Superpilot- most of what you ask is here:
(Mods - might it be sensible to move this thread to N. America?)
http://www.pprune.org/professional-p...hools-usa.html
https://www.flightschoolcandidates.g...§ion=FQ#C2
Foreign Pilot Certification, FAR 61.75
Not quite sure if you are actually just trying to get your 61.75 reissued, or you actually do want to do the checkride and have a standalone FAA private certificate. The advice on that of course depends on what you intend to do in the USA in the longer term. I have done both routes, my advice for the checkride is the B1 visa route as below.
Yes you do need TSA if your intention is to have training to gain your first FAA Certificate (61.75 is not an initial cert) . TSA require you to be legally present within the country. (their words) and the burden is on you to prove so if asked. They do threaten to revoke permission if you are in illegally. No, you don't need an M1 visa or a SEVIS approved school. SEVIS have stated to a colleague of mine who runs a substantial FAA 141 outfit that it is absolutely not permitted to issue an M1 visa if the attendance is less than 18hrs a week - which is not the popularly held view on here but it is nevertheless from the horses mouth and has the ring of truth. Anyway, assuming you don't want to trust a school you don't know with an upfront payment for an I-20 to get an M1 and be locked in to them, which would seem overkill anyway in your situation you then have four choices for the checkride/standalone option. I'll put them in longhand for the benefit of others in this situation:
1. TSA plus the B1/B2 visa - this is a good option. I used this for my FAA CPL training which was in three two week stints. This shows respectability to TSA and anyone else involved and is good for ten years. You will need this if you intend to fly across any USA borders (canada/mexico) That is a simplification, because there are ways of using your original entry stamp , but also its a very good reason to want one and a great answer to the embassy question as to why do you want a b1/b2? They asked me only - why did I not use ESTA, did I have a DUI? I said no, and that was it. Just the application fee and an on line form and interview. Much easier than M1.
2. TSA for initial private certificate and ESTA - you are legally in the country with ESTA, no issues there. You will have an entry stamp to prove so. The TSA process does not ask for any visa details. I recently had my IR training TSA coming up for being closed and opened a request for multi, and they knocked back the multi request with a query about my address, they need a full address history and wanted to know if I was at my uk home address or was still in the USA - I replied USA and they said, no problem, please prove you are here legally, I sent a cell phone pic of the entry stamp and the permission came a few days later.
3. ESTA ,TSA, training outside USA - You don't need anything in the way of a visa just for a checkride as there is no training involved in the ride, the catch for SEP is that you need 3 hours training within 60 days before the ride. You could do this anywhere you can find an FAA instructor who will sign for 3 hours , and it does require TSA regardless of where you do it but you could do that in the UK or wherever you can find an FAA instructor, so training/visa status is not an issue. This is an impractical route unless you are very confident you won't bust the ride because if you fail you need training/an endorsement to retake so you'll have to go home to get that.
4. Technically speaking - you don't need TSA unless you are going to be training for grant of an initial FAA cert, ie if you don't require any training you don't need TSA. Now, see the three hour catch above, but if you look closely at the endorsement section 61.39 part 6 it would seem you don't need an endorsement. I wrote to the examiner I was intending to use as below:
"I believe I have all the prerequisites for the check ride with the exception of one specific issue which I’d like to be sure about. This is the CFR 61.39 signoff. My understanding of this is that my situation is covered within part 6 below – I have a foreign licence that authorises the privileges being sought and thus a training endorsement is not required."
"You are correct, you do not need an FAR§61.39 endorsement."
If you are brave and can correspond with a DPE before you go, in that fashion, you could just go and do the written and checkride... in reality you'd need at least your 61.75 sorted out anyway so that you could get familar with the aircraft and airspace.
All of the checkride options require an FAA medical and written test
Other options include:
1. just get a 61.75 ( and BFR ) issued based on your ATPL /EASA medical - time was you'd get a commercial 61.75, now in line with ICAO, you only get private priviledges. You will have to go through the verification process, and one of two things will happen, they will just (incorrectly) issue it with SEP private on it, or they will issue it with your current ratings valid for private use. You can then add the SEP rating by checkride. I'd recommend calling the Foreign Airman Certification section in Oklahoma, they are great and do actually answer the phone (sorry I dont have the number to hand) and will give you answers much quicker than calling a FSDO who cwon't commit to answers and will only call those guys anyway. You can pay 400 USD to the one UK based FAA DPE who will send off the necessary paperwork to get a 61.75 but its much easier to do in the USA and a bit of googling (or a PM) will tell you why that is a better route anyway
2. revalidate your EASA SEP and then do the 61.75 and BFR.
Sorry that is a long read, but thought it was worth laying out the whole situation as so many people ask so many questions around this point.
Hope that was helpful.