You should be fine. Make sure your investment objective answers Are as aggressive as possible and there’ll be some questions in the brief options application about how long, how many, and average trade size. With what you’ve explained, L2 should be no problem. No classes and no need to speak with a rep. More on reddit.com

I applied for Level 2 a couple years ago with ~4K in my account. I fudged the length of time I had traded options and noted that i didn't mind extreme volatility. Was approved on the first application. Maybe it's something in your responses to their questions and not so much your balance. More on reddit.com

They don’t give any insight as to what really goes into approving and denying certain trading levels. I know that for level 2 your investment objective has to be at least growth. Overall Fidelity is a pretty conservative brokerage house. Always errs on the side of caution. They don’t want all the bad press Robinhood gets with the people losing thousands and thousands of dollars. More on reddit.com

A Fidelity phone rep told me that fidelity doesn't approve level 2 options without 25k in the bank. You can call in and ask that they expedite your application and someone will usually look at it within a day; but they also will refuse to have the right department that makes the decisions talk to you. Want to build long term equity using calls/leaps/puts? Doesn't matter, options dpt won't take your call. Want to wheel strategy for passive income? Doesn't matter, you aren't important to talk to a live human about your strategy. Want to sell cash-covered puts as a way to learn the stock price action without buying the underlying? Doesn't matter, you don't get a chance to explain your intentions to a person that listens. Want an ATM/slightly OTM SPY call and to forget about it for a year while it grows? ... still doesn't matter, safe(r) intentions are irrelevant - because you don't get any human connection to explain your goals. The phone reps will tell you all the excuses: that fidelity is a conservative company, that you don't have the money(capital requirement), that that department doesn't take outside calls, and will be polite as possible while deciding you're to stupid (read: inexperienced) to use options and not changing their mind. They'll even put a manager on to tell you (politely) repeat it all. I've even had them suggest I go to a different broker! Yes, even with robin hood, interactive brokers, td ameritrade, e-trade etc out there and options trading being popular, fidelity still won't budge. They want to manage your money for you and for you to wander off and not take an active interest in it. I predict a mass exodus from fidelity to vanguard if gamestop holders make it big: Yes, they're rich now, and thanks for getting us money - but you held us back on options this whole time and wouldn't help us while we're poor and we can absolutely hold that against you. I've seen at least one post on r/fidelity (not fidelityinvestments) that a user was successful in forcing level 2 options through by initiating a transfer out; and someone on the phone was able to fix it same day. So, ~maybe you can twist an arm~ by threatning to leave, but that only works if you have an account big enough they don't want to lose it. If you feel your broker isn't representing your needs, doesn't have your interests at heart, or isn't allowing you to compete in a way other brokers allow, consider complaining officially to: The FTC https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/assistant FINRA https://www.finra.org/investors/have-problem/file-complaint SEC https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins-48 https://www.sec.gov/oiea/Complaint.html Tldr; the options approval process is NOT transparent, they don't even publicly share reasonings or critieria so you CAN'T even improve on it or check the boxes ahead of time. Being overwhelmed with inbound transfers is probably an exacerbating factor, but its not an excuse. Your best bet if you want options is to just open up accounts at all the brokerages, apply for options, and tell them you'll transfer in when options are approved, then wait to see who has your back. Bonus: Bruce has a good take on the state of it. its windy, but the point about account service/size/asset management is pretty apt. https://youtu.be/xKcm6vdsJ6I?t=2601 43:22 - 102:30 or so is a good listen. ( Fidelity is the grundy's in this example. ) 101:20 about the student loans is particularly good as well. More on reddit.com