There is much information available about licencing for hams who take
temporary trips aboard. But what about people who are Permanent
Residents and want to become a ham? Do most countries allow Permanent
Residents to obtain an operator's licence? a station licence? all
without needing to return or have any paperwork from one's country of origin?

I'm not talking about Reciprocal Licensing, I believe. I'm taking
about citizens of country A who have long ago moved to country B where
they are now Permanent Residents, when one day the ham bug bites and
they want to get into ham radio for the first time. They may live
very far from country A and don't want to go there anymore.

How far does the average country B allow them to get as far as
licencing as compared to citizens of country B?

"Dan Jacobson" wrote in message
...

Do most countries allow Permanent
Residents to obtain an operator's licence?
a station licence? all without needing to return
or have any paperwork from one's country of origin?

I don't know about other countries, but the US has no citizenship
requirement to obtain a US amateur radio operator or station license.
All you need is to pass the examination and to have a US mailing
address. You need never have ever stepped foot on US soil, if you can
somehow gain access to a US mailing address. As only ONE EXAMPLE there
was (is?) a flourishing VE group in Japan which was giving tests in
Japan, and the applicants would use mailing addresses in the US (or US
territories) to obtain their trophy US license, and in the process
grabbing up choice US call signs, which then become unavailable to US
citizens.

As an exercise for a rainy Saturday afternoon, peruse the FCC data for
AH0/KH0/NH0/WH0xx and AH2/KH2/NH2/WH2xx calls and note the clusters of
calls which share a common address and a penchant for Japanese names
(the citizens of the Marianas have predominately hispanic surnames).

73, de Hans, K0HB

"KØHB" wrote in message hlink.net...
"Dan Jacobson" wrote in message
...

Do most countries allow Permanent
Residents to obtain an operator's licence?
a station licence? all without needing to return
or have any paperwork from one's country of origin?

I don't know about other countries, but the US has no citizenship
requirement to obtain a US amateur radio operator or station license.
All you need is to pass the examination and to have a US mailing
address. You need never have ever stepped foot on US soil, if you can
somehow gain access to a US mailing address. As only ONE EXAMPLE there
was (is?) a flourishing VE group in Japan which was giving tests in
Japan, and the applicants would use mailing addresses in the US (or US
territories) to obtain their trophy US license, and in the process
grabbing up choice US call signs, which then become unavailable to US
citizens.

As an exercise for a rainy Saturday afternoon, peruse the FCC data for
AH0/KH0/NH0/WH0xx and AH2/KH2/NH2/WH2xx calls and note the clusters of
calls which share a common address and a penchant for Japanese names
(the citizens of the Marianas have predominately hispanic surnames).

73, de Hans, K0HB

The second Japanese invasion of the Marianas Islands was economic.

Subject: Permanent Residents who want to become hams
From: (William)
Date: 5/8/2004 6:32 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

"KØHB" wrote in message
thlink.net...
"Dan Jacobson" wrote in message
...

Do most countries allow Permanent
Residents to obtain an operator's licence?
a station licence? all without needing to return
or have any paperwork from one's country of origin?

I don't know about other countries, but the US has no citizenship
requirement to obtain a US amateur radio operator or station license.
All you need is to pass the examination and to have a US mailing
address. You need never have ever stepped foot on US soil, if you can
somehow gain access to a US mailing address. As only ONE EXAMPLE there
was (is?) a flourishing VE group in Japan which was giving tests in
Japan, and the applicants would use mailing addresses in the US (or US
territories) to obtain their trophy US license, and in the process
grabbing up choice US call signs, which then become unavailable to US
citizens.

As an exercise for a rainy Saturday afternoon, peruse the FCC data for
AH0/KH0/NH0/WH0xx and AH2/KH2/NH2/WH2xx calls and note the clusters of
calls which share a common address and a penchant for Japanese names
(the citizens of the Marianas have predominately hispanic surnames).

73, de Hans, K0HB

The second Japanese invasion of the Marianas Islands was economic.

