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My CHL is due for renewal November 2010. I've read through the "Handbook" and am not sure when I start the renewal process? This being a concern because of all the information I've gathered from this Forum about how long it is taking now. Any help on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I think it is 6 months out before you can do anything with the paperwork. You can take the class as early as two years out but I wouldn't do it until the paperwork can be had. You don't want any certification or what-not to run out before they complete the processing.

That said, I got my renewed license in 17 days. That was before the biggest part of the latest increase in apps. to DPS though. I would do it as soon as you can. This info needs to be confirmed by someone who has renewed more recently than 2008.

You can start 6 months prior to expiration. I suggest that you do so. Start your renewal in June or July of next year and you should be good.

Kalrog,

I went thru this last summer, applied as soon as I was eligible, and received my renewal in 35 days. Here's some things I researched then. Interestingly, I found no statutory time frame as to when you can submit your renewal, but as a practical matter, the DPS won't let you apply for renewal, at least on line, until six months prior. To be specific, the online function will not let you apply until 180 days prior (which can be a couple days different than six calendar months). By statute, the DPS required to send you a renewal notice not later than 60 days prior to expiration, but in practice they seem to do it about about six months prior.

What the law DOES say is that you must complete your continuing education course and your shooting proficiency within six months of the date of your application. In other words, the course is NOT good for two years, at least by statute. Whether DPS will accept it or not is another thing. Statutorily, you could take the renewal course up to a year prior to your expiration, as long as you get your application in right at six months prior to expiration. Make sense?

What I did was take the course the last weekend prior to the start of the six month window prior to my license expiration. IOW, my birthday is in early November. Six months prior is in early May. I took the course right at the first of May, got all my paperwork in order, and when the day the online function noted I was eligible to renew, I mailed off the whole package with a confirmation of receipt. Thirty-five days later I had my license.

GC 5411.185. RENEWAL. (a) To renew a license, a license holder
must:
(1) complete a continuing education course in handgun proficiency
under Section 411.188(c) within the six-month period
preceding:
(A) -the date of application for renewal, for a first or second
renewal; and
(B) the date of application for renewal or the date of application
for the preceding renewal, for a third or subsequent renewal, to ensure
that the license holder is not required to complete the course more
than once in any 1 0-year period;
(2) obtain a handgun proficiency certificate under Section
411 . I8 9 within the six-month period preceding:
(A) the date of application for renewal, for a first or second
renewal; and
(B) the date of application for renewal or the date of application
for the preceding renewal, for a third or subsequent renewal, to ensure
that the license holder is not required to obtain the certificate more
than once in any 10-year period; and
(3) submit to the department:
(A) an application for renewal on a form provided by the
department;
(B) a copy of the handgun proficiency certificate;
(C) payment of a nonrefundable renewal fee as set by the
department; and
(D) two recent color passport photographs of the applicant.

Renewal TR-100s (class completion certificate) are good for 6 months, and you can apply for the renewal up to 6 months prior to your expiration. So... if you pay attention to your dates and make sure you get everything in on time, you can actually take your renewal class up to 1 year before your expiration, then hold your TR-100 until you get the renewal notice in the mail from DPS 6 months later.

The "2 years" for TR-100s is for NEW applicants only, not renewals.

I highly recommend that you take your renewal class AS SOON as you can prior to your renewal. I just renewed mine and it took them 93 days from receiving my application to issue the renewal license. And I'm an instructor. Not that that means anything to them...

So, bottom line is, you can take the class up to 1 year before expiration. You can apply for the renewal up to 180 days before expiration.