"Phil Kane" wrote in
ganews.com:

On 25 Jan 2005 15:54:13 -0800, wrote:

My uncle was a ham operator back in Romania. He moved here in the
United States about 15 years ago. He kept his ham licence active for
all this years YO6DMY. He wants to start operating again. Does he need
to retake the ham exam???

He would have to take a U.S. ham license test to get a U.S. license
if he is now a U.S. citizen or resident. Reciprocity or its CEPT
equivalent would not apply because he is not in the U.S. temporarily.

Can he just do a change of address??

Most Administrations require an "in country" address.

--
73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane




I would have thought that your answer would be more accurate than that,
Phil. The CEPT agreement does impose a non-residence requirement, but FCC
rules don't, only a non-citizenship requirement.

So a YO who's been here for years is not likely to be able to operate under
CEPT. Albeit, it's not clear whether he would have to be non-resident for
tax purposes and/or for immigration purposes, but likely after 15 years he
both has a green card and pays US taxes as a resident (you can't pay taxes
as a non-resident if you are here more than 180 days in the year).

However, if there is a separate reciprocal agreement in place between the
US and YO (and I don't know whether there is) then he can operate on a YO
licence as long as he neither becomes a US citizen nor obtains a US
licence. Being a US resident, rather than a US citizen _only_ disqualifies
him under CEPT, not under a bilateral agreement.