Theohazard
Member
Pdsmith505 is right, a person's previous forms have absolutely zero influence on their current forms. I have 7 approved Form 4s already, but when I eventually apply for my 8th I might as well be applying for the first time.So, if that’s the case, why then was my buddies submitted in January, approved in August, and submitted in March and approved in October?
There are three major influences on Form 4 (and Form 1) wait times:
1: Backlog.
Depending on how many total forms they have in their system compared to how many examiners they have on staff, the wait time will go up or down. My last two Form 4s were submitted within 2 months of each other, the first came back in 4 months and the second came back in over 7 months. And that went along with the trend I saw at the shop I where worked at the time. So in just 2 months the backlog went up by about 3 months.
2: Trust vs. individual.
The ATF is currently processing forms submitted as individuals faster than forms submitted as trusts.
3: Random chance.
Sometimes paperwork gets shuffled around and some examiners are better than others. At the shop I used to work at, I saw more than one Form 4 that was signed and approved way before we got it back. That means it was approved and then sat on someone's desk for sometimes up to two months for no apparent reason.
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