Originally Posted by
selfin
It will take a motivated Canadian school to cover all training within 5 weeks. Should you contemplate converting a Canadian licence to an FAA equivalent, in order to accumulate sufficient flying experience in UK to pursue conversion to a Part-FCL licence, be prepared to make a subsequent visit to US to complete the FAA application process. While Transport is generally quick verifying licence authenticity this process which is a conversion pre-requisite cannot be done until the licence has been issued and that can take up to 90 days. Transport is up against the wall right now so expect it to take 90 days. In spite of this you will have temporary privileges in Canada after the successful completion of the flight test, etc, should you do the licence there.
You may make an electronic request for the US Airmen Certification Branch to verify the authenticity of a Canadian licence however the application for a US airman certificate requires an appointment with an inspector or designated person. There is one of the latter species in UK but the fee is comparable to a weekend trip to the US. The 40-question FAA private pilot conversion exam, exam code PCP, may be attempted at any time and no instructor endorsement is needed. The test report is valid for 24 months.
A list of flight schools authorised to give flight training to aliens admitted to the US under a student visa is maintained by DHS's Student and Visitor Exchange Program. Select flight school in the education type menu. See also guidance on TSA requirements offered by AOPA .
Yes almost all the Canadian schools I have contacted said it would be 16 weeks plus to get PPL which surprised me. I think I will have to look towards America just due to timings