New Jersey fixes the price of a carry permit in the statute itself, and fixes the price of the purchase-side credentials separately. The State Police...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
New Jersey fixes the price of a carry permit in the statute itself, and fixes the price of the purchase-side credentials separately. The State Police collect those statutory amounts through the online application system alongside a background charge and a service charge. Everything else, including training, ammunition, and gear, is priced by private parties. This page separates the three layers and gives the authority for each figure.
N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c) provides that "Each application shall be accompanied by a $200 application fee". The same subsection sends the application to the chief police officer of the municipality where the applicant resides, or to the Superintendent of State Police if any of four things is true: the applicant is an employee of an armored car company, there is no chief police officer in the municipality where the applicant resides, the applicant does not reside in this State, or the applicant is a mayor or other elected member of the municipal governing body.
The fee recurs on a two-year cycle. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(a), permits "shall expire two years from the date of issuance or, in the case of an employee of an armored car company, upon termination of the employee's employment by the company occurring prior thereto whichever is earlier in time," and may then be renewed every two years "in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as in the case of original applications."
The split is conditional, and it applies to one filing route only. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(c) states that "In the case of an application made to the chief police officer of a municipality, $150 of the fee shall be retained by the municipality and the remaining $50 shall be forwarded to the superintendent." The municipal share is earmarked: it "shall be used to defray the costs of investigation, administration, and processing of the permit to carry handgun applications." The next sentence covers the other route: "Application fees made to the superintendent shall be deposited into the Victims of Crime Compensation Office account."
That $50 share has been challenged in court. In the consolidated Koons and Siegel appeals, decided September 10, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit addressed the portion of the fee paid to the Victims of Crime Compensation Office and concluded that "the Siegel Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their challenge to it." The court said it "will remand with instruction to preliminarily enjoin ยง 2C:58-4(c) (portion of permitting fee paid to VCCO)." That judgment did not stay in place. On December 11, 2025 the Third Circuit granted the petitions for rehearing en banc and ordered that "The opinion filed on September 10, 2025, amended on September 17, 2025, and the judgment entered on September 10, 2025 are hereby vacated." The State Police list of provisions that are "Not active or prohibited at this time" reaches 2C:58-4(c) only as to the in-person interview requirement for character endorsers, not as to the fee.
The opinion alone does not settle what an applicant pays today. The State Police instructions for New Jersey residents and dual residents, updated 03/03/2026, still describe a $200 statutory fee inside the total they collect. Confirm the amount your issuing agency is charging before you pay it.
The State Police concealed carry instructions break down the full charge.
| Applicant | Total | Composition |
|---|---|---|
| Has already been fingerprinted for a New Jersey firearms application | $226 | $200 statutory fee, $18 212A background fee, $8 service fee |
| Must still be fingerprinted (out-of-state instructions) | $205 | $200 statutory fee, $5 service fee |
On the second row the same instructions add that "The fingerprint cost is not included in your background fee."
When you pay depends on who processes the application. The resident instructions state that "If you apply to the Municipal Police Department, $76 dollars of the $226 total fee is submitted at the time of the application. The remaining $150 must be paid to your Municipal Police Department," and that the application "will not be processed or approved until full payment is received." If a New Jersey State Police station covers your residence instead, the whole $226 is submitted online with the application.
A carry applicant who buys handguns in New Jersey also pays the credential fees in N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3. Subsection f. sets both amounts in one sentence: "The application for the permit to purchase a handgun together with a fee of $25, or the application for the firearms purchaser identification card together with a fee of $50, shall be delivered or forwarded to the licensing authority."
The State Police FARS instructions restate those amounts and add the mechanics. The initial card fee is "fifty (50) dollars," and it "must be paid to the Police Department that you applied to in FARS," with a background fee on top. A permit to purchase is "twenty-five (25) dollars" and one permit is required for each handgun. A subsequent application, meaning one from an applicant who does not need new prints, carries "a twenty-one (21) dollar online background check paid at the end of your online application in FARS," which "includes a three (3) dollar service fee and an eighteen (18) dollar 212A statutory fee."
Term lengths set the renewal cadence. Under 2C:58-3(f) a permit to purchase "shall be valid for a period of 90 days from the date of issuance and may be renewed by the issuing authority for good cause for an additional 90 days"; the FARS instructions say it expires after a total of 180 days from approval, with no extensions. A firearms purchaser identification card issued or renewed after the effective date of P.L.2022, c.58 "shall expire during the 10th calendar year following its date of issuance and on the same calendar day as the person's date of birth," and if the holder's birthday has no matching calendar day in that tenth year, the card expires "on the last day of the birth month of the card holder." A card issued before that effective date does not expire. Renewal is by application "and payment of the required fee," an amount the statute leaves open; ask the processing department what it collects. Updating the name, address, or sex on an existing card is its own application, and the FARS instructions require it before a purchase. That application carries a "twenty-one ($21.00) dollar background fee" paid at the time of the online submission, though an applicant who has already been fingerprinted can fold the update into another FARS application at "no additional cost".
