tl;dr: Most people will receive notice to pay an application fee in 1-3 business days after testing. Your callsign will be issued around 2am Eastern on 1 of the 2 following FCC working days after payment.

The Background

There’s a lot of information thrown at people during a relatively stressful time, so a lot of times I will see the follow up question - “when will I get my callsign?”

This question is asked all over the internet and in all sorts of places, and there is a ton of bad information thrown around:

• 5-10 business days
• Well, it used to be 6 months and a pony express ride, so be patient
• The FCC sucks and takes forever
• Today if you use a good organization, but ARRL sucks and takes forever
• No way to know - ask the people that gave you the exam.

The Reality

All of this bad information is unfortunate, because reality is that the process is pretty simple - it just isn’t publicly documented in a complete manner. There’s a relatively deep understanding of the intricacies of the relationship between various FCC systems, the amateur radio community, and commercial radio exams needed in order to fully comprehend it all, but thankfully that isn’t necessary to answer the question most people want to know.

I’ve done a large number of VE sessions for a lot of applicants - several thousand at last count, though I never really kept a full spreadsheet or accounting. I also spent a fair amount of time sitting on the board of a popular VEC, currently volunteer as Experienced Support with ExamTools, and have spent a not-insignificant amount of time deconstructing various timeframes and scenarios around EBF with some highly technical contacts at various VECs. While there is some variation and edge cases, issuance of an amateur radio license follows a basic outline.

Overview

Test Day - 1+ Days

The clock starts on test day - you take your exam and pass Element 2. Congrats!

Timeline: Submission is typically handled the same day, though various circumstances can make this take longer. Many teams will submit documents electronically, either by using a computerized testing application or by scanning physical paperwork and providing a PDF file of all documentation. However, some teams physically deliver papers to their VEC organization, which can take up to 7-10 business days based on postage.

Session Verification - 1-3 Business Days

Once the VEC receives paperwork they will do various checks and balances to ensure that the session paperwork and your application are in order prior to submission. If the team provided paperwork either through scans or physical shipment this will involve manual data entry. If there are any questions you will receive contact from the team or the VEC directly. Your application likely will not be submitted until after these details are confirmed.

Timeline: Most VECs will prioritize digitally submitted sessions, and process them within 1 business day. Submissions requiring manual data entry can take several business days depending on time of year, VEC workload, and amusingly enough, how clearly handwriting can be understood.

Application Submission - 1 Hour

After session paperwork is deemed to be in order, the VEC will generate a data file that is uploaded digitally to the FCC.

Timeline: The FCC processes these files in batches starting each hour between 6am and 11pm Eastern on FCC working days. These are typically Monday - Friday excluding federal holidays, but some exceptions apply.

Pay Fees to the FCC - 1-10 Calendar Days

Based on instructions from Congress in the RAY-BAUM act passed in 2018 the FCC is currently charging individuals fee of $35 to apply for a new amateur radio license. It is important to understand that this is a fee to apply for the license, not to have it issued - so the FCC will not take any action on an application until after the fee is paid and the invoice correlated to an application. You will receive an email to the address supplied on your application when the FCC receives your submission from the VEC.

Fees can be paid by following these instructions to remit payment in CORES via Fee Filer.

If it has been longer than expected and you have not received email notification, you can log into CORES following the above instructions to see if there are any pending invoices.

Timeline: Application fee invoices should be paid within 10 calendar days of invoice issuance. If payment is not received, the application will be dismissed without prejudice and must be resubmitted by a VEC.

Correlate Payments - 1-2 Business Days

Each day at 6pm Eastern, invoices that have been paid in Fee Filer are bundled together for processing in that evening’s ULS maintenance window. Applications that can be successfully correlated to a payment in this bundle will be marked for action by the FCC.

Timeline: Payments received before 6pm Eastern on an FCC working day will be correlated overnight. Payments received after 6pm Eastern or on a non-working day will wait for the next working day maintenance period.

Review Application and Make Determination

The FCC runs a maintenance batch overnight on each working day from 12am - 2am Eastern. During this period applications who have been paid are considered for license issuance. Most applications are automatically granted during this period and will be visible in ULS after 2am Eastern. However, some applications are not able to be granted by the automatic system and are flagged for human review. These can include individuals on various watch lists at the FCC or who have answered “Yes” to the Basic Qualification Question (BQQ).

Timeline: Typically immediate, but can be longer depending on specific scenarios.

Third Party Updates

The FCC makes daily and weekly database updates available for download and use by the public. It is from these files that various popular sites such as QRZ derive their information and databases. While these sites can be a good indicator of license issuance, these updates can lag behind authoritative ULS information by 24 - 48 hours.

FAQ

I answered “Yes” to the Basic Qualification Question

This will almost certainly result in your license requiring more time to issue. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how much - and neither can the FCC. It is important to follow the instructions for applicants answering Yes to the BQQ in the specific order requested. Many people who answered Yes have received their amateur radio license in 1-2 weeks after application. However, there is a subset of felony convictions for which no determination is currently being made and those applications are currently in a review state pending ALJ determination.

I paid the fee but my license has not issued

Step 1 - review the schedule above, especially Correlate Payments to make sure you aren’t being overly anxious. We’re all excited, but this schedule is very strict - and consistent.

If you’ve reviewed the schedule above and believe that your application was delayed in some manner, contact the team with whom you tested. They are indeed the best resource for troubleshooting the status of your application.

It’s taking too long

This is a time-based system. If you’re in one of the steps above, make sure you’ve allowed expected processing time. If it’s still less than those times, it’s probably just taking that long and nothing is wrong.

Is there a way to speed things up?

Not that I’m aware of, and many attempts to circumvent the program flow have resulted in delays issuing licenses and required calls to the FCC helpdesk to resolve.

Will calling the VEC help?

If the VEC or the team who tested you contacted you with questions then yes, calling them back will absolutely help. Other than that? Probably not, unless there’s some sort of problem or you haven’t heard anything in the times listed above.

Will calling the FCC help?

Unless you’re in a specific situation or have specific questions - probably not. They are relatively hands off for most of the process.

If you’ve already called the FCC help desk about a specific situation and FCC personnel said something to the effect of “it takes some amount of time” then they’re telling the truth.