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United States · License exam

Amateur radio license renewal, address changes and vanity call signs

You can renew an amateur radio license from 90 days before it expires, and if you miss that, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gives you a 2-year grace period. Amateur radio license renewal is done online in the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) License Manager, using your FCC Registration Number (FRN) and password, and it costs the FCC’s $35 application fee. The same system handles address changes and vanity call signs.

  • 10 yearsLength of a license term
  • 90 daysEarliest you can renew before expiry
  • 2-year grace periodTime left to renew after it expires
Renew in the FCC License Manager

Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

When can you file an amateur radio license renewal?

A renewal can be filed no sooner than 90 days before the expiration date. If your renewal reaches the FCC on or before that date, you keep operating until it’s decided.

After the expiration date, you have a 2-year grace period to renew, but you have no privileges until the renewal is granted. Once the two years are up, the license can’t be renewed or reinstated. You’d pass the Technician exam again, with credit for any higher elements your old license earned.

Element credit for expired licenses →

How to renew your amateur radio license online

  1. Make sure you have a username in the FCC’s Commission Registration System (CORES) and that your FRN is linked to it. If you have a legacy CORES registration, follow the “Legacy CORES Users” steps to link your FRN to your username first.
  2. Log in to the ULS License Manager with your FRN and password and choose to renew the license.
  3. Answer the basic qualification question and give a valid email address. Both are required on every application.
  4. When the system asks for payment, it takes you to CORES to pay the $35 fee.
  5. The FCC emails you a link to your official electronic license.

The FCC stopped accepting paper filings on June 29, 2021, so you can’t mail a renewal to the FCC. If you’d rather not file yourself, two Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs) offer to do it: the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) VEC takes the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) Form 605 by mail, email or fax, and W5YI-VEC has Basic and Complete renewal services. The cost page has their fees. To keep a vanity call sign, renew it as a vanity renewal; you can ask for a sequential call sign at the same time instead.

ARRL: Call Sign Renewals or Changes ↗What renewal costs, yourself or through a VEC →

Changing your address, name or email

Your license must show your correct name, mailing address and email address. Part 97 says the FCC may revoke a license when its correspondence comes back undeliverable because the email address was wrong.

Update your license in the ULS License Manager, and update your FRN record in CORES as well, because the two systems don’t share information. ARRL says the CORES record must be updated within 10 business days of a change. You can make these updates at any time.

FCC: CORES login ↗FCC: ULS License Manager ↗

How to get a vanity call sign

A vanity call sign is one you choose, in place of the one the FCC assigned. You must already be licensed: ARRL says a new licensee can’t get a vanity call as a first call sign. You list up to 25 call signs in order of preference, and the FCC gives you the first one that’s assignable, or keeps your old one if none are.

Your class limits the choice. ARRL says Extra licensees can choose from call sign groups A to D, Advanced from B to D, and General and Technician from C and D. A call sign from an expired license can’t be requested through the vanity system for 2 years after it expires. Part 97 has separate rules for the call signs of licensees who have died, with exceptions for close relatives.

Apply in the ULS License Manager. ARRL says the FCC takes 18 days to process and issue a new vanity license. The FCC charges a fee for it, listed on the cost page.

ARRL: Vanity Call Signs ↗Look up whether a call sign is taken →
Sources: eCFR · ARRL and 2 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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