Shorten PAL Approval Times

I couldn't agree more with you. They charged my credit card 4 business day after reception but I know I won't get my licence til November. It makes me think of a kid I knew, he would open his birthday cards, take the check/money and throwing the cards away lol

How to prevent people from owning firearms ? Discourage them with paperwork and endless procedures...

What can we do really ?

How often do you guys call/called the office to follow your application ?
 
I couldn't agree more with you. They charged my credit card 4 business day after reception but I know I won't get my licence til November. It makes me think of a kid I knew, he would open his birthday cards, take the check/money and throwing the cards away lol

How to prevent people from owning firearms ? Discourage them with paperwork and endless procedures...

What can we do really ?

How often do you guys call/called the office to follow your application ?


What can be done has already been outlined many many many times in this thread as well as others...

ie: get off your ass and fight back as I and a few others have done.
 
Would you mind directing me thru PM so I can "get off my ass and fight back" too ? :D

New to this forum (but not new to firearms)

Thank you
 
Would you mind directing me thru PM so I can "get off my ass and fight back" too ? :D

New to this forum (but not new to firearms)

Thank you

Remind me if I have not replied w/more info in 2 days.. gettin insanely busy w/BS here

but most info is in this thread, the thread on ungimped LTATT's and bits elsewhere.
 
^^^^ very nice timeline. Did you call in or did your apication just go smoothly?

I just called in once when I saw my application online to ask if I can do the interview and they said yes. Right after I did mine I phone both my references and asked them to call in as well, which they did right after, and my status got changed to issued within 30 minutes.
 
They told me the same bs so I answered the following : how come was my credit card charged then ?

The day after my application was being processed online... governement desk jockeys

I called on Tuesday to ask once again where my application stood. Like I said in a earlier post I sent away my info beginning of April. Was getting very frustrated, when I talked to the gal I brought this up. They kept saying my app hasn't been processed yet. When I asked her why then my credit card was charged 60$ six weeks ago and yet my app hasn't been processed yet she paused and said "...please hold"

Two minutes later she's back on and said "we were JUST going to call you, your app has just been approved today!"

Yeah. Right.

Anyways good news. Should have my pal in the mailbox soon. Only took six months. :/ Don't get discouraged people, it is frustrating just make sure you keep on them.
 
So an update for the mess that is my application. The only potential good thing to come out of this insane process is that I'm now going to be dealing with the Alberta CFO.

June 2nd - Courses passed
June 5th - Application sent from Grand Falls, NB
June 7th - CFP received application (Although they say June 10th)
July 4th - Phoned CFP and was told to phone back next week. Also, received test results from CFO
July 8th - Credit card charged $80 fee
July 9 - August 7th - 2 calls a week, every call has been, "Your application is still in the beginning stage, you will be contacted when it's finished."
August 8th - Application finally shows up online, initial processing completed. Phoned the CFP and was told they should shortly be ready to contact me for interview.
August 13th - Phoned in and was told they were ready to interview me. Interview done and was told to get my references to phone in. One reference phoned in.
August 14th - Reference two phoned in.
August 15th - Phoned CFP for status, was told the the CFO has it, final approval pending.
August 20th - Phoned to check status and was told that I was required to provide a new reference. Letter would be sent out to me to fill out with another reference.
September 6th - Phoned CFP once again to inquire why I had not received the letter yet. I was told that they had only sent the letter out this day.
September 7th - Moved to Calgary.
September 16th - Letter from CFP received in Ontario. Sent Xpresspost the following afternoon to Calgary.
September 19th - Letter received in Calgary. Reference request form filled out, letter sent Xpresspost to CFP after cutoff time.
September 23rd - Letter signed for at CFP by "D Harding".
September 25th - Phoned CFP to ensure my letter was received and all was well. Was told that the expected wait time until they even open the friggin envelope is 3-4 weeks!

113 days and counting.
 
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I sent my application in Aug 2nd (received by them Aug 8).
Credit card charged on Sept 6th.
I was out of the country from Sept 6th to Sept 20th on Vacation in Cuba. Left my cell phone and other electronic methods of communication turned off for those glorious 14 days.(no message for cfc)
Checked online on Sept 23rd. Not there!
Phoned in That day and they told me that they had no record of me ever applying. Provided details of credit card transaction to them. Said they'd look into it.
Phoned back in on the 24th(a.m.) the said that they hadn't looked into it yet. Phoned in on the p.m. and said that they were still looking into it.
Repeated the same series for the 25th.
Phoned in again on the morning of the 26 and asked them to refund my money if they couldn't find my app. Magically my app appeared on the website that afternoon.
Phoned in again on the 27th (today) and was advised that i was inputted incorrectly into the system. I asked when they thought i should phone into do my interviews and was told that they'd call me when the app was processed. I am planning on giving it a week and start the phone calls again.

Just remember it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
 
Why the 3rd reference?

Long story short, the lady interviewing my mother accused her of being a man, but their official "reason" was that she was unable to accurately describe her signature. That was an absolute load of horse ####, but I can't do anything about it besides wait for them to process the paperwork I sent them.


More stupidity learned today from my previous calls. Luckily the lady I spoke with today was the best I've had to deal with since I started this application. I phoned and my phone number was asked for, so I gave them my Calgary number. The lady asked me if I had another as it was incorrect. Now the stupid part is that I phoned the day I got the new number and informed the CFP of the phone number change, but it never actually got entered into the system. She fixed that, and put notes into my application saying that my paperwork was received signed for at the CFP on the 23rd and that the new reference was to be contacted immediately upon processing that letter. Hopefully this means this mess is almost over.
 
LOL.
You guys are all approaching this wrong. If you piss them off by calling too much, they will just ignore your application or take even longer.

Each time you call, have a good polite conversation with them. Try to drop in a little white lie that you need your PAL for employment reasons.
They are only people, they will do their best if you are polite and courteous as well as give them a reason to escalate your application and expedite it's processing time. Employment Reasons is that key.

They have the ability and pull to process your application right after the 28 day period. But again, they need a good reason to do yours first rather than following the FIFO method of processing applications.
If you say you need it for hunting or target practice. It's not likely to be expedited.

Anyways my PAL was approved & issued 52 days after they received the registered mail.

Good Luck!
 
Well, my application is all sealed up and ready to send off. I will be going to the post office at 7am tomorrow morning and sending it registered mail.

I am from Ontario, so I did not include my exam results with the application, I just left a note saying I would fax them when I receive the stamped copies from the Ontario CFO.

Now the waiting game begins! I wonder how long until its going to show up online. I will keep this thread updated with all the developments of my application so everyone can have an idea of how long things are taking them right now, and any other tips and tricks I may come across to help shorten PAL approval times.
 
I phoned and got interview today and my references got theres aswel. The website isnt working to check app says error 8420. Just wondering how long after interview do you get card in mail.? Thanks
 
The 'old' system still works for me, I never did figure out the new system. Everyone's different after the interview. From there it goes to the CFO's office. Mine took 5 weeks to be approved from there.
 
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