Utah Concealed Carry Permit Fees and Costs

Utah Concealed Firearm Permit Fees and Costs

The Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) collects the permit fees charged under Utah's concealed firearm permit statutes, though not every firearm-related state fee runs through it. Utah Code 53-5a-602(10)(a) puts the criminal history background check fee for a dealer sale on the dealer, who collects it and forwards it to the bureau. As published by BCI, a first-time permit application costs $52 for a Utah resident and $87 for a non-resident. Renewal costs $20 for residents and $50 for non-residents by mail or in person, or $20.75 and $50.75 online after a $0.75 convenience fee. A replacement card costs $10.

Before you write a check, read on. Utah changed how these numbers are set, and the amount on a printed application may not be what BCI charges today.

The July 1, 2026 change you have to know about

Utah's permit fees used to be hard numbers in the statute. They are not anymore. Utah Code 53-5a-303(17)(a) is the hinge: "The bureau shall, beginning July 1, 2026, establish fees authorized in this part in accordance with the procedures specified in Section 63J-1-504." Matching that, Utah Code 53-5a-307 now states each permit fee twice, one amount that applied before July 1, 2026, and, on or after that date, "a fee set by the bureau." The same split appears in Utah Code 53-5a-308 for provisional permits, in 53-5a-303 for the provisional-to-standard application fee, and in 53-5a-303(9)(d) for instructor certification fees.

The bureau cannot pick a number freely. Utah Code 63J-1-504(2) requires a fee agency to adopt a fee schedule and each fee to be reasonable, fair, and based on the agency's cost. Under 63J-1-504(4), the agency must present a proposed fee at a public hearing subject to the Open and Public Meetings Act, adjust it based on that hearing, submit the schedule to the Legislature with its annual appropriations request, and modify the schedule to implement the Legislature's actions. Utah Code 63J-1-504(5)(b) lets the Legislature approve, increase or decrease and approve, or reject any fee. Under 63J-1-504(6) an agency may not charge an amount different from the one approved, and 63J-1-504(7)(a) requires it to make all efforts to refund each payor any excess. Utah Code 53-5a-303(17)(b) adds a permit-specific duty: with its fee submission the bureau must also report five years of permit-holder counts and of Concealed Weapons Account revenue and expenditures, resident and non-resident revenue broken out.

Practical takeaway: the dollar figures below are the ones the statute fixed for the period before July 1, 2026, plus the totals BCI publishes. Confirm the current amount on BCI's concealed firearm pages or at 801-965-4445 before mailing a payment.

Fee table

BCI's published totals of $52 and $87 are larger than the $25 statutory application fee. BCI does not publish a line-item breakdown, so treat what follows as the likely mechanism rather than a stated accounting. Utah Code 53-5a-307(6)(a) lets the bureau collect any fees charged by an outside agency for additional services required by statute as a prerequisite to issuance, and forward them to that agency. Utah Administrative Code R722-300-4(1)(b)(v) requires the application packet to include the non-refundable fees under Sections 53-5a-307, 53-5a-308, and 53-10-108, plus a fee for the FBI's federal background check under Subsections 53-5a-307(6)(a) and 53-5a-308(4)(a). The $35 gap between the resident and non-resident totals matches the non-resident add-on in 53-5a-307(1)(b).

BCI's fee notice attributes the non-resident increases to 2025 session legislation effective May 7, 2025, listing a new non-resident initial fee of $87 and renewal fee of $50.

Who does not pay

Utah Code 53-5a-307(1)(c) directs the bureau to waive the initial fee for an applicant who is:

• a law enforcement officer as defined in Utah Code 53-13-103,
• an active duty service member,
• the spouse of an active duty service member, or
• a school employee.

Utah Administrative Code R722-300-4(3)(a) repeats that a law enforcement officer applicant may not be required to pay the fee.

Read that waiver narrowly. It reaches the initial fee. The renewal fee provision in Utah Code 53-5a-307(2) carries no matching waiver list. At the rule level, R722-300-6(1)(b)(iv) excuses the renewal processing fee for an active duty service member who presents orders requiring the member to report for duty in Utah, and for that member's spouse presenting the same orders, but it does not extend the relief to school employees or law enforcement officers. If you are a school employee renewing, ask BCI rather than assuming the initial-application waiver carries over. Separately, Utah Code 53-5a-312 exempts an active duty service member holding a Utah permit from the non-resident home-state permit requirement in 53-5a-303(4)(a) at renewal, which removes the cost of first buying a permit in the member's state of residence.

Renewal timing, late fees, and the one-year cliff

Renewal money is easy to waste on bad timing. Three rules control it.

1. You cannot renew more than 90 days before your permit expires. BCI states this on its renewal pages, and Utah Administrative Code R722-300-6(2) sets the same 90-day window for both permits and instructor certifications.
2. A late fee applies to a renewal packet submitted on a permit or instructor certification expired for more than 30 days but less than one year. That is the definition in Utah Code 53-5a-307(4)(b), and R722-300-6(3)(a) applies it to instructor certifications as well.
3. Once a permit or instructor certification has been expired for more than one year, R722-300-6(3)(b) says the renewal packet will not be accepted and the applicant will have to re-apply, which means a fresh application at the full application fee. The course cost comes back too: Utah Code 53-5a-303(8)(d) excuses a renewal applicant from retaking the firearms training only if the individual holds an unexpired permit or one that expired less than a year before the renewal application was submitted, and R722-300-4(2) requires the instructor certificate in an application packet to have been issued within one year of the application date.

