Faa 61.75

[Fuji Abound]

It would appear that those with a 61.75 FAA license must obtain a new plastic style license by March this year (end of March?). Apparently the only way of doing so is to attend a FSDO in America.

It would seem a flight across the Pond for this sole purpose (as may be necessary for some) and at relatively short notice is a strange requirement to enact.

What are your thoughts or experience and is there any good reason why the process could not be dealt with by post or some other means?

[Slopey]

There's a piece on this in the Feb issue of Pilot mag (just a heads up).

[dont overfil]

It's a security issue. They'll want biometric checks, depth of anal cavity etc. Seriously it is unusual for FAA to be so awkward
I believe you only need this by I think 5th March to get the English language endorsment if you wish to fly N reg out of the USA. eg. Canada, Bahamas or Mexico.
I think you can still fly "N" in the UK on your CAA/JAA licence.
DO.

[Fuji Abound]

I think you can still fly "N" in the UK on your CAA/JAA licence.

I think you are correct .. .. ..

but you might want to go elsewhere in Europe, in which case your CAA/JAA licence is probably not valid.

[Fuji Abound]

Well, after a couple of calls to the FAA I am told categorically you can do the whole thing by mail - makes sense, but we will see. Refreshing if this is correct.

it would seem elsewhere this is not the position being reported. Would be nice to see the "experts" getting it right - unless of course I end up eating my own words.

[dublinpilot]

Interested to hear how you get on. I remember seeing somewhere on the FAA site stating that you can't do it by mail. So if it turns out you can, I'll be sending off my mine too

[SergeD]

I did a Google search and found a UK business called FAA EUROPE LTD

FAA UK CORPORATE AVIATION FLIGHT TESTING, FLIGHT TRAINING AND LASERGRADE TESTING FACILITY

which says they can do this.

[dont overfil]

Been there, tried it. If you have a based on licence you must collect it at an FSDO after going through the paperwork exercise. Verification from the CAA, application to the FAA, wait untill the letter of verification comes back from FAA then make an appointment to collect a temporary cert. from an FSDO then a card is posted to you within a couple of months
If you have a stand alone FAA cert it's $2 by post.
DO.

[Cusco]

Fuji:

Hopefully they've got their act together since last October when I telephoned the FAA Head Office in Oklahoma City about the 'piggy-back' issue.

At that time they hadn't got the faintest clue: they insisted that it all had to be done in person at a nominated FSDO and deffo could not be done by post.

If you have anything in writing like an official declaration on a FAA website I'd be grateful for a link, as I can't find any official/written conformation anywhere.

Cheers

Cusco

[dont overfil]

Cusco,
It has very recently been put on their website. www.faa.gov/
DO.

[Arclite01]

and if you already have a plastic licence from the FAA based on a foreign certificate all this is irrelevant - right ??

This is only if you need to change your old paper licence i assume.

Arc

[S-Works]

Arclite. If your FAA 61.75 certificate does not say 'ENGLISH PROFICIENT' then you have to go through the validation process again. So if you got the certificate more than about a year ago it won't say it. The deadline was supposed to be March 2009 for the English proficiency to be added but I was told yesterday that it has been extended for another 12 months.

[BossEyed]

One slight amendment to the above: if you only use your based on FAA certificate in the USA, you don't need the "English Proficient" annotation.

But since you'll be out there anyway, you might as well get it!

[BossEyed]

Yes, indeed - fully understood. What I meant was that if you are ONLY going to use it in the US then you'll be able to tee all that up beforehand, including the excellent value 39 quid to the UK CAA's admin Christmas fund.

[twizzle]

This document from the Federal Government - page 2 states:
(Please note: if you hold an airman certificate based on a foreign license (14 CFR §§ 61.75, 63.42), you must comply with the current procedures for obtaining a replacement certificate. You must have a valid verification letter of authenticity on file in the Airmen Certification Branch. You will need to contact a Flight Standards District Office or an International Field Office in person, submitting a copy of your verification letter of authenticity, a completed FAA Form 8710-1 and positive identification.

Please could anyone clarify where one can request a verificaction letter of authenticity and the location of International Field Offices.
I really do not want to fly to the USA.

[Keygrip]

Call me old fashioned - but I just entered "FAA International Field Office" into Google and found a huge list of them.