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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - BATFE Slowdown again (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 8/16/2007 9:26:08 AM EDT
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I was talking to the WV branch last week and it seems as though turn around time is going to slow down significantly. They said they are short staffed and it will take over 30 days to go from cashed to being in the system. Mean while, the backlog grows. I'm sure part of it has to do with DanP leaving, as well as summer vacations. I have 4 transfers waiting, so needless to say, this is discouraging. |
| My dealer sent a F4 for me on 8/3. The check didn't get cashed for 11 days. Probably not ATF's fault but nevertheless, it's not a good start to this transfer. Most likely, either the mail system dropped the ball or the dealer sat on it for a week before mailing (denied it). |
+1 Check cashed on the 14th of July, I called on the 14th of August and was told I went pending on the 9th of August. Normally it takes about a week to go from pending to approved, but because my examiner was on vacation for two more weeks and the lack of staff I should call back in 3 weeks. The lady on the other end was real nice and apoligized but said for the next little while it could take two to three months for forms to get through the system. |
In the early '90s, a six-month Form 4 turnaround was excellent, and you were not supposed to call to check on status until after nine months. My worst was ten months, but I had shooting buddies who had Form 4 transfers take two years ... and no, there was no problem with the application. It was just BATF/DC being BATF/DC. 
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Don't sweat it too much just yet. I sent off a Form 1 for my first ever tax stamp for my new LLC on 6/26. I called around the 15th of July or so and it still wasn't even in the system yet and I got this same "30 days" comment from the gentleman answering the phone at ATF. I called back again on August 2nd and it had been approved on 8/1 and I had the stamp in my hand on 8/4. Somewhere along the way it went "received" and "pending" and whatever other interim steps they have in the process. I think they're telling folks this for the same reason you always give your boss or customer your worst-case projection on a project: it is better to overachieve than underachieve. I tell you 30 days and deliver in 15 and you're tickled pink. Reverse those and you're pissed off. Hopefully soon I'll see how fast the process goes for tax stamp #2 on a Form 4 suppressor transfer. 
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I figured since this was my first Form 1 that everything would fall apart. Just my luck. I'm just over a month from mailing and it's still not "pending" as of yesterday. I got the "1 month to pending from check cashed" speech and the 2-6 weeks from pending to approved speech. I'm not mad though. This is just how it happens with me. I waited years to do this so I'm slowing you all down with my bad karma. I would sure like that permission to exercise my right though. I need a boomstick! |
I was thinking the exact same thing. I mailed my first ever form1 a week ago. Figures something would happen to slow it down... |
| Well, if there is a slow down it's not by much. I sent a Form 1 and a Form 4 off on 7/11. It took almost two weeks for the Form 4 check to clear and about 1.5 for the Form 1 check to clear. This is a bit longer than my previous transfers but the Form 4 was received by my dealer on 8/13 (approved 8/8) and the Form 1 showed up today (approved 8/14). I am happy. |
Amen Tony! I rmeber my first taking 4 months and some of my older buddies telling me that was great it was under 6months! That was just before the revolution up there! My last was actually 3 and they were all done in 32 days! Now that is smokin! To here that they got to go on vacation is understandable be patient. If you don't like the system do something about it call your congress critter and tell them you want the '34 NFA law totally repealled! Will it happen tomorrow, probably not but at least you are doing something about besides sitting on the internet bitching about it taking 45 days instead of 20 to get a form 4 back. |
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Talked to my NFA type person (who BTW was very helpful). First, she requested a copy of my Declaration of trust nut just the Certification of trust. Accepted a fax rather than wait for snail mail. Second she stated that many of the NFA examiners have been on vacation (including her) and that the delay in even requesting the paperwork from me came from the fact that she was away. I did not bring this up or ask about it; it just came up in friendly conversation. I tried to get off the phone as fast as I could so I wasn't wasting her time and that my form 4 could be approved! |
Is this your first NFA item? Just wondering why they asked for the decleration. I have had 2 approved with only the cert, one last month, and I just sent another form 4 in with only my cert again. |
It is my first. My examiner just simply stated "I am doing what I am told and I am being told to request the declaration of trust." It wasn't a blanket statement like "I have to request this from everyone from now on" but simply that I needed to turn it in to go from pending to approved. I have another form 4 I turned in about a month after the first that isn't even in the system yet but I sent a copy of that form 4 along with my declaration of trust so I don't have to go through this twice. Saw another thread here on the board where another ARFcommer had to send his declaration of trust with his form 1. |
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Transfer times are MUCH BETTER than they used to be. One machine gun transfer from the dealer (on form 3) to my dealer and then to me (form 4) took 13 months. Last transfer took around 5 weeks total. Part of the reason for vast improvement in Branch customer services was getting rid of the career dead wood that worked in Washington DC. Lost paperwork, poor attitudes, ineptitude, and lack of professionalism was rampant in the staff in DC. The staff in West Virginia has a 'can do' attitude and actually have a work ethic. The first time I called West Virginia about a transfer, the phone was answered on the first ring compared to no answer in DC or 'someone will call you back' which they never would. Another big reason for the 'slow down' recently, is the internet fad of using Trusts to get around getting CLEO signatures. This is forcing each and every Trust transfer to be scrutinized by BATF staff attorneys as well as consulting with the state in which the trust was setup to see if it is lawful. So, if you are doing a vanilla transfer, your service will be quicker than the Trust method. As with everything else, your mileage may vary, this information is non-transferable, and this offer may not be substituted or used in conjunction with other coupons. Patent pending. |
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Ive only been in the NFA game since after the WV move, but I had my first 9 transfers go through in less than 25 days, and now I have 4 transfers that were cashed over 5 weeks ago and no word yet...... I'm not calling, because that just is a nusiance to them, but something is definately awry. Oh, and this is a LLC too, no trust examination neccessary. |
Then who did you talk to that told you this? This thread is already causing fear mongering on other sights. 
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Fear mongering? Sorry if I added to that. It just seems that they are spending longer on transfers than what they had in the recent past. The faster approval time is one of the reasons I finally decided to go the NFA route because I travel so much I can barely tell where I'm going to be in two months let alone a year. Luckily I received word that my first tax stamp arrived at my dealer August 20th after I sent it away on July 3rd. The check was cashed on July 10. This was a trust and my first transfer. It seems it took about 5 weeks from the time the check was cashed until I was approved. If you take out the vacation my examiner had, and then the time it took me to get my full declaration of trust to her (I was away on business, so it was three days after) the transfer really only took about three and a half weeks. |
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Yea, you new guys should have been around in the "good old days" .... Probably slowing down a little due to people taking vacations and having to double up ... I doubt the NFA-transfer division of the BATF warrants "temp" help, since the transfers are probably not deemed as "critical" .................... |
| I don't know what all this fuss is about? I sent a form 1 on 8/6/07 check was cashed 8/13 and form was approved 9/4/07 and i recieved it in the mail today. This time line seems exactly the same as the forms i sent in 3-4 months ago. Where's the slow down? Still seems pretty quick to me. One month mailbox to mailbox sure don't seem bad. |
I agree. I had my check cashed on 8/8 and was approved on 8/29 - 3 weeks later. I received my stamp on 9/4, but I'm sure the holiday slowed it down a day or two. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - BATFE Slowdown again (Page 1 of 2)
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