Aspects of the disclosure relate to providing, from a non-access stratum (NAS) layer to an access stratum (AS) layer associated with a user equipment (UE) while the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, a NAS message to be transmitted to a mobility management entity via a base station; providing, from the NAS layer, a request to resume an RRC connection; and transmitting the NAS message to the base station while the UE is in the RRC inactive state. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.