FAA Standards Office

[Baywatcher]

I am trying to get my USA PPL/IR reissued with the new "plastic" licence which is based on a foreign licence and have been told I have to go through the whole nause of verification and identification again. Does anyone know of an FAA Flight Standards District Office in Europe?

In 2002 I saw a guy in Frankfurt but I fear the office no longer there.

[forget]

Frankfurt International Field Office (IFO) (http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/ifo/fra_ifo/)

[Baywatcher]

Thanks so much Forget, have emailed and fingers crossed!

[never_home]

I, too, hold an old paper certificate.

Do I have to "jump through the hoops" and visit the US to upgrade to the plastic version, or can I continue to operate on the paper copy?

[zondaracer]

Paper certificates are no longer valid after 31 March 2013

Paper Certificates Expire March 31, 2013 (http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/expiring_paper_certificates/)

[S-Works]

I was under the impression the 61.75 paper certificates were expired out ages ago. I am also pretty sure that as the paper certificates don't have language proficiency on them they are invalid anyway?

[frac]

Pilot paper certificates can no longer be used except for student pilot certificates and temporary ones.


(g) Duration of pilot certificates. Except for a temporary certificate issued under §61.17 or a student pilot certificate issued under paragraph (b) of this section, the holder of a paper pilot certificate issued under this part may not exercise the privileges of that certificate after March 31, 2010.

Regards,
Frac

[custardpsc]

Paper non-temporary 61.75's became invalid in 2010 I believe. CFR cfr 61.19(h) refers.. the 2013 deadline refers to CFR parts 63 and 65 i think unless perhaps the original deadline got extended?

There is no FSDO outside of USA. There are two FAA DPE in UK/Eu that report to New York FSDO that I believe can issue temporary 61.75 (real one comes later in the post) but the fee is not far off the airfare and you still have to go through all of the verification process and cough up 44 quid to the uk caa to get a FAA letter that is only valid 6 months regardless.

Note also that the good old days of walking into a fsdo and getting a 61.75 while you wait are long gone. Almost every fsdo requires you to schedule an appointment now. You have to nominate which FSDO will receive the copy letter when you apply for the verification as well, but there is slack in that, if you have to go to an alternate FSDO they can fax the letter to your alternate

Short answer - no you can't duck the hoops to get a plastic 61.75. SoCal is right, the real answer is to get an unrestricted FAA cert. Even that is a minefield of conflicting TSA information/visa issues but its a once only pain. I am just going through that at the moment even though I did the plastic 61.75 hoops last summer. Planning on a private check ride in a few weeks in fact.

BTW - a newly issued 61.75 requires you to undertake a BFR before you can use it regardless of your currency/recency on your 'home' licence

[NuName]

"BTW - a newly issued 61.75 requires you to undertake a BFR before you can use it regardless of your currency/recency on your 'home' licence!"

This has always been the case as is the BFR, many folks think that this does not apply if it is a validation of their "home" licence.