How Long To Renew After Payment?

[kudzu_kid]

Hi Everyone,

So I just helped my elderly uncle renew his Ham license. It was a process since I'm not him (he's >90 and not very internet savvy!). But I have all his info (SSN, birthdate, etc; etc.). So after a few calls to the FCC (surprisingly quick service btw!), I think I got it done. I paid the $35 using my card. However, it's been over an hour since I paid, and I see the processed charge on my bank account, yet I still see the license as expired (we're within the 2 yr grace period, so it's my understanding renewal should work). Should this take hours/days to process? How long should I wait until calling the FCC helpdesk again? Just curious - at his age, every hour matters!

Thanks!

 

[dkcorlfla]

I helped an elderly ham renew a while back but I used the ULS web portal. I don't remember it taking long AFTER I got the payment done but it was a different system then the ULS. It was not easy and I had visions of an old main frame with the pair of huge tape drives spinning away trying to find the data. Might be good to give it a full 24 hours.

 

[kudzu_kid]

I'll will try to exercise patience.

But yeah... Definitely seems like mid-60's tech, or maybe CORES/ULS is run on someone's laptop.

 

[AK9R]

The FCC databases are reported to run in old systems. But, that's probably not why you haven't seen an update. Many of the FCC's database processes run as batch jobs. I wouldn't expect to see un update until tomorrow morning.

 

[kudzu_kid]

True. Thanks for the input, I appreciate. Just wanted to be sure the wait on a renewal was typical. Thanks again.

 

[rf_patriot200]

I recently renewed, and my license was updated within 24 hours.

 

[GlobalNorth]

If you submit it late in the week Friday or the weekend, it is slower than if it is submitted Sunday night or the start of the week.

 

[Markinsac]

Updates are processed in a batch on regular timeframes. Usually overnight. If anything about a person's renewal has questions (like prior enforcement or questions), it might be delayed.

I know, old systems - be patient.