PAL Wait Time

[Singh13]

I’ve been eagerly checking the mailbox for my card everyday since I’ve been approved.

i have checked mine 8 times in last 3 days lol i can understand

[Singh13]

Awesome! CONGRATS!

thxs bud

[stangx]

I last checked my staus on Tues the 20th of July, before leaving on a fishing trip. It was at the We have Completed initial review stage. I tried to log on today to check, and get the We do not have any information that matches this data page. My question is after approval do they delete you right away? Thanks in advance.

[nanite]

I last checked my staus on Tues the 20th of July, before leaving on a fishing trip. It was at the We have Completed initial review stage. I tried to log on today to check, and get the We do not have any information that matches this data page. My question is after approval do they delete you right away? Thanks in advance.

No, my application completely finished processing (& was approved) almost a month ago, and I can still check the status. Double check the info you put in, if it's all good then call them to see what's up.

[stangx]

Thanks, I will try to log in later today. If I still can't come tomorrow morning I will give them a call. Thanks for the reply.

[nanite]

BC applicant
Course taken late May.
Sent application by regular mail on May 31.
I was getting a bit nervous because my application didn't show up on the website for a couple weeks thereafter.
I checked again today (June 21) and finally it showed up on the site, yay.

Update -- I got my RPAL in mail! My application was approved very quickly, just ~4 weeks after it was received. However it strangely took them quite some time to issue the license and mail it to me, and so the total time was more like 7-8 weeks.

Various key dates:
May 28 : I completed CFSC + CRFSC combination course in BC.
May 31 : I sent application by regular mail.
June 4 : Officially received date, per the application status page.
June 15 : CC was charged.
June 21 : I first noticed that my application appeared on website. Until now it wasn't there every time I checked. "Application Received on: 2021-06-04. Your application has completed initial processing. It is now in progress... "
July 1 : I checked site again. I see a newer status message: "We have completed the initial review of your firearms licence application. ..."
July 5 : I checked site again. I see a newer status message: "Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued."
July 17 : Official license issuance date, according to the letter I would later receive in mail.
July 23 : I received the card in the mail.

None of my references were called; I used family (one gun owner, one non-owner) as references. I never called to try to speed up my application, though I was going to call them about the mailing delay.

(Note that when the site says "Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued.", this is actually misleading. In my case, the license was actually issued 2 weeks after they said this!)

[stangx]

I still could not log into my account this morning so I called. The woman I talked to said the site was under maintenance yesterday but noted my city of birth was deleted somehow. Anyways that is straightened out and I was approved last week. All that's left now is the wait for the mail.
The timeline is, the application was received on May 7 express post.
online June 11 initial processing
July 5 Completed initail review.
July 22 license has been issued. Ontario application.
Thanks to all on this site, it gives one an idea of some time frame.

[bwc5987]

If it takes longer than that, I think it is mostly due to administrative mistakes on your side, i.e. wrong picture format, wrong picture paper, or missing information and wrong checked boxes.

I sent my photo in on regular paper. I wouldn't say that is a mistake on my side, considering their requirements say nothing of requiring photo paper and I followed their requirements to the letter. Furthermore, when I called the CFO office, I was told the issue was because their scanner couldn't properly scan a photo not on photo paper. What kind of scanner can't scan a photo on regular paper? They should either get a new scanner from this century or put in the requirements that the photo needs to be on printer paper. It's ridiculous that an applicant who follows the requirements to the letter can end up facing a delay of months due to a problem that has multiple simple solutions.

[JeffT]

I sent my photo in on regular paper. I wouldn't say that is a mistake on my side, considering their requirements say nothing of requiring photo paper and I followed their requirements to the letter. Furthermore, when I called the CFO office, I was told the issue was because their scanner couldn't properly scan a photo not on photo paper. What kind of scanner can't scan a photo on regular paper? They should either get a new scanner from this century or put in the requirements that the photo needs to be on printer paper. It's ridiculous that an applicant who follows the requirements to the letter can end up facing a delay of months due to a problem that has multiple simple solutions.

I totally agree and this is exactly what I faced! The application doesn’t say it has to be on photo paper when it’s absolutely mandatory. What a waste of everyone’s time. Especially ours.

[45CAT]

It took 43 days from the day I dropped it in the mail to when it arrived at the door. I’m in Northern Ontario