When you departed you received your IFR clearance from Newark Clearance Delivery. However this clearance does not allow you to enter Oceanic Airspace.
A separate oceanic clearance must be obtained from the Gander OCC. You must have this clearance no later than 30 minutes before your planned ETA at the entry fix of the track. This can be obtained on voice, or via our datalink system.
Pilots intending to operate in the Gander OCA + Shanwick OCA should note the following:
Whether received via datalink or voice, the oceanic clearance to enter the Gander OCA has the following meaning:
Note: If your ETA for the entry point changes by more than 3 minutes, advise Gander Oceanic Clearance of your new ETA.
The procedure for aircraft departing Europe is very similar, except that:
If you are at an airport west of 03°W you receive your oceanic clearance on the ground, after receiving your normal airways clearance.
If you are at an airport east of 03°W you will get your oceanic clearance passing 03°W - that is, you are already airborne.
The frequency is 128.450 (primary), or 135.450 (secondary) - Callsign is Gander Center (CZQX_OC_CTR). If this station is not online the clearance has to be requested from Gander Radio (CZQX_FSS) or ultimately Gander Domestic (i.e. the radar controller you are already talking to).
ATC will not initiate the communication. It is up to the Pilot to call ATC, not the other way around. If the pilot is on text only, clearance requests and position reports should be made via private chat, this is to ensure that even at peak flow the relevant data reaches the controller.
Below is the transcript of a typical Oceanic clearance:
The datalink clearance can, 8 times out of 10, replace vocal clearances and expedite the process of obtaining oceanic clearance.
Once you have submitted your datalink clearance request here, the controller will then eitehr accept or deny your clearance request. If accepted, you can continue as normal and even make position reports using the datalink system! If denied, you will have to contact the controller over the frequency.
When using Datalink, you must ensure that you do not leave your flight deck for more than 20 minutes, as this is against the IVAO Rules and Regulations.