Under the terms of the General Certification Rules (GCR) of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) any officially appointed awards manager for an IARU member society is authorized to verify Worked All States (WAS) applications.

An awards manager may verify the WAS application and return cards to the applicant. The awards, not the applicant, must forward the paperwork to the ARRL awards branch. The applicant is responsible for providing the awards manager with sufficient postage for mailing paperwork to the USA as well as app fees as noted on the award application. Any application returned to an applicant for forwarding to ARRL is considered invalid and will be returned unprocessed.

General Certification Rules:

The following awards information was obtained from International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Societies around the world who provided the rules of the Amateur Radio awards they sponsor.  In addition to the HF awards described below, many IARU Societies also sponsor localized and/or VHF-only awards, or VHF endorsed versions of their HF awards. Further, shortwave listeners (SWL’s) are eligible for many, if not most, of these awards as well. Since awards rules have been necessarily summarized for publication, further details can be secured by writing directly to the Awards Manager(s) of the particular Society or Societies concerned. When addressing correspondence to an Awards Manager it is a good idea to enclose a self-addressed envelope and at least 2 IRC’s (International Reply Coupons).

As a general principle, QSLs are not required to be included with the application. Ordinarily, a list of the appropriate QSLs with a signed certification by an official of a national-level Amateur Radio Society or two officers of a local Amateur Radio Club stating that the valid QSLs are in possession of the applicant will be honored by the IARU Society sponsoring the award. This list should show the callsign, date, time, frequency, mode and signal report for each contact. This is often referred to as a “GCR” (General Certification Rules) list. Awards Managers may reserve the right to inspect QSL cards on rare occasions, and any decisions made by the Awards Managers as to the validity of applications are final.

When applying for a particular award, type or neatly print your name, callsign and mailing address. State precisely what award and/or endorsement you are applying for, and enclose the appropriate application forms and required fee (usually in IRC’s) to defray postage and stationary costs. You should also state that you have complied with the rules for Amateur Radio in your country.

Worked All States (WAS) Provisions:

These additional instructions must be followed:

• A WAS application form and WAS record sheet is required with each submission.

Forms:

• WAS Application Form and Record Sheet
• 5 Band WAS Application Form
• 5Band WAS Plaque and Pin Order Form
  

Incomplete applications may be returned unprocessed.

• Application with QSL cards must be presented to the IARU Awards Manager. A printed list, alone, is not sufficient. Awards Managers MUST inspect cards for each application.
• Applicants must provide the awards manager with all award fees as noted on the application.
• Applicants must provide the awards manager with postage, or SASE, to mail award paperwork to the ARRL Awards Desk
• Awards managers may not return an application that has been checked back to an applicant for forwarding an application to ARRL.
  

Questions about WAS rules? Contact Us