Converting an Australian PPL to a US PPC
by Yasser on May.13, 2009, under Informative
I thought since I’ve officially gone through the whole process now that I would post a summary of my experience of converting an Australian Private Pilot License to a United States Private Pilot Certificate.
First of all, Technically there is no additional training required to have a US Private Pilot Certificate, as the FAA will issue you a license based on your current Australian license. ie. You’re technically still flying under the rules of your Australian license. The difference between the two however is minimal.
Probably the biggest difference is that in Australia, a private license is typically issued with DAY VFR rules. In order to fly at night, you would require a Night VFR rating. In the United States, both DAY and NIGHT VFR are standard as part of your Private Pilot Certificate.
In Australia in order to qualify for Night VFR, you would typically require at least 10 hours dual training and a flight test. In the United States, to be cleared for night flying requires just 3 hours of total night flying which must include a minimum of 10 takeoffs and landings.
STEP 1 Verification of License:
The FAA requires a verification of license before issuing a US PPC.
First you must file form 452 with CASA and pay the $50 fee for CASA to release the information. On the form enter the details of the FAA Airmen Certification Branch:
“Federal Aviation Administration
Airmen Certification Branch, AFS-760
P.O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0082″
Fax or email the form to CASA, you can scan it and email to clarc@casa.gov.au
It takes about 5-7 days for CASA to respond to the form and debit your credit card. It might be a good idea to give them a call after a few days of lodging the form. Once you have confirmed that they payment has been made, then you can move onto the next step…
Second you must file the verification of foreign license form from the FAA’s website.
Enter the details of the Flight Standards District Office that you intend on picking up your US license from. You can find your nearest one on the FAA website.
Mail the form to the Airmen Certification Branch at the Oklahoma address above.
Once the branch has received the form, the will immediately contact CASA and request verification of the license. CASA takes just one day to respond to the request and a few days later, you will receive the letter in the mail from the Airmen Certification Branch that your license has been verified as current and you may now make your appointment at the Flight Standards District Office that you requested on the form. If it takes longer than a week, I would give the Certification branch a call to check up on it.
This whole process took less than 2 weeks for me.
Call your requested FSDO, and tell them you want to make an appointment to obtain your US Private Pilot Certificate based on your foreign license. When you visit the office, you will meet with a testing officer who will look over your license, medical, and logbook, and then issue you with a temporary US Private Pilot Certificate on the spot! It is valid as long as your current Australian PPL and medical are both valid .
You will receive your permanent credit-card style one in the mail within 3 months, but feel free to fly using your temporary one.
STEP 2 Check rides and Biennial Flight Review
So you have a US license but unfortunately that doesn’t mean you can go out and get a plane and off you go!! …
The rules are very similar in the US to Australia but that said there is still a lot to know and you will likely need a few check flights with an instructor before you are cleared for solo flying.
For me, this was a pretty big deal as I was used to flying in rural Australia and now all of a sudden I need to learn to fly in Los Angeles!
I had to learn to read US VTCs and various charts, understand the various airspace rules here, radio communication with ATC pretty much all the time, mostly navigating by GPS and VOR rather than compass, and basic US air law.
Be prepared to spend about 5-10 hours with an instructor before you are actually cleared to fly in the US.
Once the instructor is happy with the way you’re flying. You will then be subjected to a Biennial Flight Review which is an FAA requirement. To act as Pilot in Command in the US, you must have had a US Biennial flight review within the past 24 months. The Biennial Flight Review is a formality and consists of a one hour ground and one hour flight component. Once approved, you’ll get a sticker in your logbook and you’re ready to go!
June 16th, 2009 on 1:08 am
Hello. This is very good info. Would you know what is required for a FAA private pilot license holder to fly in Australia?
I have family in australia and have visited them once. Wanted to fly there but had no idea how to go about it.
Would appreciate any info or contacts.
Very good videos, BTW.
Fly Safe.
June 16th, 2009 on 4:26 am
Unfortunately I think it’s a little more complicated going the other way around. Australian CASA are actually less lenient than the FAA. You can’t just automatically get an Australian License, you will most likely need to resit a new checkride and theory test as long as you have the same basic minimum hours that CASA requires for an Australian Private license. You will also need an Australian Security Background Clearance called an ASIC which takes 6-8 weeks to process before you can fly solo. It’s for this exact reason that I chose to get my license first in Australia and convert it to a US one instead of the other way around
If you like I can forward your email to my old instructor and he can provide you with more information.
November 16th, 2009 on 2:10 am
Hi Sharma,
The current regs in Australia are as described, very rigid (unnecessarily) and not welcoming to other pilots, even from the U.S., which is odd, since the U.S. is the leader in the aviation industry.
In any case, CASA (Australia’s equivelant to the FAA) is in the process of changing its regulations to conform with those of the FAA.
Not sure when this will happen, but click this link:
http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:PWA::pc=PARTS061
You’ll read in there a proposed change to grant PPLs to foreign PPL holders without any complications.
Cheers,
Armen
January 15th, 2010 on 10:38 am
Hey Yasser,
Fantastic explanation of how to convert a CASA license to FAA!! I really need your help here in how to go about changing my CASA CPL and Multi-Engine Command Instrument rating to FAA. I have no idea what the process is here? is it similar to converting PPL?
Feel free to contact me on danboland87@gmail.com
I am a AUS and USA citizen but have lived in AUS all my life. I am wanting to move to the USA to get my first job and stay for a few years.
Cheers
Dan
January 15th, 2010 on 4:04 pm
Hi Dan
The process is no different. There is a section on the application where you specify your ratings. The testing officer will look over your logbook/ratings to check equivalence and will issue you the rating on your licence.
March 2nd, 2010 on 12:20 am
Hi Mate,
I am in the same situation as you, from Australia but now living in Los Angeles, and currently flying on my FAA issued PPC based on my Oz PPL, one problem though is I am now due for a biannual flight review and CASA tells me today I can only take it with an Australian registered instructor, so soon i will not be current on my Aus PPL, do you know if I am still allowed fly here though if I take a USA flight review?
Daniel
March 2nd, 2010 on 12:43 am
Hi Daniel
My guess is no, you wouldn’t be allowed to fly here since the “US PPC based on a foreign license” is not an “official pilot’s license”. It can only be used when accompanied by the “valid and current” foreign license that it was issued with. Since your foreign license is technically going to be non-current cause you haven’t done your biennial flight review, then I would say flying is a no-no.
Unfortunately, a US flight review does not substitute an Australian one, the same way an Australian one doesn’t substitute to a US one, which is why you are required to have a biennial flight review here in the US before you are allowed to fly even if you just passed your PPL test in Australia.
My suggestions:
A. You would have to go to Oz or find an Australian accredited flight instructor here to clear you.
B. Get a ‘real’ US Private Pilot Certificate which means having to re-do the theory and practical tests under US law. Your hours of training should translate directly to a US PPC except for the extra 3 hours of night flight and 10 night takeoffs/landings which you will be required to do under a PPC.
If you’re not a US citizen, you’ll need to register with the TSA to do your extra training to get your ‘real’ US license.
ps. Where in LA do you fly from? Small world.
March 16th, 2010 on 6:59 am
Hi Yasser,
Great Blog.
I am looking into converting my CASA PPL to an FAA PPL. Do you have any idea at what stage I need to get the TSA approval / fingerprints done ? Can this be done quickly while I’m in the US doing training for a week or does it have to be arranged before I arrive ? I heard that fingerprinting can be done in Australia at authorized centers.
Any info would be appreciated.
July 26th, 2010 on 10:53 pm
That doesn’t seem like to terrible of a process. The steps seem pretty easy. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.