Subsection g. of 2C:58-3 says where all of this lands: "All fees for permits shall be paid to the State Treasury for deposit into the Victims of Crime Compensation Office account if the permit is issued by the superintendent, to the municipality if issued by the chief police officer, and to the county treasurer if issued by the judge of the Superior Court."
Two 2022 acts touched these numbers, and the order matters. P.L.2022, c.58, approved July 5, 2022, amended N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3 and carried the permit to purchase "together with a fee of $2" and the firearms purchaser identification card "together with a fee of $5." That act also introduced the ten-year card expiration, and provided that a card issued before its effective date "shall not expire."
P.L.2022, c.131, approved December 22, 2022, amended the same subsection to read $25 and $50. Section 3 of that act rewrote N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4 and carries the $200 carry permit fee and the division described above; section 4 created N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4.3. A form or handout quoting $2 or $5 reflects the law as it stood before that December 2022 amendment.
Fingerprint capture is a vendor charge, not a statutory one, so the amount comes from the vendor. The FARS instructions state that "Initial applicants are fingerprinted by Identogo, an outside vendor, for their initial background check," and that "The fee for the background check that is conducted is paid to Identogo at the time of your fingerprint appointment." Applicants who choose to be printed outside New Jersey "pay an additional fee that is also paid to Identogo at the time of your fingerprint appointment." The out-of-state concealed carry instructions add that "any fee associated with your fingerprint submission is paid directly to them." Get the current amount from the vendor, and use the confirmation number and ORI number from your confirmation page when you book.
Two timing points carry money with them. You have ninety days to be fingerprinted after applying, or the application "will be cancelled without a refund." And once you have been printed for any New Jersey firearms application you are assigned an SBI number, after which the instructions say you do not need to be printed again "unless there is an unresolved issue with your fingerprints from a past application."
The State Police answer the renewal cost question directly: "The fees and the background investigation process are the same for initial and renewal Concealed Carry Permit applications, except for fingerprinting which is not required for renewal applications."
The training piece can be cheaper on renewal. N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(d)(3) conditions issuance on completion of the training requirements, "provided that any requirement for classroom instruction and target training shall not be required for a renewal applicant who completed the instruction and training when obtaining a permit to carry a handgun issued within the previous two years." That exemption is keyed to a permit issued within the previous two years, not merely to holding a permit.
A cancelled application does not get its fee back. The State Police instructions state that an application filed to the incorrect originating agency identifier or police department will be cancelled and "Fees are non-refundable," and that an application submitted with a photograph that does not meet the requirements may be cancelled, with "no refunds for cancelled applications."
Court review carries no filing charge, and three provisions say so. For a denied carry permit, N.J.S.A. 2C:58-4(e) provides that the hearing shall be held within 60 days of the filing of the request "and no formal pleading or filing fee shall be required." For a denied permit to purchase or identification card, 2C:58-3(d) states that "No formal pleading and no filing fee shall be required as a preliminary to a hearing." For a denied card renewal, 2C:58-3(f) states that "A formal pleading and filing fee shall not be required as a preliminary to a hearing." Each waives the court's filing charge and says nothing about returning the application fee.
These are priced by private sellers rather than by the State, so get current quotes before you budget.
Retired law enforcement officers using the separate route in N.J.S.A. 2C:39-6(l) pay a fee the statute leaves open at paragraph (7): "The superintendent may charge a reasonable application fee to retired officers to offset any costs associated with administering the application process set forth in this subsection." The State Police put a number on it. Their Retired Police Officer FAQ, last reviewed 07/22/2025, states that "The RPO permit is $125 for a period of two years from the approval date."
Confirm the current total with the agency that will process your application. The FARS instructions warn that your department "may have additional information such as the correct ORI number to use and fees that must be paid for the remaining balance to your application prior to approval," and applying to the wrong department costs you the fee. Current instructions and forms are published on the New Jersey State Police concealed carry permit and firearms pages.
This page covers one part of our New Jersey concealed carry guide.
Read the complete New Jersey guideBrowse local instructors offering state-approved training in your area. Book online, complete your training, and get one step closer to your concealed carry permit.