Earlier this morning, ATF dispatched an eForms update to users. In addition to providing performance figures for NFA Branch in processing paperwork (forms are now being processed faster than they are coming in), ATF also notes that they have reached their target staffing level of twenty-five examiners, made changes to office procedures, and are actively working to get eForms back online. Perhaps the biggest news to most users is the predicted return of eForms 3 and 4 to functionality.

Read the full ATF release after the break. (Tables and figures have been clipped)

State of eForms – January 20, 2015

In follow-up to ATF’s letter dated April 16, 2014, regarding the status of the eForms system; this update is being provided to inform the industry of ATF’s progress in addressing eForms and paper NFA applications. To accommodate the substantial increase in application volume that has recently occurred, ATF is working diligently to decrease processing times while continuing to enhance the eForms platform.

What is our progress to date?

From a peak of over 81,000 pending NFA applications at the end of February 2014, as of January 14, 2015, ATF has reduced the number to less than 38,000 applications pending (54% reduction in pending applications). In the last four weeks, although the NFA Branch received over 19,500 applications, the Branch processed more than 22,300 applications. The statistics in the table below represent the processing of NFA Forms over the past four weeks.

NFA FORMS PROCESSED BY WEEK

12/24/2014 – 4,759 (631 eForms)

12/31/2014 –  3,322 (267 eForms)

1/7/2015 –  5,693 (435 eForms)

1/14/2015 – 6,405 (513 eForms)

At the same time, ATF has directed additional resources to NFA application processing:

• The authorized staffing level of 25 Legal Instrument Examiner (LIE) positions for the NFA Branch has been reached.
• ATF continues to expend overtime for those employees processing NFA applications.
• ATF has cross-trained and utilized LIEs from various other ATF branches to support NFA application processing. This is an ongoing process and has already beneficially impacted application processing.
• ATF has trained and utilized 23 Industry Operations Investigators (IOIs) in the processing of NFA forms and utilized these IOIs for a 3-week period to help reduce the backlog.
• ATF has dedicated additional data entry contract resources to continue to reduce the time it takes for an application to be entered into the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) and to keep it reduced in light of the volume of submissions.
• For paper submissions, the processing times for NFA forms have been reduced to:
  • Forms 1 and 4 – 6 months
  • Forms 3 and 5 – 2 months
  • Forms 2 and 9 – 1 month
• ATF Forms 1, 2, 5, 9, 10 and 5300.11 have been returned to service in the eForms system.
• While eForms 3 and 4 have not yet been restored to service, there has been progress. ATF has engaged a new vendor to create a more robust platform for the processing of the eForms 3 and 4. The new platform will be designed to eliminate the issues that caused the removal of the eForms 3 and 4 from service. The new eForms will also provide enhanced functionality such as batch processing and possibly some automated approval functionality for certain forms. The vendor has recently been cleared and has already started to work with ATF in engaging the industry for system requirements on certain processes. Once the requirements have been finalized, we will begin the design and review of the new eForms platform. We hope to have eForms 3 and 4 returned to service by late 2015.
• ATF met in July in a roundtable discussion with some of the larger users of the eForms system to exchange information about the development of the new system. There have been additional information sharing meetings since July with the goal of additional industry input to the design and review of the process.

View the original PDF distributed by ATF here: State of eForms Jan 20, 2015