4/7 - Exams passed REC Oakland
4/10 or 4/11 can’t remember - “approved to print”
4/25 - mailed USPS
It could have been much worse! That’s just for a raise of grade sticker, however.
Probably increased relatively, from the middle of the pandemic when they gave wavers and probably laid off a good portion of their staff.
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Weird, more technical difficulties and delays? Seems like just a week ago someone from the NMC was on here telling us how awesome they were and how every issue is due to retarded mariners filling out their applications wrong.
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Sorry, I’ll try again. Weird, more emails about the same delays? Bit pedantic but whatever.
I appreciate your presence on here and I’m sure it’s fairly obvious you’re not the one I was referring to. The last thread ended with everyone discussing how the only way to get issues resolved with the NMC was by calling their congressman. I don’t think that I’m stating something super controversial when I say the current state of things is suboptimal.
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The USCG should permanently accept “approved to print” or “issued” status on the NMC Credential verification tool indefinitely. This should have been official policy long long ago.
Pending Applications for OS, Wiper, FH, should be considered temporarily authorized to sail until affirmatively denied, or granted.
I think that some companies are already sailing new hire OSs and unlicensed engineers without an MMC. It’s either that or tie up boats. Few companies think that they should be put out of business because the USCG cannot do it’s job.
NMC will continue to have various MMC processing problems for as long as it exists. NMC will never be a priority for USCG budgets and funding.
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Imagine if airplanes stopped flying because FAA couldn’t get them their licenses (granted, FAA licenses don’t expire and need not be renewed).
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National license should not expire or require renewal.
STCW renewals should be considered automatically temporarily approved, until and unless they are granted or affirmatively denied by the USCG.
Medical card renewals should be considered temporarily approved as soon as the doctor signs the application form indicating the physical was passed, unless and until affirmatively denied by the USCG.
Lost documents should be considered valid and active until a replacement arrives.
Expedited priority application processing (within 5 business days) should be available for an additional $500 fee. The most experienced and capable evaluators should be assigned to expedited priority processing.
Applications should not be nitpicked and held up for minor errors or omissions that can be resolved with a phone call or an email, and a digital signature to amend.
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Dear god that was magnificent to read.
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4/25 passed exams and rec
4/25 approved for issue
4/28 mailed first class usps
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Renewals should follow the STCW “Certificate of Receipt of Application” model. As soon as you submit everything you get a letter acknowledging they have everything and you get a letter authorizing you to continue to sail under the authority of your old license even if expired while your application is processing, up to 3 months.
I don’t care if how long they take to reissue my license as long as I can keep working.
4 Likes
For my renewal-
3/4 - Emailed application to REC
3/17 - REC acknowledged Receipt
3/17 - REC forwarded application to NMC
4/4 - Application passed safety and suitability screening at NMC
4/12 - Application being evaluated for professional qualifications
4/12 - Application is approved for issuance
4/25 - Credentials printed
5/2 - Credentials mailed
So, about 60 days.
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60 days for a routine renewal is nothing to admire.
Nor is two weeks to read and acknowledge receipt of an email acceptable,
The NMC needs a much bigger budget and a larger , better paid , higher quality staff, or it needs fewer and simpler duties.
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It’s been my understanding that the MMLD hasn’t worked in several years, but I’m not seeing any other comments on that here. Is that the case for anyone else? During my last upgrade the credential verification tool started returning “no valid credentials” and NMC told me it was broken. Hasn’t worked since then.
I’ve seen similar issues for over 3 years, had a bit of a panic the first time.
The application status tool doesn’t work either. I even downloaded Microsoft Edge (recommended browser) and still just receive errors.
I’m in the same boat. The MMLD verification tool just returns that I do not have valid credentials.
The only workaround to this that I’ve found is to go to the section where you can print a certificate that displays your credentials.
I am able to verify my credential, but I get a blank page when I try to print the certificate
A friend of mine just got a new MMC. He already had a med cert. His timeline:
3/24 - emailed to NY REC
4/3 - NY REC had received
4/7 - NMC Martinsburg verifies receipt
4/13 - waiting for safety/suitability screen
5/3 - safety/suitability complete; waiting for evaluator
5/8 - approved to print
5/16 - printed
I had the same issue. So i emailed IASKNMC and they sent me a PDF of my printable license.
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I don’t expire till feb 2024 but got the ball rolling at the 8 month mark and requested the delayed issuance.
June 29- dropped off application in person at REC LB.
July 13- email acknowledgement that the REC received my application and forwarded to NMC
Aug 4- Cleared safety and suitability and waiting for an evaluator. I did not receive any emails between july 13 and Aug 4 but I did check my application status online a couple times. Last week of July i was in limbo clearing medical/safety & suitability if my memory is correct.
Aug 8- Being evaluated
Aug 9- Completed evaluation, approved to print
Aug 10- Issued and in the mail
Aug 15- Received
I’m not home to verify that all my endorsements and such have been printed correctly. Like I said in the beginning of my post, I don’t expire till feb 2024. If there’s an issue I have time to resolve it. I am paranoid about that a bit since getting some errors in my mmc happened to me two renewals ago. All in all roughly a 6-7 week turnaround which is better than i expected.
1 Like
Yet, totally unacceptable for a renewal.
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