Average Wait Times for the ATF eForm 1 and the ATF Form 1

When applying for your Form 1 tax stamp you have a few options available to you.  You can file using the ATF’s eForm website or you can use the ATF’s paper ATF Form 1.  Deciding which route and application is best for you comes down to a few factors: the approval time, more commonly referred to as the wait time, and your computer abilities. We will break down each application type below with the average wait times and what is required to apply using each method.  From there you can assess which ATF application is best suited for you as an individual, your gun trust or legal entity. 

View Current ATF eForm 1 and ATF Form 1 Approval Times with our NFA Approval Tracker

ATF eForm 1

• Average Approval/Wait Time: ~32 days. The average wait time is 32 days, but we have seen approval times in the single digit days.  Conversely, your wait time can be 60+ or 90+ days if your application gets stuck in the pending background check.  You can check our ATF Form 1 & ATF eForm 1 Average Approval Time - NFA Approval Tracker to see the most up to date average approval times. 
• Application Requirements:  When applying using the ATF eForm 1 website all of your information minus the two fingerprint cards that are required for each responsible person are uploaded to the eForm website.  This means, you will need to have the following ready for an individual applicant: a digital passport style photo ready for upload.  If you are applying using a gun trust or as a legal entity the following will need to be ready for each responsible person: a digital passport style photo ready for upload and a filled out, signed and dated ATF 5320.23 form that is scanned into your computer.  You will need to upload that paperwork, alongside a copy of your notarized, signed and dated gun trust or legal entity paperwork.  The scanned copies of your paperwork that is submitted to the ATF will need to be under 3mb in size and we have services to help you with that if you need them. You can use our gun trust shrink and compression service if you need help getting your gun trust under the 3mb size requirements. 
• Fingerprint Cards:  Two fingerprint cards for each responsible person are mailed into the ATF with the corresponding cover sheet that is emailed to you.
• Payment:  "Plastic card” payments are required to pay your $200 tax stamp.
• CLEO Copies:  The CLEO copies of the ATF Form 1 will need to be mailed to the CLEO that you named within your application.  If you are applying using gun trust or as a legal entity the ATF 5320.23 CLEO copies will need to be included in with your application for each responsible person.  A copy of your ATF Form 1 will be emailed to you after your eForm 1 application has been submitted to the ATF.  In some cases if your application is pending research or other cases you won’t receive this paperwork for a day or two after you apply.
• For more information you can view our ATF eForm 1 walk-through guide here.

ATF Form 1

• Average Approval/Wait Time: ~7 to 12 months. The average wait time is 7 to 12 months with outliers being approved before and after the 7 to 12 month range.  If your application gets stuck in the pending background check stage then you can see your wait time go past 12 months.   You can check our ATF Form 1 & ATF eForm 1 Average Approval Time - NFA Approval Tracker to see the most up to date average approval times. 
• Application Requirements:  When applying using the ATF Form 1 all of your information is physically submitted to the ATF.  This means, you will need to have the following ready to mail into the ATF for an individual applicant: a physical passport style photo, two fingerprint cards and the two ATF copies of your ATF Form 1 paperwork.  If you are applying using a gun trust or as a legal entity the following will need to be ready to mail to the ATF for each responsible person: a physical passport style photo, signed and dated ATF 5320.23 Form and two fingerprint cards.  You will need to submit a copy of your notarized, signed and dated gun trust or legal entity paperwork in with your application. 
• Fingerprint Cards:  Two fingerprint cards for each responsible person are mailed into the ATF with your application paperwork.
• Payment Options: Check, cashier’s check, credit card or money order payments are allowed to pay your $200 tax stamp.
• CLEO Copies:  The CLEO copies of the ATF Form 1 will need to be mailed to the CLEO that you named within your application.  If you are applying using gun trust or as a legal entity the ATF 5320.23 CLEO copies will need to be included in with your application for each responsible person.
• For more information you can view our ATF Form 1 walk-through guide here.