OFAC general license search: which version applies on the payment date

An OFAC general license search starts in one of three places: the regulations in 31 CFR chapter V, where many general licenses sit in subpart E of each part; the program page on OFAC's website, where "web" general licenses are posted the day they are issued; and the Federal Register, which republishes web general licenses weeks or months later. Finding the number is the easy part. A general license that matters to banks is often amended by letter, so GL 131 became 131A, then 131B, and on October 21, 2026 reached 131K, twelve versions in under a year, with conditions that changed between them. The version that applies is the one in force on the date of the payment, and the payment must meet every condition of that version. Botminds' OFAC Sanctions Search answers license questions that way: it names the license and version an answer rests on, shows the date it took effect and when it expires, and re-checks the answer when OFAC issues the next letter.

All license texts below are OFAC's, linked to OFAC or the Federal Register. The two payments compared under GL 131 and 131A are our illustration, built from the license texts.

How do I find an OFAC general license?

Search the program first, then the three places OFAC publishes. The licensing rule says so directly: "General licenses are set forth in subpart E of each part contained in this chapter, made available on OFAC's website (https://ofac.treasury.gov), or published in the Federal Register" (31 CFR 501.801(a)). OFAC's FAQ 74 adds the practical split: "Some general licenses can be found within OFAC's implementing regulations for the relevant sanctions program, while other general licenses can be found on the relevant Sanctions Programs and Country Information page" (OFAC FAQ 74).

What people search for confirms the habit. Many of the search suggestions for "ofac general license" are bare license numbers: 131, 46, 6D, 134, 126. A number alone is not enough, because the same number exists in several programs (there is a Venezuela GL 46 and a Russia-related GL 46) and because each number may have a string of letters behind it.

OFAC's "Selected General Licenses Issued by OFAC" page is the nearest thing to a list, and its title is precise: it is a selection. On October 26, 2026 it listed 162 licenses across programs, marked suspended Iran licenses as "Suspended as of August 24, 2026", and did not list Russia GL 131K, which sits on the Russia program page (OFAC, Selected General Licenses). General licenses written into the regulations, such as the Iran license for medicine and medical devices at 31 CFR 560.530(a)(3), are not on it at all.

What does the letter after a general license number mean?

The letter is a new version, and each new version replaces the one before in its entirety. GL 131A ends: "Effective December 10, 2025, General License No. 131, dated November 14, 2025, is replaced and superseded in its entirety by this General License No. 131A" (91 FR 10006). There is no partial carry-over: a condition that was in 131 and is not in 131A no longer applies, and a condition added in 131A applies from its effective date.

Letters usually extend a deadline and sometimes change terms. Some licenses carry a digit instead, such as Iran GL X1 or J-1. In the GL 131 series every letter from A to K was issued, so a gap in what a bank has on file means a version was missed. A license without a letter is not necessarily current: it may be the first of a series, or a license that has not changed in years.

Which version of a general license applies to my payment?

The version in force at the moment of the transaction, read with every condition it sets. A payment made at 11:00 a.m. on December 12, 2025 is judged under GL 131A, effective December 10; the same payment made on December 9 is judged under GL 131. A payment made after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on the "authorized through" date of the last version, with no new version issued, has no general license behind it at all.

The examiners' expectation is written in one line of the FFIEC manual: "Before processing transactions that may be covered under a general license, banks should verify that such transactions meet the relevant criteria of the general license" (FFIEC manual, OFAC section). Verifying against a superseded version is not verifying. Neither is reading the right version and skipping a condition: 501.801(a) warns that failure to file reports a general license requires "may nullify the authorization otherwise provided by the general license" (31 CFR 501.801).

"OFAC general licenses are public and are 'self-executing,' meaning that persons who determine their transactions meet the terms and conditions as described in the general license, do not require further authorization from OFAC."

OFAC FAQ 74, updated September 9, 2026

Same payment, two versions: GL 131 and GL 131A compared

Two days can turn a prohibited payment into an authorized one, and another into a prohibited one. The comparison takes two payments a U.S. bank might see in December 2025 around Lukoil International GmbH and the entities it owns 50% or more (the "LIG Entities" in the license), and reads each under GL 131 and GL 131A.

The lesson is not about Lukoil. It is that an answer recorded as "authorized under GL 131" carries no information about which payment terms were checked unless it carries the letter and the date. A bank that keeps "GL 131" in a note and processes a December 12 payment under the November conditions has applied a license that no longer existed.

Does a general license apply automatically?