There's a "PT2" that's been living in Atlanta for at least 20 years who
continues to use his Brazilian call "portable 4". One wonder's who is getting
paid off on this one.

Steve, K4YZ

(Steve Robeson K4CAP) wrote in
:

Subject: Permanent Residents who want to become hams
From: (William)
Date: 5/8/2004 6:32 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

"KØHB" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
"Dan Jacobson" wrote in message
...

Do most countries allow Permanent
Residents to obtain an operator's licence?
a station licence? all without needing to return or have any
paperwork from one's country of origin?

I don't know about other countries, but the US has no citizenship
requirement to obtain a US amateur radio operator or station license.
All you need is to pass the examination and to have a US mailing
address. You need never have ever stepped foot on US soil, if you
can somehow gain access to a US mailing address. As only ONE EXAMPLE
there was (is?) a flourishing VE group in Japan which was giving
tests in Japan, and the applicants would use mailing addresses in the
US (or US territories) to obtain their trophy US license, and in the
process grabbing up choice US call signs, which then become
unavailable to US citizens.

As an exercise for a rainy Saturday afternoon, peruse the FCC data
for AH0/KH0/NH0/WH0xx and AH2/KH2/NH2/WH2xx calls and note the
clusters of calls which share a common address and a penchant for
Japanese names (the citizens of the Marianas have predominately
hispanic surnames).

73, de Hans, K0HB

The second Japanese invasion of the Marianas Islands was economic.

There's a "PT2" that's been living in Atlanta for at least 20 years
who
continues to use his Brazilian call "portable 4". One wonder's who is
getting paid off on this one.

Steve, K4YZ







So long as he doesn't become a US citizen or get a US licence, and so long
as he keeps his Brazilian licence renewed, he can operate in the US
indefinitely. However, he should be signing "W4 portable PT2___". Only
Canadians are now supposed to add the US prefix on the end. "PT2___
portable W4" would have been right 20 years ago, but things change.

20 years ago he would have needed to apply to the FCC for a new 610A every
year, but now he doesn't need anything from the FCC to do it. Also, if he
really doesn't use a W in front of the 4 he would be saying he was in the
4th distrct of Brasil, so that would always have been totally incorrect, 20
years ago and now.

It used to be common to require citizenship as a condition of getting a
licence other than a reciprocal licence, but most countries dropped that
many years ago. There may still be some places left on the planet where it
is still the case, so it's always a good idea to check.

Subject: Permanent Residents who want to become hams
From: Alun
Date: 5/8/2004 10:18 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

(Steve Robeson K4CAP) wrote in
:

There's a "PT2" that's been living in Atlanta for at least 20 years
who
continues to use his Brazilian call "portable 4". One wonder's who is
getting paid off on this one.

So long as he doesn't become a US citizen or get a US licence, and so long
as he keeps his Brazilian licence renewed, he can operate in the US
indefinitely. However, he should be signing "W4 portable PT2___". Only
Canadians are now supposed to add the US prefix on the end. "PT2___
portable W4" would have been right 20 years ago, but things change.

20 years ago he would have needed to apply to the FCC for a new 610A every
year, but now he doesn't need anything from the FCC to do it. Also, if he
really doesn't use a W in front of the 4 he would be saying he was in the
4th distrct of Brasil, so that would always have been totally incorrect, 20
years ago and now.

It used to be common to require citizenship as a condition of getting a
licence other than a reciprocal licence, but most countries dropped that
many years ago. There may still be some places left on the planet where it
is still the case, so it's always a good idea to check.

It appears as though he's been clipped.

He now has a US call...And with privileges that are less than his
Brazilian license. If he were not required to change, why would he?

73

Steve, K4YZ

(Steve Robeson K4CAP) wrote in
:

Subject: Permanent Residents who want to become hams
From: Alun
Date: 5/8/2004 10:18 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:

(Steve Robeson K4CAP) wrote in
:

There's a "PT2" that's been living in Atlanta for at least 20
years who
continues to use his Brazilian call "portable 4". One wonder's who
is getting paid off on this one.

