Prepared by: OH2MCN - Veke & 9Y4NED - Noel & K2KW - Ken & 9Y4/N5NTG - Lee & DK7PE - Rudi
Status: April 1997, May '98, July '99 links added, Sep '00, Aug '01, Mar '05

Intro: Visitors holding Amateur radio licence have the opportunity to obtain the privilege of operating in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. The reciprocal licence is one class equivalent to the USA General class or equivalent.

PTT:
Director of Telecommunications
17 Abercromby Street
Third floor
Port of Spain

Phone no. +1 868-623-8060 Mr. Guinness (pronounced like "Gun-iss" in American/English).

Paperwork needed:
Citizens of OAS member Countries who signed the Inter American convention on an International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP) are allowed the priviliges to operate in all member countries. The IARP is issued in the home Country of the Visitor and is valid for one year or expires when the visitor returns to his home country.
Other Nationals need to present an original amateur radio licence with a copy, and a passport with a copy of the identification page of the passport in person to the Director of Telecommunications. A letter will be prepared by this office which will be presented to:
Comptroller of Customs & Excise (second Floor)
Cor. Abercromby Street & Independence square Port of Spain
(Entrance on Abercromby street.) A receipt will be prepared and presented to the cashier
the total charge is $14.40.T.T exchange rate $6.28 TT to $ 1.00 USD.
The Reciprocal licence will then be granted by the office of the Director of Telecommunications, for operating the station in Trinidad & Tobago for the length of your visit.
Note that the Reciprocal Licences do not give the privilege to bring equipment into the country. Should you want to travel with your equipment the following is required to be presented to customs:
1 Reciprocal Licence to operate in Trinidad & Tobago
2 A pro-forma invoice listing equipment quantities and values
3 You will be required to pay a bond to the value of the equipment to ensure that the equipment is taken out of the country when you leave. The value of the bond will then be returned if it is cash if a bond through a local bank it will be released.
The best way to get a license:
Price:
Special calls:
Note that when you operate in Trinidad & Tobago the country prefix must be used first ie 9Y4/ and your home call... 9Y4/xxxxx.
How long before you can operate?
License restrictions:
Customs:
Useful local contacts:
Places to operate from:
Notes:

Noel E Donawa <[email protected]>

Addition From: <[email protected]> 
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 

At the present time the whole Telecommunications Sector in T&T is reorganized. For Amateur Radio there is a new official in charge and the mailing address has changed too. 

The new address is: 

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago 
att. Mr Ryan James 
Suites 3-5, BEN Court, 
76 Boundary Road 
San Juan, Trinidad 
Republic of Trinidad & Tobago 

FAX-Nr. is: 001868-674-1055 

**** The applicant for a reciprocal ham license has to present his passport and home country ham license at the above mentioned address. 
Office hours are 8 am to 4 pm. The officer in charge may accept applications by e-mail prior to arrival. High resolution scans of the documents are required. Upon arrival you are required to bring certified (notarized) copies of passport and ham license or present the originals. 

*** Holders of a valid International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP) may operate in T&T without additional paperwork. 

Kind regards! 

Rudi - DK7PE 

From: "KEN SILVERMAN" < [email protected] >
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 15:50:17 -0700

Hi Veikko,

I just wanted to offer some additional information for 9Y - Trinidad licensing... I am still sorting through some issues, but wanted to get you the following:

The person to speak to at the Telecoms officer (phone # you have listed of 868-623-8060 is OK) is Mr. Guinness (pronounced like "Gun-iss" in American/English).

The IARP agreement does NOT have Trinidad & Tobago listed as a signatory, so all hams will require a reciprocal license. The IARP "license" is not valid
for use in TT.

To reach someone in the customs office for importation of equipment, you should talk to the Supervisor of Excise and Wireless at the Customs office.
Tel # is + 868-623-4763

Kenny K2KW

From: "KEN SILVERMAN" < [email protected] >
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 18:31:46 -0700

Veke,

I spent another 30 minutes on the phone with 9Y today, and also got a message from 9Y4SF (who spoke with 9Y4NAB, TTARS President). So in total, I
have spoken to the head of the PTT twice, Head of Customs for Excise and Wireless division, TTARS president in person and Email, 9Y4SF, and 9Z4AZ.

There is conflicting information from the PTT and the TTARS regarding the use of the IARP. TTARS President 9Y4NAB says IARP is OK, but PTT says 9Y is not a signatory of the IARP agreement, and is not valid in 9Y. PTT says you need to go to the PTT office when you arrive to get license in person, as
they wont issue it via the mail since they require to see your original passport and original radio license.

Before you can get your equipment through customs, you will need to present your 9Y license (and an equipment bond)... which means a perspective ham
will have to run around Port of Spain getting the reciprocal license from the PTT and the bond before getting the equipment out of customs. They also talk about a "bond" for the equipment, yet no one, even the customs people, are willing to tell you how much money they require.

In my opinion, the reason so few people go there has merit - it's near impossible to get concise, consistent and believable information in advance. Frankly, I wouldn't go down there unless I was able to arrange documentation before I arrived! No way someone should "just arrive" and gamble their vacation on hope to sort this out upon arrival.

Sorry for the conflicting information... If I get something else that I believe, I will forward it to you.

Best regards, Kenny K2KW

Addition From: Lee Besing < [email protected] >
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001

My wife and I just visited Trinidad and Tobago and obtained our reciprocal Amateur Radio Licenses for use while on the island. We participated in the
IOTA the last weekend of July 2001 and talked with hams on 20 meters HF around the Caribbean and into Europe.

I found the information posted on QSL.Net to be very informative and helpful in getting ready for our trip. I have personally met Mr. Balchan Gunness and Minister Maraj of the Telecommunications Ministry and found them to be very helpful. I did find the system of obtaining licenses to be expedited by having local assistance in applying for such license.

I highly recommend that visitors to this country contact one of the local radio organizations for assistance, whether it be the Trinidad and Tobago
Amateur Radio Society (TTARS) ( http://users.carib-link.net/~ttars/ ), Combined Amateur Radio Operators Team (CAROT)
( http://www.angelfire.com/nf/9y4ibn/carot.html ) or the Trinidad and Tobago REACT Council ( http://reacttnt.tripod.com/ ) . Any of these fine folks
would most likely be happy to help make your visit to their country more enjoyable by including your hobby.

I did find that you needed to make advance arrangements for getting your radio equipment into the country as mentioned in previous posts on QSL.Net.

73 de Lee, N5NTG formerly 9Y4/N5NTG for 1 week.

Lee W. Besing, N5NTG
REACT International Secretary Director Region 7
Voice (210)771-7075 Fax (210)680-2680
5804 Babcock Road #125, San Antonio, TX 78240

REACT International, Inc.
5210 Auth Rd. Suite #403
Suitland, MD 20746
http://www.reactintl.org
Phone number: 301-316-2900
Fax number: 301-316-2903

DX Holiday 9Y - Trinidad and Tobago

For travel info see: SubWWWay to the Caribbean

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