Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Opens November 4. What To Gather First.

The Justice Department is opening a new process for people who are federally prohibited from possessing firearms to apply for restoration of their federal firearm rights. You do not need a federal conviction to be barred, and you do not need one to apply. State felonies and misdemeanor domestic-violence convictions can also create a federal ban. The process is administered through the Office of the Pardon Attorney under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). ATF previously ran this program. It no longer does.

The first public round opens November 4, 2026. DOJ says the first 5,000 applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

A second, smaller public round is scheduled for January 4, 2027, when 500 additional applicants may apply and a $30 application fee will begin. The fee may be waived or reduced if you cannot afford it. DOJ also warns there may be additional fees associated with the application process, for things like fingerprints and criminal records, and those costs vary.

A few things to know before you start:

Once you begin the online application, you have 30 days to complete and submit it. If you miss that window, you start the process over. DOJ's advice is to collect all your required documents before you begin. The application is online. DOJ has not made a paper version available to the public at this time.

Do not get fingerprinted beforehand. Fingerprints come after you submit the first part of the application and receive an email from Criminal Justice Information Services with your case number and a QR code. DOJ requires electronic fingerprints through a participating U.S. Postal Service location, and prints collected anywhere else will not be accepted. Not every post office offers the service, and DOJ's pages link to a locator. Bring the CJIS email, a form of payment, and an accepted photo ID.

Save your application link and PIN somewhere secure. DOJ currently says it cannot recover them for you, and losing them may require you to start your application again.

The application cannot be edited after you submit it. Check every answer before it goes in.

Use an email address you actually check, and keep it up to date. DOJ notifies you by email, and if you fail to respond to the Pardon Attorney's questions, your application can be closed with no action and no decision.

Federal restoration does not automatically remove a separate state or tribal firearm prohibition. You should also determine whether your state or tribe independently restricts firearm possession.

Approval is not automatic. DOJ uses a system of presumptive disqualifiers, including certain convictions and current statuses. People with a presumptive disqualifier are denied unless they can show extraordinary circumstances. Review DOJ's current disqualifier list before starting. The ones that will catch the most readers: anyone still on supervision, anyone with unpaid fines or restitution, and anyone who finished a felony sentence within the last five years is presumptively disqualified. Some categories are permanent, covering the most serious offenses, and others run for ten years, including drug trafficking and certain firearm and explosives conduct. A person with a mental-health prohibition is also presumptively disqualified if an available state relief program has not been used, or denied the person. A denial can follow you, too. If you're denied because of a time-limited disqualifier, you wait for it to expire. If you're denied because of a current status, you wait for that status to change. If you're denied for other reasons, a five-year presumptive disqualifier is added to any later application. A denial based on a permanent disqualifier stays permanent.

You must disclose past convictions even if they were expunged, pardoned, or set aside.

If the application asks about a disqualifier and you answer yes, that is where DOJ asks for a written explanation. There is no general personal statement requirement. You do have to affirm, under penalty of perjury, a set of statements about your own conduct: no crimes in the past five years beyond minor infractions, no unlawful drug use or addiction, no regular abuse of alcohol or other intoxicants, no mental-health condition that impairs your judgment or behavior, good character and reputation, no violence or threats of violence or suicide in five years, and that you would not be a danger to the public or to yourself, your family members, or intimate partners.

Starting an application does not authorize you to possess, purchase, receive, ship, or transport a firearm while a federal or state prohibition remains in effect.

One more thing to know before you apply: if relief is granted, DOJ publishes a notice of the grant in the Federal Register, with your name and the reasons for the decision.

Gather These Records Before You Start

1. State criminal-history records (required for every applicant)

For every state where you have lived during the last 25 years, or since age 18, whichever period is shorter, obtain a state criminal-history record showing arrests and convictions, or documentation showing a clear record. Records are also required from every state or locality where you were arrested during that period. If you lived outside the United States during that period, you also need law enforcement records from the places you lived there. Records must be certified as a true copy by the court or agency that issued them, or be the true copy that court or agency provided to you. DOJ accepts electronic copies. A record in another language needs a full English translation, with the translator's certification that the translation is complete and accurate and that the translator is competent to translate it.

2. Records for each conviction that caused your federal firearm prohibition

DOJ asks you to provide as many of these as you are able: charging document, such as the indictment or complaint; judgment of conviction; an official document showing the date you completed the final requirement of your sentence, such as supervision, paying restitution, or community service, which the rule describes as a certificate from the relevant authority, such as a department of corrections, a probation office, or a parole board; plea agreement, if applicable; factual basis for the plea, if applicable; and presentence report or other sentencing document, if applicable. Federal court records can be pulled through PACER, and PACER charges fees.

For certain required records, if an official copy cannot be obtained for a reason that is not your fault, you must submit a sworn statement that includes the details the document would have shown, describes your attempts to obtain it, and explains why it is unavailable.

