From the January 2021 CARS Carrier:
At the end of December the FCC released their Report and Order on “Amendment of the Schedule of application Fees Set Forth in Sections 1.1102 through 1.1109 of the Commission’s Rules.” In short, this updates fees for FCC licenses, including Amateur Radio.
Most actions other than simple administrative updates (e.g. change of address) will incur a $35 fee. Pass the technician test? Pay $35 to activate your license. Ditto for upgrades, vanity call signs, and ten-year renewals.
The fees won’t take effect until the FCC can update its computers and get the word out, which will take at least 30 days. It’s not clear how the fees for new licenses and upgrades will be handled. We suspect that the volunteer examiners will submit your test results to the FCC, and they will be processed when you pay — the FCC system is already set up to accept payments.
What we can recommend is that if you’re studying for an upgrade, schedule a test now before the fees start. If you want a vanity call sign, apply now. If you’re within 90 days of your license expiring, renew now.
Read the report here. The new fees are listed in Appendix B at the end: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-184A1.pdf
In other actions, the FCC is removing the option for receiving a paper copy of your license. They are moving to all-electronic communication, and will require an email address for all users in the FCC Universal Licensing system (ULS). You should log into ULS and ensure you have an email address on file. https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsEntry/licManager/login.jsp; look for the Update option on the right.
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