Illinois Concealed Carry License Taking Questionably Long Time

I’m sorry Kayle. That’s not right. That kind of delay should have at the very least triggered an email to you from the ISP. I think Gene2’s suggestion could be helpful. State reps are usually very responsive to constituent concerns. I have been amazed through the years, especially in a couple of instances, just how helpful they are. Hopefully you have a good one.

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Being from Chicago originally I concur. Calling any department in the city was a waste of time. If your Alderman had any clout at all a simple call to their office would get it done.

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I had fingerprints and applied for CCL 8/3/2020 (153 days of what was supposed to be 90 day wait) and FOID card address update Ive been waiting around the same time for it. It is very disappointing that they can’t even give an estimate on time for the answer. They even spent time updating the website interface and not doing my CCL or FOID. Please contact your local representative telling them you have been waiting. Maybe include a personal story if you want to make it more convincing. I understand there are many reasons not to do that too. Of course it is none of the governments business why you choose to own a gun but its as always a personal choice of what you share. Good luck on getting it soon.

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Came and went now on day 153 of 90 that Illinois promised prior to covid.

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You aren’t alone, I’ve been waiting for both ccl and foid since Jan 14. I’m glad that I didn’t waste more of my money on the fingerprints, I had a feeling they would pull a stunt like this and I’m hoping that serious legal action will be taken against ISP when this is all over.

If you don’t belong to the Illinois State Rifle Association do so.
They work very hard to fight for Illinois gun owners.

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Call your representative to help you? It worked for me!

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How long ago did you apply for yours?

I’m an instructor in Illinois, and I hear stories like this daily.

The processing time is down though:

Firearms Services (illinois.gov)

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I wish that what ISP is saying was actually true. Like I said, I applied for my CCL on the 14th of January 2020 and my FOID renewal on the 1st of February 2020 and check their website multiple times daily and have emailed them a number of times and they just ignore the emails. They don’t even bother to acknowledge that they received the email much less do their jobs.

I emailed both my representative and States Attorney and plan to try to call them both Monday.

Please let us know what they say; and if you end up getting it I would be very interested to hear when and how you did.

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I will update when or if I get any results, good or bad.

I know there is an increase in FOID apps, but my wife submitted her app on June 11, 2020. It’s Jan 9, 2021 and still no card. Status indicates under review. THAT IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. NO MORE EXCUSES!!!

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Why the government doesn’t simply hire one of the thousands of people on unemployment to process the flood of applications makes no sense to me. I have a feeling they could effectively move some of the work to in home or if they cant let them do it without supervision then just rent an empty restaurant they recently closed down and give the owner some money to use the space to work there. XD

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This is the info I was frustrated I wasn’t getting! Thank you for sharing. It looks like I am beyond the average time however someone has to be longer and some have to be lower to make it an average right?

Question : When I’m up for renewal of my FOID and CCL, how much time in advance or leeway should I give them?

Heard some helpful tips on this string. Any luck calling your state Rep? Might have been on another post, but did someone mention that the new FOID requests or new CCL requests were being given priority, over renewals? Anyone try paper/snail mailing them? I imagine faxing them might not be well received?

Where they ask for finger-prints, do get that done, it helped me to get me approved sooner, although my approvals came in just before the 2020 Pandemic struck.

Someone posted how making purchases on guns and ammo have been hindered by having an expired FOID card.

When I emailed them on a different topic, I was very kind and careful with my words:

To my surprise, weeks later, they emailed me back, and we emailed each other a few times over a couple of months. Then, they actually called me. I was excited, as my phone showed on my caller ID, “IL State Police”. I never answered the phone so fast, the officer was really cool.

Did you get any information when you talked to them?

Yes I did, however, I regret I had to focus on another issue entirely, unrelated to FOID or CCL in Illinois. I actually needed their (ISP) help with my question on applying for CCL with another state, but the other state had not been communicating back to me not even by email.

The ISP officer was able to help me with my question. He called me when I was at work, and caught me off guard, so I did not talk about other matters, but now I regret it. I could imagine they are inundated but perhaps keep at it with the emails, listing your address, full name and phone number, perhaps like me, they can call you back:

ISP.BOI.Customer.Support@illinois.gov

I feel you.

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I have a theory why my CCL application is taking so long. I have been weighting on hold to talk with a person at the ISP FOID dept and heard the prerecorded hold voice say that CCL wont process until a FOID processes. I had submitted an address change for my FOID when I moved. I am concerned that existing FOID updates and changes are NOT being processed because the COVID emergency declaration made the current FOIDs valid for a very long time. Does that mean I wont see a FOID until 18 months after covid is no longer emergency status? I spent 150 dollars on the application and an additional 150 dollars for a CCL class with the 7 percent gains of last years stock marker on average that is about 21 dollars in lost money for the year and 42 dollars for two years if it continues to see those gains on average, just saying if I had known I wouldn’t even have submitted.

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