The honest answer: from a complete submission, plan on about six months to a decision. But the total time depends heavily on how quickly you get through the earlier stages. Here's the realistic breakdown.
Training: 2–6 weeks
Scheduling the 16-hour classroom and 2-hour live-fire sessions is usually the first time-sink. With coordination, this is a few weeks.
Document collection: 2–4 weeks
Gathering four notarized references, cohabitant affidavits, your three-year social media list, and safe photos takes most people a few weeks — longer if notarization is left to the last minute.
Assembly and filing: days
A QA'd packet can be filed quickly once everything is in hand. The filing itself is online through the NYPD portal.
Investigation: ~6 months
After filing you'll be fingerprinted and interviewed, and the NYPD conducts an FBI background check and a good-moral-character investigation. This is the long pole — roughly six months.
Decision and renewal
Once approved, your license carries a three-year term. We flag your renewal well before it expires so you never lapse.
Shorten the controllable part
You can't speed up the NYPD's investigation — but you can eliminate the delays in everything before it. That's exactly what a guided process does. Start with the eligibility quiz.
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