From the ARRL VE Newsletter, May 2015:
” FCC Goes Paperless”
In order to streamline procedures and save money, the FCC stopped routinely printing and mailing licenses in February.
There are a number of ways a license holder can obtain an official copy of their license. The official license will display the FCC logo and the watermark “Official Copy” will be printed across each page of an official authorization from FCC.
1. Download and Print License: The licensee can log into the FCC ULS License Manager System http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/ with their FRN and password to ‘Download the Electronic Authorization’ of the official license. On the ‘Download Authorizations’ page the license holder will add their call sign to the ‘Authorizations to Download’ and then click download. The PDF of the license can be saved to a computer and printed later or the file can be opened and printed immediately.
2. Login and Set Paper Preferences: The licensee can log into the FCC ULS License Manager System http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/ with their FRN and password and set their own paper authorization preferences for future mailings. This option determines whether a user will receive paper authorizations (printed license and FRN information) from the FCC. The license holder would select either YES or NO and then click SAVE. By selecting YES, you will continue to receive paper authorizations printed and mailed by the FCC. By selecting NO, you will not receive authorizations printed and mailed from the FCC. This preference will affect all granted authorizations on this FRN.
3. Receive License via email: When modifying, renewing or requesting a duplicate copy of the license, a licensee who already has an FCC Registration Number (FRN) and provides a valid e-mail address under “Applicant Information” while logged in to the ULS system will receive an official ULS-generated electronic authorization via e-mail.
The action of adding a valid e-mail address into the FCC system can also be performed by a VEC filing new, upgraded, modified or renewed licenses on behalf of applicants.
4. Contact FCC: Licensees may contact FCC Support via the web, by telephone (1-888 225-5322) or by mail to request paper licenses. Please note that FCC recently stopped using distinctive paper stock to produce hard copy licenses and has been printing these on “standard, white recycled paper.” The Bureau noted that the distinctive paper stock it had used was six times more expensive than the plain recycled paper it now uses.
All this information is located on the VE Resources page www.arrl.org/resources-for-ves in the section titled “Obtain a License Copy”.
Additional Information
An unofficial “reference copy” can always be printed from the FCC’s ULS License database http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/.
New licensees may choose to register their SSN (social security number) with the FCC and receive a FRN before the exam date to make retrieving a copy of their new license after the session much easier.
VE Teams may accept photocopies or printouts of licenses from the follow sources: the official license or reference license printed from the FCC website, and license data printed out from the ARRL website or QRZ website. This information can be found on the ARRL web page what to bring to an exam session. “
SEE: The ARRL ‘How to Obtain License Copy Page
That means you will no longer receive an automatic mailing from the FCC with your new license or upgrade, unless you change your preferences in the ULS. Editor
