Shorten PAL Approval Times

30 Days for PAL & RPAL - Happy with the folks in Miramichi

Here's a rough timeline for mine:

Did my courses in Ontario since I was there for work; got my application sent in in early July. Sent it registered mail as per the advice in this thread. Things went like this:

Application Recieved: 9 July

Online status went to "In Progress" around 2 weeks later, say the 23rd. I didn't get a chance to call in because they called me the next day. When I spoke to them for my interview, they had already left voice mail with both of my references.

Both references had called in by the 25th. My 28 day waiting period ended on the 7th of August, and my licence was issued on the 9th and mailed on the 10th. I should have it in hand tomorrow or Wednesday if Canada Post is up to their normal speed.

During this process I called a couple of times because my summer travel plans are taking me back to Ontario and I was considering having it mailed there so I could pick up some rifles from family members that aren't shooting them. Every person I've dealt with has been friendly and very helpful.

I should note as well that I paid my licensing fee by money order, rather than cheque or credit, as a money order is good as cash and takes no time to clear the bank. This may have helped with processing time.

Given the horror stories I've heard on here, I'm very happy with the results. The moral of the story is that careful preparation of your application documents, combined with not living in Bantario, leads to reasonable timeframes.

Thanks for all of the great information in this thread.
 
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UPDATE: Just came in the mail. Even faster than I thought. Total time from application mailing to receipt of PAL: 5.5 weeks. Not bad at all.
 
Ok this is my story umm were to begine maramache recives my gun exam and stamperd pappers on july 4 rcmp interview on july 26 augest 8 th first refrence is done july 13 my second refrence is done now how long will it be to show up aproved online
 
darklambo said:
Ok this is my story umm were to begine maramache recives my gun exam and stamperd. pappers on july 4 rcmp interview on july 26 augest 8 th first refrence is done augest 13 my second refrence is done now how long will it be to show up aproved online
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lol sorry for the reaply but made a mistke in the date lol I just got aproves today in ontario so next week I should have in by 22 of augest
 
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My rough pal timeline -
received on the 8th of june
online a day or so after?
Approved by CFO today Aug 14 :D
Now the wait for it to arrive...
Cannot wait to have my SKS :D
 
Sunday 12th August: Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued. If you have not received your licence within 2 weeks please contact the Canada Firearms Centre Toll Free number.

It was right on the 28th day.
 
RPAL upgrade from PAL

Received July 26
1st appearance online August 23 (Current Status: Your application has completed initial processing. It is now in progress. Please check the status again at a later date.)

To be continued...

Is this the time to call in for the interview? And anybody know an extension to get directly to the interviewer?
 
I applied for my PAL on July 7 and my RPAL on July 13. My PAL was issued on Last Sunday without any interviews. I just checked my RPAL application and it was issued today. also with out any interviews of me or my references.

So it's not true that everyone getting there first PAL/RPAL is interviewed. I have never been in trouble with the law and I immigrated to Canada from Australia in 2006.
 
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Here's my deal:

Application Received on: 2012/07/06
Current Status: Your application has completed initial processing. It is now in progress. Please check the status again at a later date.

Interviews on August 8th with myself & both references.
Called on August 9th, and they said my background check needs to done, takes about a week. Called again today and the fellow on the phone said same thing, so he is going to assign it to a CFO to look at.

Am I missing something here or just being impatient? From what I have read on this site everyone seems to be getting the thumbs up after the interview. I'm in Edmonton, should be I talking to someone else about this? Is there a way to contact the Alberta CFO directly and not the call center? Any advice/help would be much appreciated, thanks guys and happy shooting.

(Can anyone see this? My status was "invisible", don't know if it makes my posts do the same. Like it says under my username, newbie here)
 
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yukonpete said:
I don't know how you guys call in and get your lic number. I tried twice and was told they can't give out the information over the Phone!
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They can.

