Once your exam has been taken and graded, and assuming that you succeeded in completing the exam with a passing score, you will receive some documentation, via email, from the GCARC VE Team. This will include a form known as a CSCE (Certificate of Successful Completion of an Examination). Retain that certificate, as it is your proof that you took and passed the exam.
Your exam status and license application will be forwarded to the FCC via the ARRL VEC, which should usually take a single business day. The FCC will begin processing your application upon receiving it. Once approved, which is almost a simple formality, you will receive an email notice of an application fee being due and payable. This fee is $35.00, as defined by Federal regulations.
You will have a ten calendar day period in which to make the payment online for this application fee. If the fee is not paid within the ten calendar day period, the application is suspended and must then be re-submitted for re-processing. As a result, it is in your own best interest to pay the application fee just as soon as the application appears on the FCC CORES website.
Starting the next day after your exam, log into the FCC CORES website (https://apps.fcc.gov/cores/userLogin.do) and check your account to see if the application shows as being in process. If it does, go ahead and make the $35.00 payment at that point instead of waiting for a notice of payment due. By doing so, you will have the payment already on file when the FCC is ready to invoice it, and the issuance of the license will then occur immediately when the payment is matched to the application.
You will then receive an email instruction you as to where and how to download an official copy of your license. Download and store the .PDF file in a safe location on your computer and print a few copies as well for personal use. The FCC will not send anything by postal mail; instead, all communication is done using email.