10/01/2025
A bulletin sent to members of ARRL The National Association for Amateur
Radio[1]¿ included information about the impact of the US Government shutdown
on licensing for the Amateur Radio Service.
The government shutdown began at 12:01 Eastern time on Wednesday, October 1,
2025, when Congress had not passed an appropriations bill or other plan to keep
the government funded for the new fiscal year (begins October 1).
The Federal Communications Commission, which issues Amateur Radio Service
licenses, issued a Public Notice[2] on Tuesday, September 30, indicating that
it would suspend most operations following a shutdown. "Aside from a few
emergency and auction filing systems, all other Commission electronic filing
systems will be unavailable to the public until normal agency operations
resume," said the FCC Notice.
ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator[3] (ARRL VEC) Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM,
said the FCC systems appeared to go off-line around 1 PM Eastern time on
Wedensday, and are redirecting to the Public Notice. This means the FCC will
not be processing any amateur radio license applications during the shutdown,
which includes individual, club, and exam session (new and upgrade)
applications.
"But ARRL Volunteer Examiners should continue giving exam sessions," said
Somma. "Keep doing what you're doing. Keep serving new and upgrade candidates
for amateur radio licenses." Somma also urged that Volunteer Examiners continue
to promptly forward session results from their exams to the ARRL VEC.
"Please do not hold your session results. Send your sessions to us, and ARRL
VEC will continue to queue all applications as they are received. Once the
federal government reopens, ARRL VEC will promptly resume submitting
applications to the FCC for processing. So, keep sending sessions to the ARRL
VEC."
The FCC Notice indicates that the CORES registration system will remain
available to the public and will not be affected by the shutdown. Exam
candidates can still register in CORES and be assigned an FCC Registration
Number (FRN) at https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do[4]. The FCC's Universal
Licensing System (ULS[5]) databases are currently unavailable to the public.
ULS and related systems (like the License Manager, License Search, Application
Search, etc.) are not accessible during the shutdown. Users cannot file
applications with the FCC, or access license data, including address
information.
To find an amateur radio exam session, please visit
www.arrl.org/find-an-exam[6]. For a list of VE Teams that offer Online Exam
Sessions, go to www.arrl.org/online-exam-session[7].
About the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC)
The ARRL VEC[8] program has a long standing tradition of serving the Amateur
Radio Service and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with integrity
and expertise. As the largest VEC in the nation, the ARRL VEC operates as a
knowledgeable information source for a wide-range of licensing services and
issues. The ARRL VEC supports nearly 30,000 ARRL-accredited Volunteer Examiners
(VEs) who support the amateur radio community by offering exam opportunities.
[1] https://www.arrl.org
[2] https://www.fcc.gov/document/impact-potential-lapse-funding-commission-opera
tions-0
[3] https://www.arrl.org/volunteer-examiners
[4] https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do
[5] https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/universal-licensing-system
[6] https://www.arrl.org/find-an-exam
[7] https://www.arrl.org/online-exam-session
[8] https://www.arrl.org/VEC
---
■ Synchronet ■ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBS
|
