License Update, Change, or Renewal 

From ARRL website

Amateur applications must be filed online via the FCC website. 
  
To renew, update, or add an email address or phone number to a license record, amateurs may file online (electronically) on the FCC ULS website via the License Manager System using their FCC issued FCC Registration Number (FRN) and password.  Manually filed paper applications are not accepted by the FCC.  A valid email address is required on all applications and filings.  Applicants are required to answer the FCC Basic Qualification Question (felony question) if they are filing for one of the following purposes indicated: New, Amendment, Modification (Upgrade or Call sign change), Renewal Only, or Renewal with Modification.  Applicants applying for any other purpose are not required to answer this question.

The FCC permits administrative updates and call sign changes at any time. License renewals are allowed at 90 days or less before a license will expire, and when the license has expired but is still within the two-year grace period. Licenses that have been expired for more than two years are not eligible for renewal or reinstatement. 

Visit the FCC’s License Renewal Instructions page and the FCC’s Renewal Application Checklist page. This checklist is a preparation guide to help license holders gather the necessary information before they begin the License Renewal process, direct them to the proper websites, and provide help articles to common issues some people encounter. The checklist is intended to help the Amateur community navigate the ULS and CORES systems, to file and pay for their applications. 

There are also instructions available on the FCC’s Knowledge Base page to help the Amateur community find the appropriate FCC resources.

The FCC charges an application fee for certain filings including new licenses, vanity call sign requests, and license renewals. There are no fees for administrative updates, such as a change of name, mailing or email address, modification applications to upgrade an amateur radio licensee’s operator class or to request a sequentially issued call sign. 

To file applications and pay any FCC application fees, the applicant must set up a new FCC CORES Username account. After creating the account, when logged in, you must associate your existing FRN to your new username. Most amateurs have not yet registered for a CORES account. Follow the “Legacy CORES Users” instructions on the FCC CORES Registration Instructions page before attempting to file an application online. 

After completing the application online in the License Manager System, if a payment is required, this system will automatically open a page asking how the applicant wants to pay and will walk the applicant through the payment process. If the application is filed through a VEC organization, the FCC fee must still be paid online directly to the FCC not to the organization processing the application form. View the application fee filing guide and instructions on the ARRL’s FCC Application Fee webpage. 

Licensees can log into the ULS License Manager System with their FRN and password at any time and update anything in their FCC license record, including adding an email address. 

Amateur radio licensees and examination candidates must provide the FCC with an email address on all applications.

For additional assistance or to reset a password, call the FCC Licensing Support Center at 877-480-3201 (Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET), or submit a help request on the FCC’s Wireless Licensing Help Center website.

ARRL members may manually file an application for free (via mail, email, or FAX) to the ARRL VEC using the NCVEC Form 605.  Non-members will be charged a processing fee to use this member service. 
 

Filing Procedures

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