It applies without an application, but not without a check. OFAC calls general licenses "self-executing", meaning a person "who determine[s]" the transaction meets the terms needs nothing more from OFAC. The determination is the bank's or the customer's, and it is tested later against the text in force on the date, not against the bank's memory of it.

Some general licenses also end without an expiry date. The Iran license for medicine and medical devices carries none, but its own note says "each year, OFAC will determine whether to revoke this general license. Unless revoked, the general license will remain in effect" (31 CFR 560.530). Others are switched off by rule: OFAC stayed five Iran general licenses, including the one for personal remittances, effective August 24, 2026, though the eCFR still prints their text with an editorial note (91 FR 54957). A search that returns the paragraph without the note returns a license that no longer authorizes anything.

How often are OFAC general licenses amended?

Anywhere from never to monthly, and the busiest licenses are the ones banks meet. GL 131 was replaced eleven times in the 341 days from November 14, 2025 to October 21, 2026, about once a month, because each version authorized only a few weeks: GL 131 ran 29 days, GL 131K runs 31. Venezuela GL 46 was replaced five times in the 242 days from January 29 to September 28, 2026. At the other end, OFAC's selected list still carries Afghanistan-related GL 14 of September 24, 2021 and Counter Terrorism GL 2 of April 12, 2006, unchanged.

Short-dated licenses are the hard case for a bank. A payment queued under one version can settle under the next, and a recurring payment set up under GL 131 in November 2025 would have needed eleven fresh checks to stay inside it. A rule of thumb follows: the shorter a license's "authorized through" period, the more often an answer that rests on it must be re-checked, and the more important it is that the answer records the letter.

Web general licenses, the Federal Register and the CFR: three places, three dates

A web general license takes effect when OFAC issues it, not when the Federal Register prints it. GL 131, dated November 14, 2025, appeared in the Federal Register on March 2, 2026, 108 days later and after it had already been superseded three times. GL 131E, 131F and 131G, dated April 29, May 28 and June 25, 2026, were published together on September 30, 2026, after all three had expired. Venezuela GL 46E, dated September 28, 2026, was on OFAC's website but not yet in the Federal Register on October 26 (OFAC, GL 46E).

So a Federal Register search alone answers "what did OFAC issue" months late, and a CFR search alone misses web licenses entirely. The program page is current, but it shows the latest version, not the one in force on last month's payment date. A bank needs all three, read with their dates, and needs to keep the version it relied on.

A license watch: every source and license date the bank's answers rest on

A general license search that checks the date

The search a bank needs returns a license version, not a license number, and it returns it for a date. The questions below are the ones to put to any tool, or to any colleague, that answers "is this covered by a general license?"

OFAC Sanctions Search does these checks as part of every answer. The sources agent finds the program, the prohibition and every general license in force on the day asked, with their dates; it never cites a source without its passage and effective date, and never cites a removed or superseded passage as current. The conditions agent turns the license into a checklist and matches each condition to a fact from the question, the payment or the invoice, and asks when a fact is missing. When a version changes, the watch agent finds the answers that rested on the old one. The confirmed answer then travels with the payment, as the integration with list files and payment systems shows in more detail.

The confirmed answer, with the license it rests on, attached to the payment

Specific licenses, issued to one applicant, follow a different path with their own dates and renewals; the OFAC license application process covers them.

Questions people ask

Where is the OFAC general license list?

There is no complete one. OFAC's "Selected General Licenses Issued by OFAC" page listed 162 licenses on October 26, 2026, but it is a selection; licenses written into the regulations sit in subpart E of each part of 31 CFR chapter V, and some recent web licenses appear only on the program pages.

What is OFAC general license 131?

A Russia-related general license, first issued November 14, 2025, that authorizes negotiating contingent contracts for the sale of Lukoil International GmbH and the maintenance or wind-down of its operations. Its eleventh replacement, GL 131K of October 21, 2026, authorizes those transactions through 12:01 a.m. Eastern on November 21, 2026.

Do I need to apply to use a general license?

No. General licenses are "self-executing" (FAQ 74): if the transaction meets every term of the version in force, no application is needed. Some general licenses require reports, and failing to file them "may nullify the authorization" under 31 CFR 501.801(a).

What is the difference between a general and a specific license?

A general license is public and authorizes a category of transactions for anyone who meets its terms. A specific license is a private letter OFAC issues to one named person or company for a particular transaction, after an application (FAQ 74), and only its holder may rely on it; how one is applied for is set out in the OFAC license application process.

Can a general license be used after it expires?

No. After 12:01 a.m. Eastern on its "authorized through" date, a general license authorizes nothing unless OFAC has issued a new version. A payment made in the gap needs a specific license or must not be made.