As far as I know, it hasn't gone to the CFO yet - I definitely intend to call when it does though. I'm going to call again this afternoon to see if anything has changed. Will update as I know more!
PAL Wait Time
- Thread starter rgh470
- Start date
As far as I know, it hasn't gone to the CFO yet - I definitely intend to call when it does though. I'm going to call again this afternoon to see if anything has changed. Will update as I know more!
Received april 20th.
I had a phone interview. Both my references had phone interviews. Still shows 'initial processing complete'.
No criminal record. No boxes ticked. This is just for a regular PAL.
I had friends submit applications around the same time, a couple for RPALs. All were approved in june with no interviews. Gotta love it.
EDIT: decided to call the cfo today, had another phone interview, and I'm approved! 168 days.
Some things i have learned in the process that might help-
-The call centre guys in Miramichi are not the same guys processing your forms. Calling them everyday will not help. Theres less than a dozen employees at that center. They will talk about you and remember you. Calling them now and then is not a bad idea though. Once or twice to get the ball rolling, see if they need any missing info, then only if needed.
On top of that, if you get flagged for additional screening like I did, calling frequently WILL hurt you. Four seperate times my officer brought up the # of times i called miramichi as a red flag. She could see every call.
If its taking along time to be sent to CFO, ask for supervisor. Dont bother getting an MP involved, they have no special line they can call.
Licences are printed on thursdays and mailed on fridays.
The website is on at most a 5min delay. Within 5min of action on your application it will show on the website. 24/7
You can be flagged at the CFO for mo reason and have months added on to your time.
You can sit on a pile at Miramichi for no reason and have months added to your time.
Most importantly, forget about it. Seriously. Stop looking at guns. Stop checking your status everyday. Stop going on this website. Youll drive yourself crazy. Just forget about it. Maybe itll never come. Accept that. Then it will appear.
Good luck!
I had a phone interview. Both my references had phone interviews. Still shows 'initial processing complete'.
No criminal record. No boxes ticked. This is just for a regular PAL.
I had friends submit applications around the same time, a couple for RPALs. All were approved in june with no interviews. Gotta love it.
EDIT: decided to call the cfo today, had another phone interview, and I'm approved! 168 days.
Some things i have learned in the process that might help-
-The call centre guys in Miramichi are not the same guys processing your forms. Calling them everyday will not help. Theres less than a dozen employees at that center. They will talk about you and remember you. Calling them now and then is not a bad idea though. Once or twice to get the ball rolling, see if they need any missing info, then only if needed.
On top of that, if you get flagged for additional screening like I did, calling frequently WILL hurt you. Four seperate times my officer brought up the # of times i called miramichi as a red flag. She could see every call.
If its taking along time to be sent to CFO, ask for supervisor. Dont bother getting an MP involved, they have no special line they can call.
Licences are printed on thursdays and mailed on fridays.
The website is on at most a 5min delay. Within 5min of action on your application it will show on the website. 24/7
You can be flagged at the CFO for mo reason and have months added on to your time.
You can sit on a pile at Miramichi for no reason and have months added to your time.
Most importantly, forget about it. Seriously. Stop looking at guns. Stop checking your status everyday. Stop going on this website. Youll drive yourself crazy. Just forget about it. Maybe itll never come. Accept that. Then it will appear.
Good luck!
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I have my own Alberta timeline, but I don't wish for it to be lost amongst the many pages here. I have to use the clunky search feature to find anybody else in Alberta waiting on their PAL and even then, they're only partial results.
I am just throwing this out there, but would anybody be interested in a tracking spradsheet which puts all the info in a easy to read format? I could head it up. I would go through these pages and start collating this data. I have no doubt that it would increase traffic to the website via Google, too.
What I was thinking, was a lot similar to the way new applicants to Citizenship or Permanent Residents track their lengthy applications: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...TeM2_AofgT_8b4uTJyBh9pXdg/edit#gid=2028470052 is one example.
I am an ex-pat, and I have done a bunch of different applications through the feds but they've all had an easy to read spreadsheet online by this is the first time, i.e. RPAL, that there isn't one.