So long as he doesn't become a US citizen or get a US licence, and so
long as he keeps his Brazilian licence renewed, he can operate in the
US indefinitely. However, he should be signing "W4 portable PT2___".
Only Canadians are now supposed to add the US prefix on the end.
"PT2___ portable W4" would have been right 20 years ago, but things
change.

20 years ago he would have needed to apply to the FCC for a new 610A
every year, but now he doesn't need anything from the FCC to do it.
Also, if he really doesn't use a W in front of the 4 he would be saying
he was in the 4th distrct of Brasil, so that would always have been
totally incorrect, 20 years ago and now.

It used to be common to require citizenship as a condition of getting a
licence other than a reciprocal licence, but most countries dropped
that many years ago. There may still be some places left on the planet
where it is still the case, so it's always a good idea to check.

It appears as though he's been clipped.

He now has a US call...And with privileges that are less than his
Brazilian license. If he were not required to change, why would he?

73

Steve, K4YZ







Probably for the same reason I did. W3/G8VUK was too long, and N3KIP is
shorter.

On Sat, 08 May 2004 06:00:36 +0800, Dan Jacobson wrote:

There is much information available about licencing for hams who take
temporary trips aboard. But what about people who are Permanent
Residents and want to become a ham? Do most countries allow Permanent
Residents to obtain an operator's licence? a station licence? all
without needing to return or have any paperwork from one's country of origin?

I'm not talking about Reciprocal Licensing, I believe. I'm taking
about citizens of country A who have long ago moved to country B where
they are now Permanent Residents, when one day the ham bug bites and
they want to get into ham radio for the first time. They may live
very far from country A and don't want to go there anymore.

How far does the average country B allow them to get as far as
licencing as compared to citizens of country B?

The US allows anyone - citizen, resident, or tourist - to obtain a
US license by examination.

The only exception is a representative of a foreign country. I have
a relative who is a diplomat of another country ("Country B") and
held a US license by examination before moving to "Country B" and
becoming a diplomat of that country. AFAIK s/he is able to retain
the US license as long as s/he is not accredited as a diplomat to
the United States (which is not likely to happen for quite a while
if ever).

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

Phil Kane wrote:


The only exception is a representative of a foreign country. I have
a relative who is a diplomat of another country ("Country B") and
held a US license by examination before moving to "Country B" and
becoming a diplomat of that country. AFAIK s/he is able to retain
the US license as long as s/he is not accredited as a diplomat to
the United States (which is not likely to happen for quite a while
if ever).



If he did get that diplomat accreditation, the FCC then couldn't do
anything to him. Hell,
you can shoplift and go drunk driving and they can't touch you if you're
a diplomat. The
only way New York City gets diplomats to pay up on parking tickets is to
tow his car
away, and he has to pay the tickets to get it back.

It used to be the case in UK many decades ago (it may have changed now)
that one could simply go to an auto accessories store and buy "CD"
("Corps Diplomatique") stickers (just like the "GB" stickers for UK
vehicles being driven in France). (Not as strange as it may sound: even
license plates were not *issued* officially: one was allocated a
registration number and could go and get the embossed plate made
anywhere -- or stick plastic letters and numbers on a blank plate). The
chances of a vehicle so adorned being ticketed were very slim (at least,
so it was said), because the police didn't want to risk a "diplomatic
incident."

AB2OS


Robert Casey wrote:

The only exception is a representative of a foreign country. I have
a relative who is a diplomat of another country ("Country B") and
held a US license by examination before moving to "Country B" and
becoming a diplomat of that country. AFAIK s/he is able to retain
the US license as long as s/he is not accredited as a diplomat to
the United States (which is not likely to happen for quite a while
if ever).

If he did get that diplomat accreditation, the FCC then couldn't do
anything to him. Hell,
you can shoplift and go drunk driving and they can't touch you if you're
a diplomat. The
only way New York City gets diplomats to pay up on parking tickets is to
tow his car
away, and he has to pay the tickets to get it back.