For those of us waiting on a license, who aren't lucky enough to have a crystal clear squeaky clean record, DPS may have to do more digging on your criminal history. Its amazing, but i was told by one of the DPS reps (in a snooty tone i might add) 'if you've been arrested in the past they want to investigate it further.' I asked, 'isnt that just for the past 5 years?' her answer was 'No, the criminal investigation goes back to juvenile records.' I said 'i'm almost 50, that's a long way back, and my silly misdemeanor was dismissed like 20 years ago' She said, 'that doesnt matter, they have to investigate you further.' So i asked if i needed to get further information for them which would help expedite the process. Her reply was 'no they will send you a letter if they need something from you.' After hanging up i decided to look up the FBI background check information. Interestingly enough, i found that if the FBI has to do a background check on you, their website even says Current processing time is 12-14 weeks. Allow additional time for mail delivery.
So, if you have a less than perfect past, expect at least 14 weeks for FBI to check you out, and possibly a couple more weeks tacked on for DPS to process. 16 weeks, that's 4 months of possible agony waiting on approval.