Yes, Uber Eats does background checks on every delivery applicant in the United States before you can accept your first order. The screening is run by a third-party provider — Checkr, HireRight, or Samba Safety — and covers your criminal history, plus a motor vehicle report if you plan to deliver by car.1Uber Help. Annual Background Checks It applies whether you deliver by car, bike, or on foot, though the exact requirements differ.
What the Check Looks At
The criminal history search uses your name and Social Security number to pull records from local, state, and national criminal databases, federal court records, the National Sex Offender Public Website, international sanctions lists, and terrorism-related databases.2Uber Newsroom. How We Keep Our Platform Safe: Understanding Uber’s Background Checks and Safety Incident Response If you drive, a separate motor vehicle report (MVR) pulls your driving record to flag things like reckless driving or driving under the influence.3Uber Help. What Background Checks Look For
These reports generally go back seven years, matching the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s limit on how far back consumer reporting agencies can report non-conviction records.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Some offenses have no time limit at all.
What Can Disqualify You
Permanent Disqualifiers
Certain convictions bar you from the platform for life, regardless of when they happened:
- Murder or homicide
- Sexual assault
- Sex crimes involving minors
- Kidnapping
- Terrorism-related offenses
Pending charges for these offenses are also disqualifying unless and until they are resolved in your favor.3Uber Help. What Background Checks Look For
Seven-Year Lookback Offenses
For other offenses, including felonies, robbery, and fraud, Uber applies a seven-year lookback. Any charge or conviction within that window is disqualifying. Uber says research supports the timeframe, citing findings that after seven offense-free years the likelihood of reoffending becomes comparable to someone who has never committed a crime.2Uber Newsroom. How We Keep Our Platform Safe: Understanding Uber’s Background Checks and Safety Incident Response
Driving Record Issues
Major traffic violations like DUI or reckless driving within the last seven years can prevent approval. Accumulating multiple minor violations, such as speeding tickets or failure-to-stop citations, within a shorter window can also lead to rejection. About 70 percent of rejected applications are flagged at the MVR stage rather than the criminal check.3Uber Help. What Background Checks Look For
If You’re Delivering by Bike or on Foot
The rules are lighter but the criminal check still applies. You don’t need a driver’s license; a valid government-issued photo ID such as a state ID card or city ID card is enough.5Uber Help. Sign Up for Delivery with Bicycle or on Foot You still provide your name, Social Security number, and date of birth, and you still complete a criminal background check. Bike and walking couriers are not subject to a motor vehicle report because they aren’t operating a car.
What You’ll Need to Submit
For car-based delivery, you’ll provide:
- Your Social Security number, which is used as the primary identifier to search records across jurisdictions6Uber Help. Uber Screening Process
- A valid, unexpired driver’s license
- Proof of vehicle insurance (required in most regions)
- Vehicle registration, depending on your city
You’ll also enter your full legal name, date of birth, and residential address history so the screening provider can pull records from the right places.
If you’re not a U.S. citizen, Uber requires proof of your legal right to work here. Acceptable documents include a Permanent Resident Card, an Employment Authorization Document, or a foreign passport with a Form I-94 endorsed for work.7Uber Help. Proof of Identity Documents The screening process requires a valid Social Security number; Uber does not indicate that an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is accepted as a substitute.6Uber Help. Uber Screening Process
How Long It Takes
Most background checks finish within three to seven business days, though some take longer.8Checkr Help Center. Why Is My Background Check Taking So Long Once you submit, you should get a confirmation email with a link to a candidate portal where you can track status. Common reasons a check stalls:
- The screening provider needs more information from you. Check your email (including spam) and the candidate portal for action items asking you to upload documents or confirm details.
- County court backlogs. Many courts still work from paper records, and some, particularly in California and Massachusetts, have staff shortages that slow response times.
- Waiting on third-party responses for verifications like employment history.
Once a request is out to a court or third party, neither you nor the provider can speed up the response. If your check has been pending more than two weeks with no action items in your portal, reaching out to Uber support through the app is a reasonable next step.
Who Pays
Uber covers the cost in most cities. In some locations you’ll be asked to pay the screening provider directly during onboarding.9Uber Help. 3 – Complete Your Background Check If a payment screen appears, your city is one where the applicant is responsible. Completing the check is required either way.
The Check Doesn’t Stop After You’re Approved
Uber reruns your background check every year, and more frequently in some cities, to confirm you still meet its safety standards.1Uber Help. Annual Background Checks The re-screenings happen automatically, though the app will prompt you if the provider needs anything.
Between annual checks, a continuous monitoring system Uber introduced in 2018 flags new criminal charges in real time. If a disqualifying charge or conviction appears, your account access is removed immediately.2Uber Newsroom. How We Keep Our Platform Safe: Understanding Uber’s Background Checks and Safety Incident Response
Your Rights If Something Comes Back Wrong
Because Uber uses a third-party consumer reporting agency, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you protections when the screening results in a negative decision.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports If Uber intends to deny or deactivate you based on your report, federal law requires two notices:
- A pre-adverse action notice, sent before the final decision, including a copy of the consumer report and a summary of your FCRA rights so you can review the report for errors first.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
- An adverse action notice, sent after the decision, with the name and contact information of the screening agency, a statement that the agency did not make the decision, notice of your right to a free copy of your report within 60 days, and your right to dispute inaccurate information.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports
Watch the emails you get from the screening provider and from Uber; they contain links and deadlines.
If your report contains inaccurate information, a record that isn’t yours, wrong charge details, or a case status that changed after the report was generated, you can dispute it directly with the screening provider. With Checkr, log in to the candidate portal, find the report, and select “File a dispute” at the bottom of the page. Provide supporting documentation such as court records showing a dismissal or proof that a record belongs to someone else.11Checkr Help Center. Something on My Background Check Report Is Wrong. What Should I Do? For reports handled by HireRight or Samba Safety, follow the dispute instructions in the email that provider sent you.12Uber Help. Disputing a Background Check Report If your DMV record has changed, such as after renewing a suspended license, re-upload your updated license in the app to prompt a new motor vehicle report.
One important limit: Uber says its decision based on the original or revised report is final and cannot be challenged through the screening provider.12Uber Help. Disputing a Background Check Report The provider can correct factual errors on the report itself, but has no say over Uber’s ultimate call. If your account has been deactivated after a background check issue, Uber does offer a process to request a review of that deactivation through the app, and the notification you receive should include any steps available to regain access.13Uber. Deactivations: Losing Account Access