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 manager, 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 ARRL as well as all fees as noted on the current version of the award application. Any application returned to an applicant for forwarding to ARRL is considered invalid and will be returned unprocessed.

The most current WAS award application and record sheet(s) can be found at:     http://www.arrl.org/was
Applicants using old forms with old fees are responsible for providing the current program fees as noted on the current application form. Delays will occur if applications are not complete and if payment is not included.

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).

Special Note: The ARRL Worked All States (WAS) Award does not have a Short-Wave Listener (SWL) category and SWL applications will be declined.

QSLs are required to be included with all applications to be checked. Applicants must submit their application form along with the WAS record sheet listing all QSL cards in the spaces provided for each state. WAS aplications may ve verified by a national-level Amateur Radio Society (IARU) any offical DXCC Card Checker or any official USA Awards Manager. (It is recommended that if an applicant chooses to use a DXCC card checker or USA Awards Manager that they should make contact with the manager, first). All spaces on the application form and record sheet(s) must be filled in completly and legibly. Applications checked by a non-USA IARU member society is permitted according to  “GCR” (General Certification Rules). (See above). Awards Managers must inspect QSL cards and assure that the information on the card matches exactly what is on the record sheet(s) keeping in mind that for WAS the USA State name is required to be on each QSL card being checked. Applicants who do not agree with a decision made by an awards manager may challenge the decision but only to the ARRL Awards Branch Manager at was@arrl.org. Lastly, awards managers, ONLY, are responsible for sending paperwork to ARRL. Applications returned to an applicant for mailing are considered invalid and cannot be processed. Applicants are responsible for all fees and postage, up front. Applicants must also provide the awards manager with sufficient postage or SASE for mailing of application paperwork to ARRL.

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 to cover postage and award program fees. By your signature you state that you have complied with the rules for Amateur Radio in your country and all WAS program rules.

Approved payment:

ARRL accepts most major credit cards. For more on what methods are accepted by ARRL please refer to the DXCC program fee schedule. Approved and non-approved payment methods can be found near the bottom of the page.

Worked All States (WAS) Provisions:

These additional instructions must be followed:

• A current 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 or possibly delayed

• 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 at the time their application is checked..
• 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