Monthly Archive

NFA Wait Times — January 2026

548 NFA approvals were reported to NFA Watch for January 2026 — 221 Form 1 and 327 Form 4. Form 4 transfers approved that month had a median wait of 11 days, 6 days longer than the month before. Form 1 makes had a median wait of 13 days, 9 days longer than the month before.

Approvals reported

548

221 Form 1 · 327 Form 4

Form 4 median wait

11d

+6d vs prior month

Form 1 median wait

13d

+9d vs prior month

Median wait — individual vs. trust

IndividualTrust
Form 4 (transfer)11d10d
Form 1 (make)13d12d

Median days from filing to approval, community-reported. “—” means too few reports that month to show a reliable median.

Owner type

Individual
344
Trust
204

Current data

This page is a fixed record of January 2026. For what the queue looks like right now, or to place your own filing against it:

Get the monthly wait-time report

Once a month: Form 1 and Form 4 median waits for the month just closed, how they moved, and how many approvals were reported. One email a month — nothing else.

Waiting on a filing right now? Track it instead — you’ll get alerts when your own cohort moves, which is more useful than a monthly summary.

Waiting on a stamp, or picking the next can? What I run →

NFA Watch is an independent community project and is not affiliated with the ATF or U.S. government. Figures on this page are self-reported by NFA filers and reflect community observations — not official ATF records. Wait times vary by individual application. Approvals reported after publication are included when this page refreshes, so counts for a month can rise over time.