(a) Any person desiring to enroll in such program shall make application to the commissioner, on a form to be prescribed by the commissioner.

(b) The application shall be signed and verified by the applicant. It shall include his full name, age, residence, present and previous occupations and such other information that may be required by the commissioner to show the good character, competency and integrity of the applicant.

(c) The application shall be personally presented by the applicant at an office of the Pennsylvania State Police where his fingerprints shall be affixed thereto. The application shall be accompanied by two current photographs of the applicant of a size and nature to be prescribed by the commissioner and a thirty-five dollar ($35) application fee, unless the applicant is a full-time police officer, in which case no application fee shall be required. Thereafter the application shall be forwarded to the commissioner.

(d) The fingerprints of the applicant shall be examined by the Pennsylvania State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine if he has been convicted of or has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to a crime of violence. The commissioner shall have the power to waive the requirement of Federal Bureau of Investigation examination. Any fee charged by the Federal agency shall be paid by the applicant.

(e) No application shall be accepted if the applicant is under the age of eighteen.

(f) After the application has been processed and if the commissioner determines that the applicant is eighteen years of age and has not been convicted of or has not pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to a crime of violence, and has satisfied any other requirements prescribed by him under his powers and duties pursuant to section 5,¹ he shall issue a certificate of qualification which shall entitle the applicant to enroll in an approved program.