Your License

The License Classes

The FCC issues three classes today. Each one is a written exam given by a team of volunteer examiners (VEs), and each builds on the one before.

Class	Exam	Questions / needed to pass
Technician	Element 2	35 / 26
General	Element 3 (plus Element 2)	35 / 26
Amateur Extra	Element 4 (plus 2 and 3)	50 / 37

Novice and Advanced licenses are no longer issued, but people who hold them can keep renewing them. There is no Morse code test for any class. §97.501 §97.503 §97.17

What each class may do on the air is on our License Privileges Checker. Every question in every exam is on Question Pools & Practice Exams.

Before the Exam: Get an FRN

Everything you do with the FCC hangs on an FRN (FCC Registration Number). You get one free by registering in the FCC’s CORES system. Do it before exam day and bring the number with you; the VE team puts it on your paperwork.

Your license lives in the FCC’s ULS (Universal Licensing System). Log in to ULS with your FRN to see your license, print a copy, renew, or change your address. The FCC files these tasks online only.

What It Costs

The FCC charges $35 for a new license, for a renewal and for a vanity call sign. The fee started on April 19, 2022. 47 CFR §1.1102

The VE team may charge a small fee of its own for the exam session; ask when you sign up. For any other change, ULS shows you any fee before you submit.

After You Pass

The VE team sends your paperwork in, and the FCC emails you when your license is granted, with a link to download it. You may go on the air as soon as your license and call sign show up in ULS.

Upgrading: pass the next exam and you can use the new privileges the same day, for up to 365 days while the FCC processes it. Until the upgrade shows in ULS, add /AG (to General) or /AE (to Extra) after your call sign when you use them. §97.9 §97.119

Keep Your Address and Email Current

Your license must show your correct name, mailing address and an email address where you can get mail. The FCC now writes by email. If its mail bounces because your details are out of date, it can suspend or revoke your license. Update them in ULS whenever you move or change email. §97.23 §97.21

Renewing, and the Grace Period

A license normally lasts 10 years. §97.25

You can renew in ULS from 90 days before it expires up to the expiration date. If the FCC has your renewal by the expiration date, you may keep operating while it is processed. 47 CFR §1.949 §97.21

Missed it? For two years after it expires you can still renew and keep your call sign, but you may not transmit until the renewal is granted. §97.21

After those two years the license is gone and you start again with an exam. Anyone who once held a General, Advanced or Extra license (or a Technician granted before March 21, 1987) gets credit for Element 3; a former Extra gets credit for Elements 3 and 4. So most returning hams only need to pass the Technician exam to get their old class back. §97.505

Call Signs

A new license comes with the next call sign in line (the sequential system). If you want a particular one, you can apply for a vanity call sign: list up to 25 in order of preference, and the FCC gives you the first one that is free. You can only pick from the call sign groups for your class or a lower one. §97.17 §97.19

A call sign from an expired or cancelled license is held back for two years before anyone else can have it. Our Vanity Finder shows which calls are free now and which are coming free. §97.19

Club Licenses

A club with at least four members, a name, a written set of rules and a ham-radio purpose can have its own station license and call sign. It is held by a trustee, a licensed ham chosen by a club officer. Club licenses go through a Club Station Call Sign Administrator (a volunteer organization), not directly to the FCC. §97.5 §97.17 §97.21

When a Ham Passes Away

Family or friends can ask the FCC to cancel the license by sending a death certificate, an obituary or similar proof. The call sign becomes available again after two years, sooner for close family: a relative can apply for it as a vanity call sign, and a club can with the family’s written consent. §97.31 §97.19

Visitors from Other Countries

A licensed ham from a country with an operating agreement with the US may operate here without a US license, within the limits of their own license (and never beyond Amateur Extra privileges). They put the US call area before their call sign, for example W6/ in California (Canadians put it after). §97.107 §97.119