CA BRN App Experience/Tips

[AlexThomas]

Hi all, I just received my ATT today (June 10th) and like many I was really nervous when I saw the processing times for the CA BRN and the horror stories on different forums. I had a ton of questions that I could not find answers to anywhere so I figured I'd share my experience for anyone else going through the same thing.

FINGERPRINTS/HARD CARD: So first off I was applying from out of state so one big snag was the fact that if you're out of state you have to submit a hard card for fingerprints (instead of livescan). The website directs you to submit a request for a fingerprint card with a waiting time of 2 weeks. In the end it took about 2.5 months actually for me to receive these. But luckily after about a month of waiting for the cards I called and they told me that you don't need special hard cards! First off the place where you are getting them done at (for me it was the police department) already has them and in the odd case they don't you can order them online (like amazon). So if anyone else out there is holding up their application for this, DON'T just call the place where you want your fingerprints done and verify that they have them!

PROCESSING TIMES/SUBMISSION DATES: So a big question I had was when to submit my application and when the 10-12 week processing time officially began. I submitted my initial application on 2/29 and received my ATT on 6/10. Now, obviously I did not have all my paperwork submitted on 2/29 that was just the date that I paid for the initial application. Much later (after the hard card fiasco) I submitted the rest of the information (fingerprints, picture, transcripts and $50 for the interim permit) and the board received them on 4/11 per the Breeze website. Then I sent my final transcript with my degree around 5/12 via FedEx.

So at this point the Breeze website showed my Licensure by Examination application with a submission date of 2/29 and the CA BRN website stated they were currently processing items received from 2/16 through 2/29. So my big question was whether they were going by the very first day of 2/29 when I registered OR from around 5/12 when they had actually received everything from me because thats a huge time difference. Luckily it turns out they went by the date that I registered on Breeze and paid the $150 application fee!

So my take away from that experience was that registering in advance really pays off. I don't want to say that it will work like that for everyone because I have heard a lot of bad stories but I will say it is worth considering if you really need your ATT right out of school to start your registration months in advance even if you don't submit everything right away. I definitely would not wait until graduation to register. I also noticed that the CA BRN website tells you not to submit your transcripts until after graduation but for me personally I had no problems and I sent them from 4 different schools at different times all months before graduation followed by my final transcript after degree conferral. Also probably obvious, but your degree conferral date may be different from your actual gradation date. Mine was about 10 days earlier so every bit of time counts if you can send your final transcripts a little earlier :)

Thats all I can think of about the process but I hope this helps someone out there!