Just got more info on the TSA garbage:
TSA INTERPRETS 'RECURRENT TRAINING' RULES
The Transportation Security Administration issued an interpretation (
http://www.aopa.org/epilot/redir.cfm?adid=19242 ) on Sept. 13 excluding 11 "training events" from the definition of recurrent training under the Alien Flight Student Program (
http://www.aopa.org/epilot/redir.cfm?adid=19243 ). The announcement applies to foreign students training in aircraft weighing more than 12,500 pounds. The interpretation, effective Oct. 1, clarifies that training events viewed as checks or tests will not require security threat assessment applications under the program. Read more >> (
AOPA Online: TSA interprets ‘recurrent training’ rules )
I don't know exactly what this means, but you could call for clarification.
It might mean that they would let you go ahead with the flight test, provided you do not need training to be qualified for the test (on the basis of a foreign qualification already held). However most check rides require 3 hours of training in the previous 60 days and that could be a stumbling block. The instructor who does the training is jointly responsible for you, and must sign a certificate that you can do the training without TSA approval, keeping a copy of that for 5 years.
It seems to me that the TSA has shut down all ad hoc training, since to get clearance you have to apply before leaving your home country and come to the US on a special training visa, and responsible to the training school for the time you are here. Only people dealing with a school have any chance of getting through the process and it costs money and time to meet the requirements. I don't think you can even apply if you are already here on another type of visa, and the rule even applies to training carried out in a foreign country, although the visa would probably not be required if you don't travel here. Although the normal requirement applies only to certain certificates, such as Private, Instrument, Multi Engine, and leaves the others clear of any TSA involvement, there is a catch-all that requires TSA approval for the first US certificate you apply for and that would include the Commercial and Instrument ticket, even though those are not included in the basic list.
Of course you must realise that by definition a commercial pilot who holds an instructor rating is a terrorist and must be controlled lest he commit mayhem in his Cessna 150, which is capable of carrying the most frightening weapons of mass destruction ever devised by the mind of man, so instead of railing against what seems to be unneccessary stupidity and obstructionism, be grateful that they are doing their job to protect you against the dangers of a general aviation pilot!
I was fortunate that I did all I needed prior to these TSA rules. I would do a little on every visit to the US, and managed over a period of years to get the quals I needed. I would not be able to do that now.