Hi,

Does anyone know if there are any FAA Designated Pilot Examiners on Canada who can conduct an FAA instrument checkride?

Thanks,

David

Probably not, David. At least not residing in Canada. I asked something similar at the FAA Pavilion at Airventure a couple of years ago and the answer I got is that DPE's are linked with a FSDO and it seems that they see problems with oversight if a DPE is practicing outside of their area. The other issue is that the number of DPE's they designate for a geographic area is dependent on the demand. The two evident issues here would be that the FAA does not have jurisdiction in Canada and there is little demand for FAA flight tests to be performed in Canada, relative to what the demand is in the United States.

Having said that, assuming you aren't up in the Territories, the closest FAA DPE is likely just a few hundred kilometers south of you, somewhere on the other side of the border, rather than having to go East or West.

The other thing is that since earlier this year, DPE's are not limited to giving checkrides only within their FSDO area and may travel at-large. Not sure if they are still geographically limited to the United States. Having said that, most DPE's are so booked up, often with several checkrides a day, that it is unlikely that you can entice them to visit you in Canada to give you a checkride unless you make it very attractive to them.

Thanks. I suspect you are right.

The big question for me will be whether as a foreigner I would need an M1 visa to take a checkride in the US or whether the checkride doesn't count as training and so I don't need it.