How to convert to US License

[stevenma188]

So I have my CPL with MIFR and I was wondering what is involved with converting my license to a FAA license. My understanding is that there is a written exam and some paperwork is that correct?

What should I be studying for in preparation for said exam?

Any other tips/info would be appreciated.

[Youngback]

Do a search and try and find all the info. It has been discussed in detail before.

The short version for a CPL with MEIFR conversion

@#$! it. I'll fill out the whole procedure cause I have time and due to jet lag, I'm not tired.

1. Fill out the form on the FAA website with your details and where you plan to write the FAA Air Law exam and the IFR exam

http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificate ... ification/ Form and fax number located on this webpage

2. Fax said form to the FAA personnel office in Oklahoma

3. Wait for confirmation of your Canadian license with the letter from the FAA. They will mail it to your mailing address as filled out in the form above.

4. Book at a lasergrade training center in the US to write the Air Law exam http://www.lasergrade.com/psi-faa.html

5. Book a meeting at the local FSDO office near where you are writing the exam http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/

6. Book an FAA medical. List of examiners located here: http://www.faa.gov/pilots/amelocator/

7. Travel to said city to write the exam

8. Get your FAA medical. The visual and hearing tests are very different from Canadian doctors and take some getting used to. They have you look in a box and state where you see red lines and which side of the circle has a gap. It changes as you look at it. Look in, state what you immediately see and then stop looking. If you keep looking you may state a wrong answer that may have them looking for an eye condition that doesn't exist because you didn't know the procedure.

9. Go to FSDO office with your medical, test results, Canadian license and your logbook. You must have all of this. They usually stop admitting applicants after 2:30pm. If you are missing anything, they will send you on your merry little way. The FSDO offices are now like entering airports. Try not to bring anything metal with you

10. Wait for a shiny green and white plastic card to arrive in the mail saying you are now a licensed FAA pilot.

Before you can exercise the privileges of your US license, you need to have both a commercial flight test and an IFR flight test. If you have a Canadian ATPL and you do the conversion, you only have to do the IFR flight test.

For the studying, I used Gleim's online ATPL study guide. Well worth every penny. In and out of the testing center in 8 minutes with 96% even after checking all my answers 3 times.

http://www.gleim.com/aviation/online_co ... neral_Main

Here is everything in a nutshell. My honest opinion, unless you really need the US license now, I would wait until you have your ATPL. When you upgrade your Canadian license your US license won't follow along and you will need to do the full ATPL course to get your FAA ATP as they will not convert your Canadian license twice.

Good luck!

[Nearandfar]

That pretty much sums it up. You can also do the FAA ATP course and then do the 25 question Air Regs conversion exam to the Canadian ATPL. The ATP in the US requires an instrument ride.

[stevenma188]

My honest opinion, unless you really need the US license now, I would wait until you have your ATPL. When you upgrade your Canadian license your US license won't follow along and you will need to do the full ATPL course to get your FAA ATP as they will not convert your Canadian license twice.

Does this also apply for if I convert just a Private license over? Thanks for your answer.

[Beefitarian]

That's what he's telling you.

If you convert your private license they won't convert it a second time when you get a commercial license. Therefore you'll only have the private FAA license.

[photofly]

Is it written in any FAA documentation that they will only convert one person's licence once? It doesn't seem to be a condition of the US-Canada agreement.

[Youngback]

I'm not speaking from any official rule here, or at least none that I am aware of. I only know what I was told at the Seattle FSDO office where I completed the procedure for my own ATP. Had a fair amount of time to chat with the officials and that particular topic came up. This could very well be a case where one official tells his interpretation of the legislation and another official in a different city comes up with something else. The way it was explained to me, you now have an American license albeit granted on the strength of your Canadian one. It is now your responsibility to upgrade that license. If everyone kept coming to Canada to do their Canadian license and then convert it to an FAA later, the US would in some respects lose the control over their pilot training. Yes, when they converted to FAA license they would meet a certain standard but they are considered "passable" in their Air Law knowledge and not "fluent".

If you get a US private license and then upgrade your Canadian one and try and convert again, you aren't "converting" a license and starting a new file with the FAA. You already have a US license. They would see that and instead tell you that you should be upgrading your US private license through US pilot training. What this would mean is that to get both a Canadian and US ATPL, you would have to do 2 CPL tests, 2 ME rides, 2 IFR rides, and all the ATPL exams. If you converted from a Canadian CPL with ME IFR, you would still have to do the air law test, and an ME IFR ride to convert, then upgrade that through all the US exams to a FAA ATP. By far the least amount of paperwork involved was to convert an ATPL license. 1 exam, 1 medical and thats it. If I am wrong, apologize in advance. This was told to me word for word from the guy I was dealing with at that FSDO office. Feel free to inquire on your own.

[Nearandfar]

I had a Canadian Multi-IFR, went to the States do do some cheap night time building, got the FAA Private with my Canadian Licence. But that is just an Add-on, not a full FAA Licence, they said if a I wanted a stand-alone FAA licence I had to write an Exam. So I wrote the Commercial, wrote the IFR, finished my time building, wrote the ATP, did the ATP ride and got the Multi Engine Land FAA ATP. (They have 4 ATP's by the way, Single Land, Single Sea, Multi Land and Multi Sea, all which require separate ATP rides, I didn't bother with the others). Then I converted the FAA ATP to a Canadian ATPL with a 25 question conversion exam.

The main reason for going the FAA route was that I was there for the cheap plane rentals and did the exams and things as an after-thought when I realized how simple it was. Never hurts to have another licence, especially when it cost very little.

I did find the FAA folks very helpful and friendly. It took 4 of them from different levels of the building but they are quite interested in solving your issue and helping you out, so you don't have to keep going back. Don't be afraid to just call them up and ask.

[NewPilot13]

Hello:

i am currently studying for my FAA PCP Conversion exam and i would like to know if anyone has taken that 2hr exam of 40 questions? was it hard or was it very easy compare to the TC Exams. Please your feedback and the type of questions asked will help.

[Colonel Sanders]

Thing to remember about the FAA writtens:

- only 3 answers
- no bizarre language tricks - all plain english
- questions are public

The real test has the same questions as the study
guide! Depending upon how good your memory is,
you can almost memorize the answers.

When I converted my ATPL to FAA ATP, I did the
written (computer) test in 15 minutes and got 90%.

For us Canucks doing the IPL conversion, the trick is
figuring out which chapters in the study guide to read!