Getting a US PPL based on an Australian PPL

[Spode]

Hi


Has anyone successfully been over to the USA and applied for a US PPL based on your Australian PPL?


I am starting the process, for the purposes of hiring a C172 to fly around the USA and over to The Bahamas on holiday.


The first steps seems to be that I have to fill in an FAA form which they use to verify my Australian PPL. I also need to fill in a CASA form that authorises them to release my information to the FAA (https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/foreign_license_verification/)


Now this is the tricky part. The FAA says start by communicating with CASA. CASA says first tell the FAA to expect information from CASA, or the FAA rejects it.


I have emailed the FAA but not had a reply yet. It seems a bit circular.


Has anyone done it?


Thanks for the help.
Ryan

[no_one]

Call the FAA, they are pretty good on the phone.

With the trip to the Bahamas you may need a US tourist visa to reenter the USA. The visa waiver program only works for arrivals on commercial flights.

[Pontius]

It was some time ago that I did this and things may well have changed but, yes, the first thing you do is download the form from CASA that authorises them to release your information to the FAA. Get that sent off as soon as you can and via the most expeditious means i.e. avoid using mail if you can. You can apply to the FAA at the same time because nothing is going to happen with them until they get the stuff they need from CASA, hence the requirement to deal with the log jam organisation first. It's all pretty smooth after that but, then again, I did all this before TSA etc got involved, so I'm sure it's a lot more convoluted nowadays.

Enjoy the Bahamas and the conch and keep a good lookout for all the sunken aircraft around the islands. You're renting a twin C172, yeah :}

[MartinCh]

UK CAA, CASA, Malaysian DCA and few others may be headache for verification of credentials due to privacy law, fees for providing info(extra forms besides the FAA piggyback). You give FAA your licence and medical scans, other info, fax it (can use online fax and if they can't read it, the lady in Oklahoma would email you to email it over, ehrm, but initial contact by fax or snail mail).

Get the letter from them (valid for 6 months), rock up at nearest FSDO, may need to call ahead to ensure the inspector is available or best time, 8710 form, signature, quick look at your log/licenses, TEMP airman cert good for 120 days until plastic arrives in post. Mind you, if it's short trip, the paper temp airman cert is just fine and then you can pick up your plastic Wilbur Bros credit card sized licence at your registered mailing address.

If you're short of time, I suggest using the rental company/school as mailing address, not to miss the letter, heading opposite direction. You can change it later, but any mailing address change on FOREIGN validation licence needs to be done within the letter validity (or asked for another one) and done in person in US. So it's bit of hassle to change things without getting fresh verification letter. I've done it few times, long story.

[LeadSled]

Spode,
Not mentioned here, as far as I can see, is satisfying the Homeland Security requirements, read them carefully, you may well find that visa waiver program does not apply.
Its all on the US Embassy web site, and there is a lot of it to sort through. The FAA bit is easy, once you get the CASA bit sorted.
Tootle pip!!

[QDMQDMQDM]

Straightforward, but allow enough time. You don't hve to do the TSA bull**** unless you're adding a licence or rating. Renting is fine. Do check the visa requirements though. I don't think an ESTA will be enough for a Bahamas trip.

[The name is Porter]

Ma man, going through this process as we speak.

Go to the FAA website, foreign verification. Download their form OMB No: 2120 0724. It has a very thorough guide attached that spells out exactly how to fill the form in. Scan the form and email it to [email protected]

You will get an almost instant response. If you haven't received replies to your current emails then you're emailing the incorrect address. Their customer service is exceptional. You don't pay the FAA for this process. They recognise that you are probably going to spend a good deal of money in their country, the pox and lie that is user pays does not exist in the US in the aviation sector.

Go to the casa website, download and fill in forms 078 & 452, scan and email to CLARC. For casa to email your details to the FAA they will charge you $50. They warned me that if the FAA didn't contact them within 2 weeks that the $50 process would be done again. Don't worry, the FAA will act within a day. Guess what, CASA stuffed it up and didn't reply to the FAA. I've had casa re-send my details and I'm awaiting my temporary certificate.

If you are going to fly on a temporary certificate you can do it on the ESTA, no TSA clearance required.

If you want to do a full conversion of your licence you are in for a world of burecratic pain. A visit to the US embassy is required for the appropriate visa and security clearances are required!

[Cloudee]

Did it last year. Homeland security not interested unless you are doing ab initio, instrument or multi rating or heavy aircraft. Went on a ESTA. The FSDO will issue temp certificate which is as good as a licence. You will need to do a BFR to fly in the US.

[Spode]

Thanks very much for all your help! You are more informative than any government website I have found!

So the letter the FAA sends me is valid for 6 months? I had heard 3 as well? So I need to time it right for January.

