Thread: How long is the wait for police vetting?

A B endorsement can take over a year. I know one fella who has been 18 months from wo to go.


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Crikey!

I know mine took a little longer as my referees were in different towns, but even the AO was unsure why it was so slow based on what she could get from the computer, as everything was A ok...

Originally Posted by R93

A B endorsement can take over a year. I know one fella who has been 18 months from wo to go.


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Something's up if it's taking that long.

Yup. Like vetting information missplaced in a plods desk drawer.
It happens but some people only have themselves to blame for not chasing shit up.
My B took over 3 months after qualification.

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From when I submitted the receipt for my B endorsement, I was called the next day by the vetting officer to arrange to meet.

After meeting and him saying he was happy, it took two week for the AO to call me to say all was processed and I can apply for a Permit to Procure buy a pistol from that day on(picked a gun up and took it home that afternoon), even though the plastic would be delivered for another 4-6 weeks.

So, may be depends on work load and the availability of the vetting officer. In my case, it was great!

Way back when I first got a normal license, after vetting and the course, I stopped by the AO and he plug the information in the computer and said if I want to buy something before the license turns up, let him know and he's write out a statement for the shop.

Overall, had a pretty good run.

Vetting officer told me of one case of where one referee was in Invercargill the other in Auckland, was going to take a while. If you can pick referees that are in the same area as you and are easy to track down its surely got to help.

Auckland Arms Officers have 30 days to process the application.

Not sure about other areas.

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Got sick of the wait, so went to the Pollice website and registered my dissatisfaction with the service we pay for. Here is the reply, received today.
Thanks for sending through the message outlining the issues around your application for firearms licence. I understand your sentiments and we are painfully aware that the current licensing system is overwhelmed by the demand. While revenue from license fees is applied to Police costs in this area, the fees are prescribed by the Arms Regulations, and Police have been waiting some years for amendments to be made, (an issue that does not affect private companies). On the positive side, our systems can be made more efficient with the use of technology and a comprehensive review of our system is underway at present.

Turning to your case, your application process was started by the Manukau Arms Office on 3 December and on 22 January that office requested that your licence be processed – a centralised process in Wellington. There was about a 6 week backlog at that stage and your file was processed on 05 March. According to our licensing office your licence was in last week’s batch and you should be receiving it this week.

There is no magic cure for this situation at present, but we are hopeful that the outcome of the review (which will not be short term) will vastly improve the situation.

Regards,


Insp Roly Williams
Manager (Firearms)

It was good to get a prompt, straightforward, no bullshit reply and it seems they really ARE snowed under with applications. Maybe more staff would help matters, but that's another issue. Still, it looks like I'll be able to pick up my new rifle on Saturday, and get it scoped and sighted in for this year's roar. Hope to see some of you guys out there in a short while.

On a purely vetting example: I got into NZ late last Sunday night, rung the veter lunchtime Monday,he came over late Monday night and by lunchtime Tuesday the AO gave me a mail order form. Who knows/cares when the plastic will show up.

This was for a renewal

Originally Posted by res

On a purely vetting example: I got into NZ late last Sunday night, rung the veter lunchtime Monday,he came over late Monday night and by lunchtime Tuesday the AO gave me a mail order form. Who knows/cares when the plastic will show up.

This was for a renewal

Well you can hardly ask for better than that!

Originally Posted by Tommy

Well you can hardly ask for better than that!

For sure, being well known to the Wellington firearms police team probably helped a little, eg speeding up the veters visit by a few days as he added it onto the end of a very long day.

But I offer it as an example that the people in the police system are doing the best they can within there very under resourced system.

Also to show that even if you don't have the plastic that the system normally shows you as having a licence the day after the vetter turns the paperwork in(this may increase if your not in Wellington) so you can still do gun stuff-just ring/email your AO to check

Interesting to see the feedback varies so much.

We completed the application and payment last week, I handed in the application to the police physically on Sunday afternoon (no AO present, just some random clerk), today being 2 days later my father gets an email that he is to sit the FAL test on 11th April. So far so good with speed of processing, if anything I'd say its impressive.

Now I'm praying all will work out well for opening morning of the bird hunting season. And his birthday is next week so I need to buy him a double barreled present...

It seems they have caught back up a bit, I did the mountain safety course at the end of January, from then it took a bit about 2 weeks until my vetting appointment which was on the 7th of February. I sent a similar email to the one earlier and my license was approved on 11/2 and the card was processed by the printer on 17/3 so I should get my bit of plastic next week

the wellington issue seems to be ongoing, 3 years ago my plastic took 6~8weeks as well.