so ive been licensed about 3 years now and done a fair bit of HF but mostly just ragchewing and the occasional contest. lately ive been getting more into DX and i think i want to actually go for DXCC properly. i have maybe 60-70 countries confirmed on lotw already just from random contacts i never really paid attention to, which is kind of exciting actually.

my question is more about how the whole credit submission process works. like i know you need 100 confirmed entities but do all the confirmations have to come from lotw or can you still use paper QSLs? and is there a fee every time you want to get credits added or is it more like a one time thing. also what about WAS and WAZ, are those handled the same way through ARRL or is WAZ a separate thing through some other org. i feel like ive been ignoring all this paperwork side of the hobby and now im trying to catch up and its a bit overwhelming honestly.

congrats on deciding to go for it, DXCC is a lot of fun to chase once you get the bug. to answer your questions — yes you can absolutely still use paper QSLs for credit, lotw just makes it way easier and faster. when you submit you can mix and match, whatever you have confirmed either way counts. the initial DXCC application does have a fee and then each time you apply for additional credits (like going from basic to the next level) theres another fee, its not huge but it adds up if you do it frequently. i tend to batch mine up and submit maybe once or twice a year.

WAZ is separate, thats through the CQ magazine organization not ARRL. completely different process and they have their own lotw integration now which helps. WAS is ARRL like DXCC. honestly the ARRL website explains most of it pretty well if you dig around, the rules pages are kind of dense but its all there.

im kind of in the same boat as you, been chasing DXCC for about a year now and sitting around 115 entities confirmed on lotw. one thing nobody told me early on that wouldve saved me some headache — make sure your callsign on lotw exactly matches what the other station uploaded or the confirmation wont match up. had a few that just wouldnt confirm for the longest time and that turned out to be the issue with one of them, the dx station had logged me with a slash portable suffix i didnt realize they did.

also just a tip, keep an eye on the dx bulletins and stuff like dx world dot net for upcoming activations. some of those rare entities you might be missing could pop up with a dxpedition and that can jump your count fast.