Let's say you already hold a USCG License or Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) and you have already submitted sea service to qualify for your original endorsements and/or renewal(s) on that MMC. This service likely counts towards your upgrade. You know this sea service was accepted by your evaluator, and it must be on file, right?
The good news is that the National Maritime Center keeps your file, but unfortunately, it is stored offsite and is not quickly accessible for your evaluator when it comes time to include it in the assessment of qualifications for your upgrade.
Your file is kept at the National Maritime Center (Martinsburg, VA) for less than 1 year. After that, it gets forwarded to the Federal Records Center (Washington, DC), so it's likely your original and/or renewal file is in storage offsite.
For upgrade applications, the National Maritime Center (NMC) advises that you submit all of the sea service letters/forms that will qualify you for the upgrade when you submit your application. This includes the sea service you used for your original and/or renewal.
If you don't have the sea service letters/forms you used for your renewal available, your evaluator can request your legacy file, however it takes 30-45 days for the file to arrive at the NMC (they don't request your file until your application gets all the way to the evaluator's desk).
The best practice is to keep your sea service letters and forms on hand in preparation for eventually upgrading your credential. Using MM-SEAS means that your sea service letters and forms are stored forever with us, so you are ready to submit that upgrade without searching around for paperwork you already submitted!
We hope this made your life a little easier and if you have other questions the MM-SEAS team is always here to help!
MM-SEAS is free to use on your own and if you need some more personalized help you can upgrade to MM-SEAS Expert Access inside of the site.
No matter what, when you are ready to submit your application you can do it yourself, or you can hand the whole thing to us. An MM-SEAS Navita Navigator walks you through submitting in Navita, the Coast Guard's new submission portal, on a short video call. No computer, or not up for a video call? Our team gets your application submitted to the Coast Guard for you anyway. A Stress-Free MMC is $399. Two MM-SEAS licensing experts check every page, we pay your Coast Guard fees at submission and charge your card so you never touch pay.gov, and we stay on it with the National Maritime Center until your credential is issued.
MM-SEAS Expert Access is $99 a year. It is your personal guidance counselor for USCG licensing: what training you need next, which sea time counts, and how to reach the credential you want, by phone, email, chat or a 1 on 1 video call. Expert Access members also get $50 off a Stress-Free MMC.
Need to renew, upgrade or get your first USCG license? We're here to help.
About the author
Nate Gilman is President and Co-Founder of MM-SEAS. He hawsepiped from the deck to a 3rd Mate Unlimited license with full STCW compliance over more than 15 years at sea, and is a veteran of the NOAA Commissioned Corps. He works directly with the National Maritime Center, USCG-approved training schools, and vessel operators on credentialing policy, and writes on sea service documentation, evaluation standards, and how mariners move up the license ladder.
