Congratulations on passing your exam! Now that you have passed you can’t wait to get your call sign or get on the air.
Here is what happens to your application after your exam;
All of the required paperwork is sent to the ARRL/VEC the same weekend as the test was given. The day of the test, or the following Monday (unless it is a legal holiday), the paperwork is sent to the ARRL/VEC in Connecticut via first class mail. The time it takes to get to the ARRL varies, generally they will receive it Thursday or Friday of that same week. Unless something has caused the ARRL/VEC to become backlogged, they normally submit, electronically, to the FCC the license information within 1-2 days. The FCC usually will issue your license that same day. It can take up to 20 days for your license to be posted or updated. If you have any issues please contact the VE team for assistance. The FCC and ARRL will tell you to contact the team that administered your test.
If you earned a new license, then you may start transmitting as soon as your new call sign is posted to the FCC ULS site.
- Under the Filing section click on File Online
- Enter your FCC Registration number (FRN) and your password and then click Submit
- On the left side of the page click on Download Electronic Authorizations
- Towards the bottom of the Download Authorizations page you should see your call sign in the Filter by Radio Service section. Click on your call sign, then click ADD. You will now see your call sign under the Authorizations to Download section. Now click the Download button in the bottom right of the page.
- You will now be able to view or download the actual PDF file of your license. You will not receive your license in the mail.
If you earned an upgrade, you may start using your new privileges immediately. Append /AG or /AE, as appropriate, to your call whenever you use your new privileges until your upgrade is posted on the FCC ULS site.
One day after your new call or upgrade appears on the FCC ULS site, it will appear on several other call sign servers, among them ARRL, W7MD, QRZ and FindTheBest.
If your name or address on the FCC ULS site is incorrect, contact your exam team to have the ARRL/VEC office correct it. Do not try to correct it yourself via the FCC web site.