Thanks for all the help!

[Squawk7700]

I can't imagine why you'd want to fly to the Bahamas'. All that blue water and white sandy beaches must get boring after a while hey ???

A couple of good youtubes here... the first one is a 172 from Florida flying over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfDS3LkKyx0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pkZYi73DlI

Edit: a better one here with more on the flying part.
https://youtu.be/rKwf5UogukU

It's been about 5 years since I was last in the Bahamas.... That's about 4.5 years too long ago.

[vee1-rotate]

Converted my AUS PPL to FAA last year after moving to California, best decision ever. So cheap to rent here and almost every town has an airstrip of some sort. Flying in this country is absolutely magical, and from a local Cali perspective SoCal ATC are some of the most helpful I've ever dealt with.

[Spode]

Any advice on how much time to set aside for the BFR that allows me to use the piggy back license? I understand it is a minimum of 1 hour ground and 1 hour flying. Can anyone remember what was involved, and is leaving 1 day for it enough? Is it a BFR as we know it?

[A Squared]

Any advice on how much time to set aside for the BFR that allows me to use the piggy back license? I understand it is a minimum of 1 hour ground and 1 hour flying. Can anyone remember what was involved, and is leaving 1 day for it enough? Is it a BFR as we know it?

Well not having done a BFR in Oz, I don't know what a "BFR as (you) know it" means. But If you're reasonably current and proficient, and up on US regs and airspace, there's no reason a BFR can't be accomplished in an afternoon.

[Flyer20888]

A word of warning if planning to fly from the USA to the Bahamas or elsewhere outside the USA in a light aircraft as PIC or PAX, the visa waiver program only applies to commercial flights or cruise ships in and out of the USA. You could fly to the Bahamas (don't know their rules) but then find the USA will not let you back into the USA as you are on a non commercial flight. It does not matter that you originally flew in on a commercial flight to the USA, each in/out is treated separately. In practice I don't what they do, order you to fly back? arrest you as an illegal? but whatever the answer is it will be costly. You would probably have to eventually leave the GA aircraft in the Bahamas and catch a commercial flight and I assume this would seriously annoy the owner. I know because I have a USA PPL issued on the basis of my Aussie PPL and used it to fly across the USA twice. I wanted to go to Canada but then realized I would be stuck there. Get a normal visa from the Embassy to be safe.

[no_one]

The USA BFR is usually a pretty reasonable affair with a focus on actually flying the aircraft and not a long navigation. Expect to show the instructor stall recovery and the usual handling things like steep turns and short field landings. Have a read through the practical test standards (or whatever they are now called, I think that the name has changed). Provided the weather is good the flying part can be done in a single flight of a little over an hour or so.

For the ground part expect to know what the symbols on the maps represent, at first the sectionals seem a little crowded but actually show a lot of information like runway length and tower frequencies that the OZ maps don't. The ground part if you are prepared will go easily too but consider getting an instructor to help you out in advance with some of the airspace classes, MOAs, Class C procedures and flight following etc. There are some difference between the two countries that you need to understand. eg in the USA it is not required to have a clearance to pass through class C, you must be in contact with ATC though. Sometimes when you call up the approach at some of the little class C places you will "proceed on course" type response. This is ok. Also flight following is encouraged, it is very easy to do so is routinely done.

Have Fun

[Volumex]

the visa waiver program only applies to commercial flights or cruise ships in and out of the USA
It also works for road crossings (not from Oz obviously) - I have been doing it for years.

Edit: If you have a paper visa waiver, you must hand it in BEFORE it expires otherwise your next entry is going to be long and involved, inlcuding being yelled at by multiple US Customs officers. (Trust me, I have done it and it is not pleasant.) If you haven't handed it back in time, then whatever you do don't have an expired one in your passport when you enter the US...

[Spode]

For those of you following at home, I am further ahead and can confirm:


If you try to enter the USA on a non commercial carrier, you do indeed need a B2 visa. I had to go to Sydney for a 2 minute discussion to apply for it. You get a sticker in your passport, took 3 days to be posted to me.


You need to apply for CASA to release your details to the FAA, but if you do that first because you think CASA may take some time, they actually got back to me the next day to say the FAA hadn't contacted them yet, and they would only keep the request open for 2 weeks, after which I had to apply again.


So I got the form to the FAA that night by email, they replied the next day to say thanks and they would contact me if needed. The day after that CASA emailed me to say the FAA had been in touch.


I then waited 2 weeks and a letter turned up in the post, which is valid for 6 months. Not 3. I need to make an appointment at an FSBO before then to get the FAA temporary license.


So actually all quite easy. The hardest part was pulling all 18 pages of my license out of the folder and trying to scan them to send them to the FAA.