What your SAPS status means
Every step a firearm licence application passes through, in order: who has your file, what they are doing with it, and whether you need to do anything.
Eleven steps, four places.
After your police station captures your application, the SAPS enquiry page shows one status at a time. Each status belongs to one of four places your file visits. Find your status below to see what it means.
Your police station
The DFO checks your file
Stages 1 to 3
Provincial firearms office
A quality check
Stages 4 and 5
Central Firearms Register
Verification and evaluation
Stages 6 to 10
The enquiry page has no legend, so the wording below comes from what applicants report seeing, plus one status we have confirmed word for word (stage 6). Wording can differ slightly from one application to the next. That is why every result on Firearm Tracker shows SAPS's exact words first, with our explanation underneath.
Before your application shows up.
For a while after you hand it in, the SAPS page may have no record of your reference number at all. That is normal. The online status only starts once your station captures the application on SAPS's system.
Not yet captured
Your file is at the station but not yet on the system, so the enquiry page finds nothing. How long this takes is not published. One applicant reported their file still was not captured six weeks after hand-in.
If there is no SMS and no online record after two to three weeks, ask your Designated Firearms Officer (DFO) whether it has been captured.
Your receipt and SAPS 523
When you pay you get a Z263 receipt. The DFO also gives a signed SAPS 523, an acknowledgement of receipt, as proof you applied. By law it is only issued once your application is complete and your identity is confirmed.
Applicants' associations report the 523 is not always handed over at the counter, so keep your payment receipt safe as proof you lodged.
The SMS with your reference
Once your application is captured, SAPS sends an SMS with your reference number, according to applicant guides. The exact wording and format are not officially published.
That number is all you need to check your status, here or on the SAPS page.
At your police station.
Stages 1 to 3. The Designated Firearms Officer (DFO) at the station where you applied checks your documents and writes a recommendation. This is the only leg where you are likely to be contacted.
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Stage 1: Your payment is matched
SAPS shows:
PAYMENT RECEIVED
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: your police station.
SAPS has linked your fee to your application. SAPS told Parliament in 2021 that payments not linked to applications were one cause of delays.
What you do: nothing, unless it sits here for weeks. Then ask the station to check your receipt is recorded against your reference number.
Typical time14 to 15 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians.
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Stage 2: The DFO has your file
SAPS shows:
RECEIVED AT DFO
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: with the DFO at your police station.
The file is on the DFO's desk.
What you do: keep your phone on and have your safe installed. The DFO may call your references or visit.
Typical time3 to 24 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians. Its two figures vary widely.
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Stage 3: The DFO checks everything
SAPS shows:
IN PROCESS AT DFO
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: with the DFO at your police station.
The DFO checks your documents, may inspect your safe and premises, and completes a recommendation.
What you do: answer any request quickly. This is the cheapest stage to fix a missing document.
Typical time13 to 17 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians. One applicant reported over two months at their station.
At the provincial firearms office.
Stages 4 and 5. Your province quality-checks the file before it goes to Pretoria. If something is missing, the file can be sent back to your station from here, which costs time.
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Stage 4: Sent to the province
SAPS shows:
SEND TO PROVINCIAL DFO
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: on its way from your station to the provincial firearms office.
Your station has signed off and sent the file on. Applicants sometimes quote it as "Sent to provincial DFO".
What you do: nothing. Wait.
Typical time10 to 15 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians.
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Stage 5: The province checks the file
SAPS shows:
RECEIVED AT PROVINCIAL DFO FOR QC
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: the provincial firearms office.
QC means quality control. The province checks the file is complete before it goes national. In 2014 SAPS told Parliament that provinces were not always doing these checks, so this step matters.
What you do: nothing, unless the file is sent back to your station for something missing.
Typical time8 to 11 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians. One applicant reported moving on after two days.
At the Central Firearms Register.
Stages 6 to 10. The Central Firearms Register (CFR) in Pretoria verifies your file, then its Licensing Section evaluates it and a decision is made. This is usually the slowest leg, and there is nothing for you to do at it unless SAPS asks.
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Stage 6: At the CFR for verification
SAPS shows:
SEND TO CFR (AVS)
Exact SAPS wording, confirmed
Where it is: the CFR in Pretoria, at its Application Verifications Services office (the AVS in the status).
The SAPS page describes it this way: "The application was finalised at the Provincial DFO and forwarded to CFR for processing." Its next step reads: "The CFR will assess the application before approval/refusal will commence." SAPS has told Parliament that fingerprint (AFIS) and ballistic reports are among the causes of delay around here.
What you do: nothing. If the total time passes about 120 working days from capture, start asking questions.