3. Three qualified character references

You will need three references who:

• are not related to you by blood or marriage;
• have known you for at least three years; and
• are not currently prohibited from possessing firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).

Have each person's full name, email address, and your relationship to them ready. References are required to affirm, under penalty of perjury, seven specific statements about you, covering five years crime-free, no controlled-substance use or addiction, no regular abuse of alcohol or other intoxicants, no impairing mental-health condition, good character and reputation, no violence or threats of violence or suicide in five years, and no danger to yourself, family members, intimate partners, or public safety.

Ask your references first. DOJ recommends confirming each person is willing and able before you submit their name. Your references will receive an email from Criminal Justice Information Services with their own link and PIN for the reference form. You will not get an email if a reference does not complete the form, so check your application status page. If a reference declines, you can update your references on that page.

4. Records involving any prior attempt to restore or modify your rights

If you previously sought an expungement, a set-aside, or a restoration of civil rights or firearm rights, gather the application and any decision you received.

5. Records for your specific situation

DOJ has separate document requirements for some applicants. A mental-health commitment or adjudication calls for the commitment or adjudication order, medical records stating the diagnosis behind it, and a current certification from a licensed mental health professional saying the condition is gone, or has been successfully treated or is stably managed so that you are unlikely to be a danger to yourself or others. A misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction calls for the underlying investigative reports and a document showing your relationship to the victim, alongside the conviction records listed above. Renunciation of U.S. citizenship calls for your formal renunciation documents and a statement, under penalty of perjury, explaining why you renounced. Foreign convictions or records carry their own requirements. If you served in the military at any time during the last 25 years, or since age 18, you will need your DD Form 214, whatever the reason for your prohibition. Review DOJ's official required-document list for your specific situation before you begin.

Optional, but useful: records of how you have lived since, such as employment records, education or training, treatment or counseling, community involvement, reentry programs, and certificates or programming completed while incarcerated. DOJ does not require these as documents, but conduct since the offense is part of how DOJ reviews an application.

After You Apply

If your application is incomplete, DOJ will notify you of the problem and give you 30 days to amend and resubmit it. If you do not, the application is treated as abandoned. During review, DOJ can consider information provided by the chief law enforcement officers of the place where you live, supporting or opposing your application. Everything you submit is under penalty of perjury. Making false statements can bring federal criminal penalties, and relief obtained through willfully false information is void from the start. If your criminal history record has an error, get a copy of your report from the FBI or the state police first, then dispute the errors with the law enforcement agency that holds the record. If you are denied, the statute lets you ask the United States district court for the district where you live to review the denial, or you can reapply under the waiting rules described above. One limit worth knowing: the Pardon Attorney's office cannot assist anyone with a gun purchase.

Three things DOJ has not made clear yet, so we are flagging them instead of guessing:

The fee. DOJ's main page says the fee begins in January, but its application preview still shows a $30 fee step. Check the live application when you start.

The first 5,000. DOJ does not say whether your place is counted when you start an application or when you submit it.

A lost link or PIN. DOJ says you may have to start again, but does not say whether starting over costs you your place in line.

The official DOJ program page is https://www.justice.gov/ffrr

Start there, review the current eligibility and presumptive-disqualifier rules, and confirm the required documents for your situation before beginning the application.

Pro Se Help, LLC provides legal-information research and document-support services for people representing themselves. We are not a law firm, and this checklist is general legal information, not legal advice.

If gathering and organizing the required records is the difficult part, Pro Se Help offers a separate Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Records Preparation Service.

Here is what the service does. We organize your records against DOJ's published list for the category you select. That includes a records inventory, a list of DOJ-listed records not yet located, court and public-record retrieval assistance, organization of your criminal-history records, a conviction and sentencing record packet, proof-of-completion records, prior restoration records where applicable, a reference-document checklist, and a document index.

You pick your own tier, based on your situation:

$750 if yours is one primary conviction, a limited number of jurisdictions, and records that are reasonably accessible.

$1,000 to $1,250 if yours involves multiple convictions or jurisdictions, older records, missing documents, or prior state restoration activity.

$1,500 if yours is a complex history: multiple states, military, foreign, mental-health, or domestic-violence records, or substantial reconstruction.

What the service does not do: it does not guarantee eligibility, predict approval, represent you before DOJ, or give legal advice. It does not include help writing sworn answers or explanations about disqualifiers. Write those yourself, or work with an attorney on them. And federal relief, if it comes, does not by itself remove a state or tribal ban.

If you want to talk it through first, book a free consultation at https://prosehelpllc.com/book-consultation and we will tell you honestly whether the service fits your situation.

Based on DOJ's published guidance as of November 3, 2026. DOJ says its information may change, so check justice.gov/ffrr before you act.