Your New York requirements
What you will learn
- Identify the authority for your location
- Explain your next training and application steps
- Know which details to confirm before starting work
Connect the shared foundations to your state entry route and official next steps.
Your shift starts here
What would you do next?
You have finished the online foundations lessons and found an employer in New York. The employer asks when you can start.
Choose a response to see what happens.
Put it into practice
Verify your training next step
You are considering paying for a course. Build this verification plan in dependency order: define your target, establish the relevant requirements, check the exact course against them, then use the confirmed answers to decide.
Select the steps in the order you would take them.
- Choose step 1 below
Lesson notes & sources
Your state entry route
New York registers individual security guards. First-time applicants complete initial training, fingerprinting, and a Department of State application.
Complete eight hours of pre-assignment training before applying. After hiring, complete 16 hours of on-the-job training within 90 days, followed by eight-hour annual in-service training.
Choose an approved school
Check DCJS approval and complete the eight-hour pre-assignment course.
Prepare your application
Review the age-18 minimum, identification requirements, fingerprint instructions, and eligibility disclosures.
Submit to the Department of State
Provide the required application, fee, fingerprint evidence, and training certificate.
Schedule workplace training
Have your employer verify your registration and arrange the 16-hour course and annual training.
Confirm your situation
The 16-hour course is designed around your actual work assignment.
General preparation supplements New York's required approved courses.
Prepare for your assessment route
New York’s entry route begins with an eight-hour pre-assignment course at a DCJS-approved school, taught by a certified instructor. Successful completion includes passing the course examination. The regulations allocate one hour to review and examination together.
Confirm the school’s accepted delivery format, question count, pass standard and assessment timing. Check the separate 16-hour on-the-job and annual training requirements as you progress.
Keep your sources current
These sources were checked on 2026-09-16. Check the linked regulator for changes before applying.
The Get Licensed foundations course is supplementary preparation. Follow the required approved training and authorisation process for your location.