Anyone else experiencing extremely long wait times with NFA approvals?
I submitted 2 E-Form 1 (trust) applications last July and August and I am still waiting for approvals. Not sure who to contact about this

My recent eForm 1 SBR took 369 days.

It was supposedly held up in NICS check at the FBI, according to the person who answers the phone at the BATFE's NFA Branch phone number.

See this thread for the email addresses I used to contact the powers that be, which I think finally shook it loose.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/armory/Edit-Approved-finally-Form-1-filed-in-Aug-Called-today-for-update-and-said-I-was-delayed-on-NICS/17-549713/

I just had an EForm 1 submitted January 26, 2024 Approved February 11, 2024.

The last 3 EForm 1’s I submitted took an average of 30 days.

I submitted a eform 1 last May and withdrew it last week and already received my money back.  I'm going to resubmit the eform in a couple of days.

Form 1 - usually 5 weeks. Form 4 4-12 months.

im at 54 weeks to the day for two efile form 4s which have been delayed (nics) for almost two months. i contacted my shitty rep (sadly a d) two weeks ago

My first eform 1, SBR, SS kiosk, single shot trust.
Submitted 12/1/23
Approved 12/15/23
There were a few posts about fast turnarounds at the end of last year.
Very inconsistent though.
It’s unbelievable they don’t work the backlog old to new.

Just got 2 Form 1 approvals yesterday from Sept. 29th of last year.

I wouldn't say I'm experiencing a long wait time; I submitted my last one in November and am still waiting. It is annoying that almost every approval in the tracking thread recently has been submitted after mine and many are approved in less than a week now

I could see if paper submittals end up in stacks on peoples desks that approvals would be so random.

You’d think the efile system would queue them up and process in the order received.  

Yes.  I submitted an eform 1 eight months ago.  WTF?

What is the best recourse to move it along?

Read this: https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/Question-about-Submitted-in-progress-form-4-I-found-the-answer-to-my-question-/17-550140/

ETA: I was busy as hell at work earlier. I suggested you read that because I emailed the nicsliaison email late sunday and had a reply at 8am today telling me that my "transaction(s) have been resolved by the NICS section and updated status would be submitted to the BATFE".

I was over 200 days on an eform1 when I started reading up here, and a few more that aren't far behind.

Mine was submitted late Sept of last year. I contacted my congressman almost 3 weeks ago. Still no movement.

Good news!  Thanks for the emails and info in this and other threads on long wait times.  I emailed the following:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
My congressman (in a separate email)

I sent the email last night and received the following reply this morning:

Your transaction(s) has been resolved by the NICS Section.  An updated status will be submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  Please direct any additional questions regarding your application to ATF at 304-616-4500.

The reply came from the address where liaison is misspelled.  I would surmise that for those who are waiting excessive times, the problem is the NICS check is getting jammed up.  Wish I would have known to do this 7 months ago.  I will update this post when ATF processes the Form 1.  I am optimistic they will, but have pinged my congressman as a backup.  

Thanks again to the good people in this thread and others.

UPDATE:  Eform 1 APPROVED!!!  Just 3 days after emailing [email protected].  Be sure to misspell “liaison”.  I wonder if they did that on purpose to cut down email traffic.  Anyway, this looks like a viable solution.  NICS resolved my check in under 12 hours of emailing them and 3 days later ATF approved.  Go forth and conquer lads.

Ouch, 369 days!




This is what I did, just sent the email today.  What pisses me off most is that I regularly monitored my e-file page and they were always listed as Submitted/ In Progress, and not moved to the Pending Research.  otherwise I would have called LONG ago!

I think pending research means something different than it used to. I've often read that it will get kicked into that status if you pick a model that isn't listed already, or something of that nature.

Back in the old days we would call and find out when it went "pending" and that usually meant you had a pretty good idea what kind of wait was in front of you. Seems like they used to assign examiners by geographic area as I always had the same guy, and I did enough I knew what his backlog was.

Now it's a complete clusterfuck with 4 days, 1 year, who knows. I talked with a guy that works for my SOT a while back and he was over 2 years on a paper form 1. Posted about it here earlier but I was 8 months out on an eform1 when I emailed and had the thing approved within 24hrs of that email. I was seriously considering becoming an SOT just so I wouldn't have to deal with it. I haven't written that idea off completely though...

I’ve been waiting since May 2023 and just sent them an email today.  Will update with any response from them.

So I folllowed the advice of other members and sent an email to both [email protected] and [email protected] and copied the [email protected].   I also contacted my state congressman the same evening.  

I had an email from the FBI within 3 days saying my issue was resolved and it was being kicked back to the ATF for them to update my status.  Then I had an email from the ATF two days later saying that I was approved.  Problem solved.  I also received a letter from my Congressman asking how they could help, but I didn't need them to escalate the issue.  I may still write them to say just how bad the ATF needs oversight and reform though!

I submitted an eform 4 Trust, suppressor. After 9 months, was denied. Failed nics. 4 months to straighten that out and get a upin. Resubmitted in August, still waiting. 20 months total so far for one can.