Yes. The Department of State Police shall, 60 days prior to the expiration of a FOID card, forward by first class mail an application which may be used to apply for renewal of the card. It is the obligation of the holder of a FOID card to notify the Department of State Police of any address change since the issuance of the FOID card.
So I waited for the "renewal" form to arrive, I had some level of confidence I would get it as I had mailed in my change of address form a couple years ago when we moved. It finally did arrive on Sept 16. Not quite the "60 days prior" but if they're turning them around in 30 days as they say, I should be OK. The form sent was the standard application form, there is no "renewal" form. There's not even a box to check that says renewal. Had I known I would have just printed the form off the Illinois State Police website and mailed it in earlier. Anyway, it took me a few days (12 to be exact) to get the required photos taken and the form filled out. Hey I've got a job and other stuff to do. I mailed the form via USPS Priority Mail on Sept 28. I knew this was calling it close but crossed my fingers:
I have applied for a FOID card, when should I expect to receive it?
The Department of State Police shall either approve or deny all applications within 30 days from the date the applications are received.
So I start watching the mailbox around the end of the month knowing my card was due to expire. Nov 1st comes and goes, still no card. Probably time to check:
Due to the large volume of firearm-related questions, please allow 30 days from the date your check cleared the bank before inquiring about the status of your FOID application.
I sent the app with a Confirmation Receipt so I could see it was received on Monday, 10/3 and my bank statement said the check cleared on friday, 10/7. So I guess I've got to wait until Nov 7 to start following up. And I do exactly that, on Monday 11/7 I call the FOID info number (217-782-7980 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CST Monday through Friday) at 1 pm and get a busy signal. I continue calling on and off thru the afternoon until 5 pm getting a busy signal each time. Same thing happens on Tue the 8th and Wed the 9th. Thursday the 10th I have some time in the morning so I call at about 9am and (unbelievably) get an operator. She asks if I checked with the bank to see if the check cleared, what date was that, and my name and date of birth. She says " you're in the system but it hasn't been processed yet. I don't see any problems so I'll print it out and send it to the vendor". I don't know who the "vendor" is. Maybe some firm contracted to print the ID cards? Anyway she confirms my telephone number in case she has to call with any issues. Good thing she checked because whoever entered the info from the app into the computer system swapped the last four digits between my cell and home phone. She says if I don't hear back from her I should expect my new FOID card in a few days. If I hadn't called who knows how long I would have waited.
The new card arrived on Nov. 22, exactly 8 weeks and 5 days from the date I mailed the application form. Lessons learned:
- Current Illinois FOID processing time is approx 8 weeks.
- Don't wait for the State Police to mail you a "renewal" application. It's the same form you can print off the ISP FOID web page: http://www.isp.state.il.us/foid/foidapp.cfm
- If your card hasn't arrived 30 days after the check cleared call immediately. It appears the call load is much lighter early in the day.
I'm not complaining here, as it seems the office handling FOID apps is overwhelmed by the volume of applications. When I finally did get a call through the woman was very nice and seemed to have a handle on the necessary information.
Stay safe. Stay legal.
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