the address will be available for selection in the Site
drop-down list on the Card Shipping Address page; however, you will not be able to save the record and
will receive a warning message to select another shipping address. Once the address End Date has passed,
the address no longer appears in the drop-down list. This ensures that a card can only be delivered to a
location that is still active and available by the time it is ready to be shipped.

Sponsor of Record
If a Sponsor updates a current record and
he/she is not the current Sponsor of
Record, check box is enabled, asking if they
would like to become the Sponsor of Record
for the Applicant.
If the checkbox is checked, the record is
updated with the new Sponsor of Record.
If the checkbox is NOT checked, the record
is updated with no change in Sponsor of
Record.
If a Sponsor is already the Sponsor of
Record for the Applicant, the checkbox is
not enabled.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Sponsor Tools – Sponsor
Reassignment
When a Sponsor leaves the
Agency/Organization
rganization or no longer holds the
Sponsor role, Applicant
pplicant records are left
without an active Sponsor of Record.. The
Sponsor Reassignment Tool allows an
employee who currently holds the Sponsor
role to assume Sponsorship of Records
ecords
within his or her scope that does not violate
the Separation of Duties rule.
The Sponsor Reassignment Tool is accessed
from the Applicant Search page.
1. Select Sponsor Tools to navigate to
the Sponsor Reassignment page.
On the Sponsor Reassignment page, the
t
Sponsor List
ist displays the current Sponsors within scope, the
current Sponsor’s Agency or sub-Agency,
Agency, the number of Applicant records for which each Sponsor is the
Sponsor of Record,, and whether the Sponsors
Sponsor listed currently hold the Sponsor Role (Role Status).
S

2.

To assume sponsorship of all of a current Sponsor’s Applicants without viewing the Applicants, c
click
Reassign All.

It is good practice to review the current Sponsor’s list of Applicants before assuming sponsorship of
all the Applicants.
3.

To review the current Sponsor’s list of Applicants before assuming sponsorship of all the Applicants, c
click
View Applicants.

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outside of the Government or authorized representatives
representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Applicants available for reassignment are displayed with an empty check box in the Reassign column.
Only 10 Applicants per page are
re displayed. Hyperlinked pag
page
e numbers display below the Applicant
A
list.

You cannot assume sponsorship for Applicants whose records are marked with an
because of the
Separation of Duties
uties rule. For example, if you hold the Adjudicator role, you cannot be Sponsor of Record
for the Applicants you also adjudicate.
4. Click Reassign All to immediately assume sponsorship of all Applicants listed on all pages.
Alternatively, Applicants can be selected individually by clicking the check box (thereby adding a
check mark) beside the Applicants for whom you want to assume sponsorship.
sponsorship Click Reassign
Selected when you have completed your selection and you want to complete
com
the reassignment.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives
representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Sponsor Utility – Sponsor Reassignment
1. To reassign sponsorship for individual Applicants, use the Applicant Search page to search for the
Applicant.
2. When the Applicant’s record displays, select Sponsor Utility next to the Applicant’s record to navigate
to the Sponsor Utilities page.

3. On the Sponsor Utilities page, select the Sponsor Reassignment tab to view the status of the
Applicant’s Sponsor of Record.

4. Click Reassign Sponsor to assume sponsorship for the Applicant.

If the Separation of Duties check fails, the Reassign Sponsor button will be disabled and you will
not be able to assume sponsorship of the applicant.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives
representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Request Credential Renewal
for Applicant
Sponsors can request renewals for Applicants with
credentials set to expire within the next 12 months.
If the Applicant’s credential expires greater than 12
months from today’s date, the renewal request
cannot be created for that Applicant.
To request a renewal card for an Applicant,
Sponsors can click on the Card Renewal tab
located within Sponsor Tools, then search for
Applicants with cards set to expire by selecting
information from the available fields. Filling in the
fields will narrow search results.



Filling out the Card Expiration Date fields
will return results only for Applicants whose
credentials will expire within that timeframe.
NOTE: Search results can only be displayed
for a 90 day time period due to system load
limits. If a Sponsor enters in a date range
greater than 90 days, the system will return
an error message next to the Card
Expiration Date field and the Sponsor will
be directed to enter a date range of 90 days
or less.



Leaving the date field blank will return a list
of all credentials set to expire within the
next 90 days.



Once fields are selected, click Show List.

A list appears showing all Applicants with credentials
set to expire matching the search request.
Results can be sorted by
 Last Name or
 Enrollment ID

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outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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The Card Renewal Eligibility column indicates
whether Applicants are eligible to have their
credential renewed.
 If a green check mark appears, the Sponsor
can request a renewal for the Applicant.



A red X indicates there is a problem with the
record that prevents a renewal from being
requested. These records will be grayed out
and cannot be selected.

To select individual records for renewal, place a
check mark in the box next to the Applicant’s
record.
To select all eligible Applicants within your search
results, place a check in the box on the far left
column next to Agency Role column.
Once selections are complete, click on Submit
Request.

A processing screen appears, followed by a prompt
asking the Sponsor to confirm to have renewals
requested for the selected Applicants.


Clicking YES completes the request.



Clicking NO cancels it.

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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Resolving issues with
Renewal Eligibility Column


If a red X appears in the Card Renewal
Eligibility column indicating the Applicant is
not eligible for renewal, click on the X next
to the Applicant record to determine what is
preventing the renewal from being
requested.



A Card Eligibility table appears indicating
the issue preventing the Applicant from
having the card renewed.



Sponsors can check the Applicant’s
Sponsorship record and the Information
Toolbar for more specific information.

Requesting Renewals
via Card Action Wizard
Sponsors can also request a renewal for an
Applicant credential by initiating the Card Action
Wizard from the Sponsor Utility page.
 Select Sponsor Utility from the Applicant
Search page.
 Select Card Actions tab,
Finally select the Start button to the run the Card
Action Wizard.

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outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

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

Select Card Renewal



Complete the steps with the Wizard to
request a Card Renewal for the
Applicant.



Click Finish to complete the request

The information contained in this document is proprietary and may not be transmitted or disclosed to anyone
outside of the Government or authorized representatives without written permission.

December 2012

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