Typical time25 to 34 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians. Applicants report long waits here.
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Stage 7: Sent to Licensing
SAPS shows:
SEND TO LICENSING SECTION
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: moving within the CFR.
Verification is finished and your file goes to the national Licensing Section, which evaluates your motivation.
What you do: nothing. Wait.
Typical time5 to 6 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians.
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Stage 8: Licensing evaluates it
SAPS shows:
RECEIVED AT LICENSING SECTION
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: the Licensing Section at the CFR.
An evaluator weighs your need, motivation, competency and safe storage. Along with stage 6, this is usually one of the two slowest steps.
What you do: watch for a request for more information. Answer it through your DFO straight away.
Typical time33 to 36 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians. One applicant reported a month or more at this step.
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Stage 9: Prepared for a decision
SAPS shows:
IN PREPARATION FOR CONSIDERATION
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: the CFR.
All the reports and documents are in, and the file is being prepared for the person who decides.
What you do: nothing. Wait.
Typical time5 to 7 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians.
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Stage 10: The decision is being made
SAPS shows:
FOR CONSIDERATION
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: with the Registrar's delegate at the CFR.
The person who decides on behalf of the Registrar of firearms approves or refuses your application.
What you do: nothing. Watch for the SMS.
Typical timeAbout 5 daysSource: one commercial tracker's published medians.
Stage 11: The decision is in.
SAPS shows: APPROVED
Wording reported by applicants
Where it is: decided at the CFR, then back to your police station.
If approved, applicant guides say the CFR sends an SMS and your licence card is printed and sent to your station. If refused, a letter with reasons follows. The exact wording the SAPS page shows for a refusal is not known.
- Approved: wait for your station to receive the card, then collect it.
- Refused: you have 90 days from the decision date to appeal. Read what to do.
- Typical time: how long card printing takes is not published. Applicant guides mention long waits for licence cards.
If your application is refused.
A refusal is not the end of the road. You can appeal, and the clock starts on the day the decision was made, so act as soon as you know.
- SAPS must give you its decision in writing, with the reasons, the date and the place. In 2014 SAPS told Parliament the CFR prints a dated, signed refusal letter and sends it to you and your DFO.
- You appeal to the Appeal Board on the SAPS 530 form, stating the decision, its date and your grounds, with written submissions. Attach a copy of the refusal notice.
- The Board can confirm, change or reverse the decision. It only accepts new facts if you explain why you did not give them before.
The appeal must be lodged within 90 days after the Registrar made the decision. Refusal letters can arrive late, so count from the date on the letter, not the day it reached you. The Board may accept a late appeal if you show good cause, but do not rely on it.
Collecting your licence card.
An approval online does not mean the card is waiting for you. It still has to be printed and sent to your station.
- One commercial tracker reports the card can take weeks to reach your DFO after the status changes. We know of no status on the SAPS page that says the card is ready.
- SAPS says the DFO may ask you to install an SABS-standard safe within 14 days and inspect it before the licence is printed.
- Collect the card at the DFO with your ID and sign the SAPS 86 register.
- Before you leave, check the make, model, serial number, licence section and your ID number on the card. Then collect your firearm from the dealer.
- Waiting a long time for the card? One applicants' organisation reports SAPS confirmed you can ask your DFO about a temporary permit while it is printed.
Competency and renewal applications.
You can check both on the SAPS page with your reference number. Their paths look like the licence path, with a few differences worth knowing.
Competency certificate (SAPS 517)
- It comes first. You need a training certificate from an accredited provider, then competency, then a licence.
- At the station the DFO takes a full set of fingerprints on the SAPS 91(a), and interviews two people who know you, plus your spouse or partner if you have one.
- At the CFR, another tracker's step list shows a competency section in place of the Licensing Section, plus a CRC step (the Criminal Record Centre, which checks your fingerprints). The exact SAPS wording for these is not known.
- Approval comes by SMS, then you collect a copy of the certificate at your station, according to applicant guides. A refusal can be appealed the same way as a licence.
Renewals (SAPS 518(a))
- Apply at least 90 days before your licence expires. If you do, your licence stays valid until the renewal is decided.
- Your competency is renewed with the licence, on the SAPS 517(g). You do not redo the training unless the Registrar asks.
- No separate list of renewal statuses has been published. One commercial tracker reports renewals sit at an "In Process" step for a median of about 104 days.
- A refused renewal is reported to come by SMS saying the renewal "has not been issued" and asking you to contact your DFO.
See which step yours is on.
Type your reference number and we show SAPS's exact words, the step it matches, and what to do next.