Interested?
I am just throwing this out there, but would anybody be interested in a tracking spradsheet which puts all the info in a easy to read format? I could head it up. I would go through these pages and start collating this data. I have no doubt that it would increase traffic to the website via Google, too.
What I was thinking, was a lot similar to the way new applicants to Citizenship or Permanent Residents track their lengthy applications: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...TeM2_AofgT_8b4uTJyBh9pXdg/edit#gid=2028470052 is one example.
I am an ex-pat, and I have done a bunch of different applications through the feds but they've all had an easy to read spreadsheet online by this is the first time, i.e. RPAL, that there isn't one.
Interested?
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I don't know if this would be too useful in this case because the time frames change so much year to year and month to month. You could seperate by season but every year the waits are different. The best way to determine your weight time is by comparing to people that mailed their applications very close to yours.
At what point did you know you had been flagged for additional screening? I have asked the call center if there are any issues and they said there are no comments on my application. Would they mention it? Or would that not happen until it gets to the CFO? I'm on day 58 (since they received it) and it still hasn't gone to the CFO...
- Location
- Vancouver, BC
No criminal record, had to mark off on past mental illness though (depression), which might have done the trick.
I can confirm this .....Iv been calling a lot lately and i think the girl remembered me and was like " we just spoke last week and i told you to call back in 30 days "..... "now i need you to call back in another 30-45 days" giving the impression that every time i called i was adding time ......... she did mention that i had been passed off for additional screening and that calling every week wasn't going to help me at all
iv sitting at 90 days and thinking i will wait 40 days before my next call
Good question.
I knew I had been flagged inmediately after Miramichi sent my application to the CFO, which was the fiest or second week of june so 2 months after my app was received.
It went down like this. I made a normal call to Miramichi, instead of telling me 'call back in a week' or whatever, they told me it had gone to (ontario) CFO.
I call CFO, they tell me they are transferring me to the officer handling my file. The officer explains that she is a police constable and I have been flagged but cannot tell me why. She explains she doesnt control what cases are sent to her but i have been selected for additional review for some valid reason that nobody really knows. I never found out why. I then had my phone interview on the spot. Many more months passed (obviously) before my references were contacted and I was approved.
The officer was great though, super friendly.
If i hadnt called my officer said she wouldve gotten around to contacting me in a couple months. Not that me calling helped, she wouldnt call my references or process me before doing all the other cases that cane before mine.
Called Sept 27 and provided missing information. Also faxed in test results.
Called today as it still wasn't online. was told to check again next week.
Just checked it now and found status stating 'application processed and license issued'.
I guess I'll call Tuesday and get my RPAL # and get my transfers started.
53 days from course completion to issuance. No references called.
Cheers,
EZTRGT
Kyle
The contrast between your experience and mine really shows the randomness of this whole thing.
You were applying for an Rpal with missing info, you had no interview and were approved in 53 days.
I was applying for a regular pal, accurately completed application, i had 3 seperate personal phone interviews, both my references were interviewed, by a local police constable i might add, not some call centre agent 2000 miles away. They were seriously grilled about me and about their personal lives. Thats a stressful experience even over the phone. And it took 168 days.
There is no rhyme or reason to this
Something must have popped up on their radar. I would have called my MP two weeks after the service standard of 45 days ended. Cause I'm a patient fellow. But 168 days? I'm not that patient but I guess they kind of have you by the balls at that point.
good to hear it all worked out in the end though.
Cheers,
EZTRGT
Kyle
Automotive Hater
New member
- Location
- Vancouver, BC
OK. I think it's necessary for me to share my personal experience with you guys because in this thread, I haven't seen any applicant who was required to submit the Letter of Good Conduct from the original country.
A brieft instruction of myself: I came to Canada from northern China on December 12th 2014. I live in Vancouver, BC. I was required to provide my Letter of Good Conduct (no crime record) under the Firearm Act. Chinese is my 1st launguage for sure, and English is 2nd. I can't speak French at all.