I see you are in Yukon, which I believe shares a CFO with BC. The BC CFO's has a huge backlog of LTATT requests. Tell them that you want the number so you can get your LTATT application in ASAP. They was the reason they were willing to give me my number over the phone.
 
yukonpete said:
what's a LTATT application? and what number did you call for a BC CFO?
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LTATT = Long Term Authorization to Transport. It is not officially part of the Firearms Act, but in BC it is standard practice for a person who owns (or plans to own) restricted firearms to have an ATT that lasts for multiple years and is valid for all licensed ranges in BC. In fact, the BC CFO will not approve a restricted transfer if you haven't first got an LTATT.

The number is just the standard CFP phone number: 1-800-731-4000. You can select option 5 for ATTs, but I think they expect people to only use that for short term ATTs, so the voice mail message you will likely get will ask for way more information. You are probably best off following the prompts for checking the status of your application. Then explain that you want to get your license number so you can apply for your LTATT. The person can probably take do your application for an LTATT over the phone. You will also need to be a member of a shooting club to apply for the LTATT.
 
Got my RPAL license today. Only took the RCMP 5 weeks to get it to me. That's from the day I sent them the paper work. So in total from the time I finished my course, received my paper work from the CFO, sent it to the RCMP and received my license it was a grand total of 9 weeks and one of those weeks was my fault, it took me a week to finally send it out to the RCMP. I was worried after reading all the horror stories in here but I guess I was one of the lucky ones. ONTARIO FTW :D
 
My wife and i decided to get our pal/rpal and offer the following information.

Completed our courses June 29-30 and sent of applications July 13.
Received July 16 showed on line Aug 2
My interview and references called Aug 10
Her interview and references called Aug 13
Her pal/rpal issued Aug 13 -28 days
My pal/rpal issued Aug 14 -29 days

time to start spending :)
 
I'm pretty sure the Firearms Gods hate me. :(
Day 95 of my RPAL wait. Called in again and was told to expect another 3-4 weeks, due to backlog. They really pride themselves on promt & friendly customer service, don't they....
 
83TC said:
I'm pretty sure the Firearms Gods hate me. :(
Day 95 of my RPAL wait. Called in again and was told to expect another 3-4 weeks, due to backlog. They really pride themselves on promt & friendly customer service, don't they....
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Please write your MP (regardless of party). We need as many people looking into these delays as possible.
 
dontshow said:
Please write your MP (regardless of party). We need as many people looking into these delays as possible.
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I already wrote a nice little letter to my MLA & MP (Maurine Karagianis & Randall Garison), weeks ago. I never heard any thing back. I don't know if that's because they're NDP & don't care, or maybe they just haven't had a chance yet. I'll print off a couple copies and deliver them in person, rather than email them as i did last time. At this point i'm thinking the Ombudsmans office is a good option too. http://www.ombudsman.bc.ca/

This wait is ridiculous, 3-4 months for a licence, then another 2-6 weeks for an LTATT if you get a restricted. We need to be able to do something about people in public positions that don't do their jobs up to standard.

When I sent in the paperwork, more then 3 months ago, the plan was to take my little nephew camping & shooting in early August. He was super dissappointed that it got delayed. Now, I'm pretty sure that by the time I get my licence I won't have the time available to get away. It's okay though, I wasn't really looking forward to any quality time with the kid, or my first chance to get away in 3 years..... :mad:
 
83TC said:
I already wrote a nice little letter to my MLA & MP (Maurine Karagianis & Randall Garison), weeks ago. I never heard any thing back. I don't know if that's because they're NDP & don't care, or maybe they just haven't had a chance yet. I'll print off a couple copies and deliver them in person, rather than email them as i did last time.
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Delivering them in person is a great idea.

Randall Garison is also my MP. I have been in contact with Bruce Fogg from his office. The email address is Randall.Garrison.C1 --at-- parl.gc.ca. I haven't seen any concrete results yet, but they do seem willing to look into it.

Also, if you (and your nephew) want to meet me at Victoria Fish & Game, I'd be happy to let you shoot some of my stuff. (I'm assuming you are in the area, given who your MP is.) PM me if you are interested.
 
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