Provisional permits cannot be renewed at all. Utah Administrative Code R722-300-6(7) says so, and BCI directs provisional holders to apply for the standard permit instead. Under Utah Code 53-5a-303(1)(b), a provisional holder may apply within the 90 days before turning 21 for a $10 application fee (bureau-set on or after July 1, 2026) and is not required to retake the firearms training. BCI's provisional guidance describes the same $10 fee and adds that the bureau cannot accept that application more than 90 days before the provisional permit expires or more than one year after.

The permit fees in this system are non-refundable. R722-300-4 and R722-300-6 describe the application and renewal fees that way, and BCI states that all fees previously incurred to obtain or renew a permit are non-refundable. The one carve-out sits outside the permit statutes: Utah Code 63J-1-504(7)(a) requires a refund of any amount charged above what the Legislature approved. Payment may be cash, check, money order, or credit card under the rule. BCI asks that checks be payable to the "Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification" and advises against mailing cash.

Fingerprinting

Utah Code 53-5a-306 requires each permit applicant's fingerprints on a form prescribed by the bureau. The bureau runs its state search and asks the FBI to run a federal search only after it has the prints, the applicant fingerprint card fee prescribed in Utah Code 53-10-108, and the permit fee under 53-5a-307 or 53-5a-308. Illegible prints are a real cost: under 53-5a-306(1)(c), if the prints are insufficient for the FBI search, the application or permit may be denied, suspended, or revoked until sufficient prints are submitted.

One saving is built in. Utah Code 53-5a-306(2)(b) provides that if the applicant previously applied to the bureau for a concealed firearm permit, "No additional application form, fingerprints, or fee are required under this Subsection (2)."

BCI sells fingerprinting to the public by appointment. Its published schedule prints fingerprint cards (up to three cards) as "$15.00 ($20 after July 1, 2025)" and each additional card after three at $5.00, so the operative figure today is $20, which BCI presents as the new fee following 2025 session legislation. Confirm the current amount when you book.

Course and instructor costs

Utah does not set the price your students pay for the required firearms familiarity course. That price is set by the certified instructor. What state law fixes is the certification cost on the instructor side.

An instructor's certification is valid for three years under Utah Code 53-5a-303(9)(b). To obtain or renew it, an instructor must attend an instructional course and pass a test under the direction of the bureau, and under 53-5a-303(9)(c)(ii)(A) the bureau must provide or contract to provide that course twice every year, covering current Utah firearm law and the use of deadly force by private citizens. Certification cost $50 initially and $25 to renew before July 1, 2026, with both amounts now determined by the bureau. Under 53-5a-303(9)(d)(iii), the bureau may use those fees as a dedicated credit for maintaining and improving the instructor program.

BCI publishes a $35 registration cost for its in-person instructor course, payable at registration, with first-time applicants required to attend in person. Add the instructor's official seal, which Utah Code 53-5a-303(11) requires on every student certificate. BCI states it has received estimates that such a stamp should cost approximately $25.00 to create.

What the permit saves you at the gun counter

Utah Code 53-5a-602 requires a criminal history background check for a firearm sale by a licensed dealer, and 53-5a-602(10)(a) requires the dealer to collect a background check fee. As of the version effective July 1, 2026, the statute no longer names a dollar figure. Utah Code 53-5a-602(10)(b) says the fee remains in effect until changed by the bureau through the 63J-1-504 process. BCI's firearm transfers page lists a $12.50 firearm transaction (Brady check) fee following 2025 session legislation.

A permit holder is exempt from both the check and the fee under Utah Code 53-5a-602(11)(a), but only if the buyer presents the permit to the dealer before the purchase and the dealer verifies with the bureau that it is valid. A standard permit under 53-5a-303 and a provisional permit under 53-5a-304 both qualify. A temporary permit under 53-5a-305 does not: Utah Code 53-5a-602(11)(b) says a temporary permit holder is not exempt from the check or the fee. Utah Code 53-5a-602(12)(a) exempts a law enforcement officer from the fee for a personal firearm to be carried off duty, on proof of current employment by a letter of good standing from the commanding officer plus current law enforcement photo identification. That exemption is capped: Utah Code 53-5a-602(12)(b) says it "may only be used by a law enforcement officer to purchase a personal firearm once in a 24-month period."

One caution on the dollar figure. BCI's concealed firearm permit page describes the permit as letting a dealer verify it "in lieu of the $7.50 background check," while BCI's firearm transfers page announces a $12.50 fee. The two pages do not agree. Treat the transfers page and BCI's current fee schedule as controlling, and ask BCI or your dealer for the amount in force.

Where the fee money goes

Utah Code 53-5a-307(5) creates the Concealed Weapons Account, a restricted account within the General Fund, funded from fees collected under Sections 53-5a-307 and 53-5a-308. The money may be used only for costs relating to permit issuance under that part or the programs described in Utah Code 26B-5-102(3) and 26B-5-611. No later than 90 days after the fiscal year ends, 50% of revenues over expenditures goes to the Suicide Prevention and Education Fund created in Utah Code 26B-1-326. Provisional permit fees go to the same account under 53-5a-308(3).

Before you quote a price

Two items are genuinely open. First, the bureau-set schedule that replaced the statutory dollar amounts on July 1, 2026 lives in BCI's fee schedule and the Legislature's appropriations act, not in Title 53 Chapter 5a, so the statute will not tell you today's number. Second, the applicant fingerprint card fee referenced in 53-5a-306 is set by Utah Code 53-10-108, not by the permit statute. Confirm both with BCI at bci.utah.gov or 801-965-4445 before you collect money from a student or mail a packet.