March 26th 2017: All relevant courses and exams finished by Silvercore in New Westminster, BC. Got the score paper as well. In BC, we don't need the stamped test results like ON.
July 15th 2018: Mailed my application to NB via snail mail (cheapest option from Canada Post). The reason why I waited for 16 months after the exams was because my old Letter of Good Conduct expired, had to get a new one.
July 20th 2018: NB received.
August 27th 2018: Credit card was charged, and application status shows up online.
September 3rd 2018: The original document of Letter of Good Conduct was sent back from NB. They sliced it into 4 pieces in order to fit their envelope.
Since then, I have called NB, BC, NB. Asked them whether my documents were all fine, if we could conduct the interview now. They didn't answer my questions, but indicated no interview requested.
September 28th 2018: Licence issued. Neither my references nor myself was interviewed.
October 5th 2018: Licence in my hand.
Total process time from their receipt to approval: 70 days.
***Bonus Story***
October 6th 2018: Got my 1st firearm in my life--Soviet Union SKS from a local gun shop. Carried it in a cardboard box, and walked 3.7km home. I called Transit police prior to my purchase, asked them whether it's OK to trasport it via #19 bus. The police didn't directly deny me, but they didn't want me to do so. Yes, I NEVER drive.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am now working on my English skills for immigration purproses. When I have time, I will absolutely make a Youtube video of my licence application specifically toward Chinese potiential gun owners.
A brieft instruction of myself: I came to Canada from northern China on December 12th 2014. I live in Vancouver, BC. I was required to provide my Letter of Good Conduct (no crime record) under the Firearm Act. Chinese is my 1st launguage for sure, and English is 2nd. I can't speak French at all.
March 26th 2017: All relevant courses and exams finished by Silvercore in New Westminster, BC. Got the score paper as well. In BC, we don't need the stamped test results like ON.
July 15th 2018: Mailed my application to NB via snail mail (cheapest option from Canada Post). The reason why I waited for 16 months after the exams was because my old Letter of Good Conduct expired, had to get a new one.
July 20th 2018: NB received.
August 27th 2018: Credit card was charged, and application status shows up online.
September 3rd 2018: The original document of Letter of Good Conduct was sent back from NB. They sliced it into 4 pieces in order to fit their envelope.
Since then, I have called NB, BC, NB. Asked them whether my documents were all fine, if we could conduct the interview now. They didn't answer my questions, but indicated no interview requested.
September 28th 2018: Licence issued. Neither my references nor myself was interviewed.
October 5th 2018: Licence in my hand.
Total process time from their receipt to approval: 70 days.
***Bonus Story***
October 6th 2018: Got my 1st firearm in my life--Soviet Union SKS from a local gun shop. Carried it in a cardboard box, and walked 3.7km home. I called Transit police prior to my purchase, asked them whether it's OK to trasport it via #19 bus. The police didn't directly deny me, but they didn't want me to do so. Yes, I NEVER drive.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am now working on my English skills for immigration purproses. When I have time, I will absolutely make a Youtube video of my licence application specifically toward Chinese potiential gun owners.
Congrats, and thanks for sharing your story. Hopefully it will help others in the Chinese community to get their PAL/RPAL and pick up the sport. Your name is very fitting for someone who doesn't drive! But I do know someone else who buses to the range, lol, I guess it can be done!
Automotive Hater
New member
- Location
- Vancouver, BC
WOW, yours was so fast.
Canadian Money Orders can be tracked the same as mail to see if the sender has it and if was cashed...18005630444 and follow the instructions.
Here's my Ontario timeline:
July 15th - CFSC & CRFSC completed
July 31st - Stamped results received from FSESO
August 13th - Application received in Miramachi
September 5th - application appears online
October 10th - License Issue - no references contacted
Not bad considering the wait times people have been talking about experiencing in this thread.
July 15th - CFSC & CRFSC completed
July 31st - Stamped results received from FSESO
August 13th - Application received in Miramachi
September 5th - application appears online
October 10th - License Issue - no references contacted
Not bad considering the wait times people have been talking about experiencing in this thread.
