I am looking for opinions and recent experience with east coast REC’s. Which one has the fastest processing time?? Thanks in advance for any reply.
Irrelevant. Now ALL your application goes directly to West Va National center. The guys/gals at the local RECS make NO decision, or make NO difference. They only follow a checklist when you apply to make sure all the required stuff is in the app. Then all the stuff is sent to WV for a decision.
I have found that Boston is the most accommodating as far as personality and friendliness. And NY is the most obnoxious. But as far as what happens once you give them ALL the paperwork it doesn’t matter time wise.
Yep like posted above, it makes no difference. You really dont even need to go in anymore. Just mail everything to the REC or email it and they will forward it on. Seems kinda silly that you cant just send it directly to the NMC yourself, but I stopped trying to figure out why some things are the way they are with the NMC
Not true. The REC does make a difference.
When I first applied for my 1600 ton master upgrade in February 2010 I sent it to Charleston (I was living in NC at the time) and three weeks later they stunt it back because I “didn’t pay”. I had, but I paid after I sent the app off so did not include a receipt (it is not required to pay before sending it and include a receipt, just preferred). Before getting it in the mail I had called the NMC to ask what was up and they said that Charleston REC had a two to three week backlog in applications to forward. The REC never called me to ask for it or anything, they just returned the package.
The next time I sent it to Baltimore and they forwarded it within a day of receiving it. Same with this upgrade I’m doing now.
Would have been a day with receipt.
Dropped packet off at NY REC back in November. In and out in 10 minutes, and license in the mailbox in 9 days. As stated above, they are obnoxious though. Well, not all of them, but a few have some of the worst attitudes I’ve ever seen.
Ill say another vote for Baltimore, it usually takes a week, 10 days to get a package back. I think the real killer is if you have ANY medical issues, it sends you another pile of paperwork for further scrutiny.
Some of the guys I work with claim 3 weeks to 6 months and longer, both of which are ridiculous.
Gentlemen,
Thank you all for your swift replies. Baltimore REC is winning the race thus far. I appreciate all of your time.
Not to try and jack the thread, but if I send in discharges and sea time letters with the company letter head, why do I have to fill out a cg719s? I’ve been calling to find out what the deal is but the guy doing my application won’t call or return my messages.
the 719 is the official application form and the official physical form. they wont do ANYTHING without a filled out 719
On the bottom it says if I don’t own the vessel, I have to get someone from the company to sign it… Will the signatures on the discharges work of do I have to jump through hoops to get old companies to sign my 719s?
[QUOTE=ryanwood86;69058]On the bottom it says if I don’t own the vessel, I have to get someone from the company to sign it… Will the signatures on the discharges work of do I have to jump through hoops to get old companies to sign my 719s?[/QUOTE]
With discharges and/or a sea time letter you don’t need the 719S.
Scan everything into PDF files and email it all to any REC and they will send it to WV. Make the email(s) are less than 10mb. Put your name and ref# on everything along with the name of the document and it should be ok.
Pay the fees on pay.gov and print that off too and send it. If there is a problem they will email you back and tell you that they sent a letter about it. In that case just call them back and ask what the deal is.
Poster above is right… If you have medical issues then they will want more paperwork, x-rays, and ect… Then you need to wait for a waver to be written if needed.
Thats what I thought. Maybe they lost some/all my discharges so they don’t think I have enough sea time? It would be nice to hear back from them.
[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;69035]I am looking for opinions and recent experience with east coast REC’s. Which one has the fastest processing time?? Thanks in advance for any reply.[/QUOTE]
The differences are probably minor in the total processing time. The RECs only forward the application to the NMC, so any difference might be a day or two. For what it’s worth, I used Boston for my last renewal (2011), they forwarded it onto the NMC the same day they received it.
[QUOTE=ryanwood86;69051]Not to try and jack the thread, but if I send in discharges and sea time letters with the company letter head, why do I have to fill out a cg719s? I’ve been calling to find out what the deal is but the guy doing my application won’t call or return my messages.[/QUOTE]
The Form 719S is only for time on vessels less than 200 GRT.
That’s why I’m confused. All of my time is over 200t yet I can’t get an answer from the NMC as to what the deal is.
The charleston rec had a two to three week backlog. They didn’t even look at it for that long.
What makes you think you need a 719s?
The fact they sent be a letter saying I needed it and when I look at my application status, it says it there too.