Apply In Person

1. To Obtain Safety Radio-telephony Certificate, the applicant has to approach the U.S Federal Communication Commission link
2. The applicant has to download the form from the following link
3. The applicant has to enter all the details in the application form.
4. Make sure that the applicant has to attach all the necessary documents that are mentioned in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
5. The applicant has to attach the photocopies of the required documents along with the application form while submitting.
6. Submit all the documents with the completed form to the Federal Communication Commission.
7. The fee for this procedure has to be paid as per the authority request.
8. Once the verification process is done by the federal agency will contact the applicant regarding the inspection of the Radio Telephone in the vessel.
9. The commission will use the FCC – Licensed technicians to conduct the ship inspection, and determine the radio installation is in compliance with requirement of the communication act.
10. After successful completion of inspection, the authority will issue the radio-telephony certificate.
11. The processing time of this procedure completes within a month.

Apply By Mail

1. To Obtain Safety Radio-telephony Certificate, the applicant has to mail the completed application to U.S Federal Communication Commission link
2. The applicant has to download the form from the following link
3. The applicant has to enter all the details in the application form.
4. Make sure that the applicant has to attach all the necessary documents that are mentioned in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
5. The applicant has to attach the photocopies of the required documents along with the application form while submitting.
6. Mail all the documents with the completed form to the Federal Communication Commission. The mailing address is given in “Office Locations & Contacts section” of this page.
7. The fee for this procedure has to be paid as per the authority request.
8. Once the verification process is done by the federal agency will contact the applicant regarding the inspection of the Radio Telephone in the vessel.
9. The commission will use the FCC – Licensed technicians to conduct the ship inspection, and determine the radio installation is in compliance with requirement of the communication act.
10. After successful completion of inspection, the authority will issue the radio-telephony certificate.
11. The processing time of this procedure completes within a month.

• Vessel License
• Application form link

Federal Communication Commission
Office of Managing director,
AMD – PERM
45 L Street NE
Washington, DC 20554
Phone: 1-888-225-5322
ASL Video Call: 1-844-432-2275
Fax: 1-866-418-0232
Contact details link
FCC – Bureau and Offices link

• Any vessel that intends to obtain Safety Radio-telephony Certificate is eligible to make this application.

• The applicant has to pay $300 for a Safety Radiotelephone Certificate inspection.

• According to United States Coast Guard and FCC guidelines, shipboard VHF radios on commercial vessels must be inspected and certified once every five years when sailing on domestic voyages and once every 12 months when sailing on international voyages.

• Application form link

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

• The processing time of this procedure completes within a month.

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

• Applicant must complete the application form before submitting. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
• Applicant must provide genuine information while applying for this procedure.

• Name of Vessel
• Official Number
• Radio Call Sign
• Port of Registry
• Gross Tonnage

• United States vessels which transport more than six passengers for hire while such vessels are being navigated on any tidewater within the jurisdiction of the United States adjacent or contiguous to the open sea, or in the open sea to carry a radiotelephone installation.

For more information link

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

Link

• If either the main or reserve power supply includes batteries, these batteries must have sufficient reserve capacity to permit proper operation of the required transmitter and receiver for at least 3 hours under normal working conditions.
• Unless normal use of the radiotelephone installation demonstrates that the equipment is in proper operating condition, a test communication on a required frequency in the 1605 to 27500 kHz band or the 156 to 162 MHz band must be made by a qualified operator each day the vessel is navigated. If the equipment is not in proper operating condition, the master must be promptly notified.