To get an amateur radio call sign, you register with the Federal Communications Commission, pass a licensing exam administered by Volunteer Examiners, and pay a $35 application fee. The FCC then assigns you a unique call sign from its sequential system based on your license class and the geographic region where you were licensed. The whole process is governed by 47 CFR Part 97, and the call sign becomes your on-air identity for the ten-year term of the license.
Here is what each step actually involves.
Register With the FCC First
Before you sit for an exam, you need an account in the FCC’s Commission Registration System (CORES). Registering generates your FCC Registration Number (FRN), a ten-digit identifier the agency uses to track everything you file with it. You will need a valid email address, because the FCC delivers license documents electronically and sends notifications there rather than by mail.
Set this up before test day. The Volunteer Examiners will ask for your FRN as part of your exam paperwork, and not having one slows everything down.
Pick a License Class and Pass the Exam
The FCC issues three classes of amateur license, and you have to pass them in order. Each opens up more of the radio spectrum than the one below it.
- Technician. The entry-level license. 35 questions, 26 correct to pass. It grants all amateur frequencies above 50 MHz plus limited privileges on four HF bands between 3 and 30 MHz.
- General. Also 35 questions with a 26-correct minimum, but harder material. Opens all 29 amateur bands and a substantial amount of HF spectrum used for long-distance work.
- Amateur Extra. 50 questions, 37 correct to pass. Grants every frequency allocation available to amateurs, including sub-bands reserved for Extras.
If you already hold a Technician license and want to upgrade, you take only the next exam, not the ones below it again. Morse code proficiency is not required for any class; the FCC dropped that requirement in 2006.
Exams are administered by Volunteer Examiners (VEs) accredited through a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC). Sessions run at local clubs, community centers, and libraries around the country, and many VECs now offer fully remote, proctored exams online. The VEC usually charges a small administrative fee for materials, typically $5 to $15. That is separate from the FCC’s $35.
Fill Out Form 605 Honestly
The formal application is FCC Form 605. It asks for your full legal name, a mailing address, whether you have ever been convicted of a felony in any state or federal court, and a certification that you are not a representative of a foreign government.
Two things on that form deserve extra attention.
Answer the Felony Question, Then Explain
A felony conviction does not automatically disqualify you from getting a license. If you answer yes, you have 14 days from the date the application is submitted to email the FCC a written explanation. Cover what happened, the date and outcome of the conviction, the punishment imposed, and what you have done since. If you want that explanation kept confidential, you have to file a separate request giving specific reasons; marking the document “Confidential” on its own does not do it. Missing the 14-day window can get your application dismissed.
Your Address Will Be Public
Your name, mailing address, call sign, license class, and FRN all go into the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) database, which anyone can search online. Your Social Security number, phone number, and email are not published, but your home address is unless you put something else on the form. If you would rather not have your address visible, use a P.O. Box or a work address on the application.
Pay the $35 and Get Your Call Sign
After you pass, the VEC electronically submits your exam results and application data to the FCC. You then log back into CORES to pay the $35 application fee. You have 10 calendar days from the date your application file number is issued to pay; miss the window and the application does not move forward.
Once the FCC verifies payment, processing typically takes a few business days. The system assigns you a call sign from the sequential pool that matches your license class and geographic region, and you receive an electronic notification. That notification is your official authorization to transmit. No paper license is mailed, though you can print a copy from ULS for your own records.
What Your Call Sign Will Look Like
A U.S. amateur call sign has a prefix (letters starting with K, N, or W, sometimes preceded by A), a single digit from 0 through 9 for the geographic district you were licensed in, and a suffix of one to three letters. The format the FCC assigns depends on your license class:
- Amateur Extra (Group A). The shortest and most sought-after formats, including 1×2 (one-letter prefix, digit, two-letter suffix) and 2×1.
- General and Technician (Group C). Longer formats: 1×3 or 2×3.
Shorter call signs are easier to say over voice and faster to send in Morse, which is why they are reserved for the top class. The district digit reflects where you were licensed, not where you have to live. If you move to another region, you keep the call sign you have.
If You Want a Specific Call Sign
Instead of accepting whatever the sequential system gives you, you can apply for a vanity call sign through ULS. The $35 fee applies. Your choices are limited by your license class: an Amateur Extra can request any available format, including the short 1×2 and 2×1 combinations, while a General or Technician is limited to the longer Group C or D formats. The call sign you want has to be currently unassigned and not on administrative hold.
A call sign that has been vacated through expiration, surrender, revocation, or cancellation is not available immediately. It sits for two years before anyone can claim it through the vanity system, so third-party records and the FCC database have time to catch up.
One exception matters. When a licensee dies, a close relative can apply for the deceased person’s call sign as soon as the license shows as expired or cancelled in the FCC database, without waiting the two years. The FCC defines close relative broadly: spouse, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling, step-relatives, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and various in-laws. The relative needs the appropriate license class for the format being requested. If the license still shows active because the FCC has not been told of the death, the relative can submit a signed request with a death certificate or dated obituary to update the record.
Keeping Your Call Sign: The 10-Year Term and the Grace-Period Trap
An amateur license is valid for 10 years. You can file for renewal through ULS starting 90 days before it expires, and the renewal fee is also $35. If the FCC receives your renewal on or before the expiration date, your operating authority continues uninterrupted while the paperwork is processed.
Let the license actually expire and things get uncomfortable. You have a two-year grace period to file for renewal, but you cannot transmit at all during that time. Your privileges are suspended the moment the license expires and do not resume until the FCC grants the renewal. After the two years are up, the license and the call sign are gone. You would have to start the whole exam and application process over, and your old call sign may eventually be reassigned to someone else.