The following arrangements have been made for amateur stations regulated by the FCC to communicate with amateur stations located in other countries.
Permissible Countries
Section 97.111 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. §97.111, authorizes an amateur station licensed by the FCC to exchange messages with amateur stations located in other countries, except with those in any country whose administration has given notice that it objects to such radio communications. Currently, there are no banned countries.
Message Types
Section 97.117 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. §97.117, stipulates that amateur station transmissions to a different country, where permitted, shall be in plain language and shall be limited to messages of a technical nature relating to tests, and to remarks of a personal character for which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to the public telecommunications service is not justified.
Third Party Communications
Section 97.115 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. §97.115, authorizes an amateur station regulated by the FCC to transmit a message from its control operator (first party) to another amateur station control operator (second party) on behalf of another person (third party). No amateur station, however, shall transmit messages for a third party to any station within the jurisdiction of any foreign government whose administration has not made arrangements with the United States to allow amateur stations to be used for transmitting international communications on behalf of third parties.
The following countries have made the necessary arrangements with the United States to permit an amateur station regulated by the FCC to exchange messages for a third party with amateur stations in: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Liberia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom (special event stations with call sign prefix GB followed by a number other than 3), Uruguay, and Venezuela. The United Nations also has arrangements with the United States to permit an amateur station regulated by the FCC to exchange messages for a third party with amateur stations 4U1ITU in Geneva, Switzerland, and 4U1VIC in Vienna, Austria.
No amateur station regulated by the FCC shall transmit messages for a third party to any amateur station located within the jurisdiction of any foreign government not listed above. This prohibition does not apply to a message for any third party who is eligible to be the control operator of the station.
Operating in CEPT Countries
Amateur Service Operation in CEPT Countries
Public Notice: pdf
For Amateur Extra and Advanced Class: see CEPT Radio Amateur License; implementation; map
For General Class: see CEPT Novice Radio Amateur License