Foreign Students

This applies to aliens who are receiving flight training inside or outside the United States for an U.S. airman certificate.
Visa notice: Taking flight training without an appropriate visa could be a violation of your immigration status and could result in your arrest and removal from the United States; therefore, it is important that you have a visa that permits you to take flight training in the United States. If you do not possess the correct visa, or if you have questions pertaining to your visa status or the appropriate visas for flight training, please contact your local Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services at 800/375-5283 or www.uscis.gov or the State Department Consular Affairs Office for assistance. The AFSP will deny flight training requests from candidates who are present in the United States illegally or who do not have an appropriate visa for flight training. Fees paid for denied applications are not refundable.

1.Candidate Notifies Flight School. The flight training candidate should provide advanced notice to the flight school that he or she intends to start flight training.
2.Flight School Registers. After the candidate notifies the flight school of their intent to start flight training, the flight school needs to register online with TSA at https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov/fsindex.html. After accessing the AFSP provider Web page, scroll down the page to select "new account." After registering, for flight schools in the United States, a user ID will be immediately provided and a password will be sent later via e-mail. For flight schools outside the United States, follow the instructions provided at the provider registration Web page.
3.Candidate Creates Login. The candidate is required to create a login account at https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov. A user ID is provided immediately after submitting the required information, and a password is sent via e-mail. (Time may vary on receiving the password — possibly 24 to 48 hours.)
4.Candidate Applies for Training. After receiving his or her password, the candidate will be instructed to change it. The candidate then logs into the TSA student registration page at https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov and continues the application process.

The candidate will be required to submit the following information:

?Background Information. Full name, gender, current address and five-year address history, date and country of birth, and citizenship information.
?TSA Identification Number. The TSA identification number is not given to the candidate. Rather, it is an internal designator only seen by TSA.
?Passport and Visa Information. Foreign applicants are required to have a passport. A candidate may either scan his or her complete passport and submit it to TSA electronically, or copy his or her complete passport and fax it to TSA using the fax number provided on the AFSP Web site.
?Training Details. Basic information including the name of the school, course name, course description and ID number, type of aircraft, pilot certificate or rating sought, and the start and end dates for the flight training. If the flight school is already registered with TSA, it might be helpful if the candidate brings his or visa and passport and registers at the flight school. This will allow the flight school to upload the required documents to TSA and also to make copies for the flight school's record-keeping requirements. Upon completion of the application, the candidate will be prompted to click on the "validate and submit" icon. If any errors appear in the application, the candidate will be instructed to make any necessary corrections or complete any missing information. After making any changes, the candidate clicks on "submit application." Furthermore, after submitting the application, and for the application to proceed further, the candidate must select "I agree" or "I disagree" after reviewing important information regarding his or her application. The candidate training request status is available on the AFSP candidate home page at https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov. Each training request the candidate has entered into the system is listed in the Current Flight Training Applications section of the AFSP home page after login.
?Fingerprints. Free fingerprinting forms are available by calling the American Association of Airport Executives at 703/797-2550. (AAAE has reported that it is not issuing fingerprinting forms to candidates, only flight schools and instructors.) Flight schools may opt to receive the fingerprinting forms via express or overnight mail for a charge. Additionally, a prepaid return envelope for returning the forms to AAAE may also be provided for a charge.

A candidate's fingerprints must be collected by or under the supervision of one of the following:

?A U.S. federal, state, or local law enforcement agency.
?U.S. government personnel at a U.S. embassy or consulate that possesses appropriate fingerprint collection equipment and personnel certified to capture fingerprints.
?Another entity approved by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or TSA, including airports that possess appropriate fingerprint collection equipment and personnel certified to capture fingerprints.

A list of domestic and international fingerprinting locations is available at www.tsc-csc.com/printoffices/. The prints can be taken either electronically or by the provided forms. After they are completed, the prints are sent back to AAAE (an address is provided on the fingerprinting forms), who then forwards a copy to TSA. Additional instructions can be found on TSA's Web site at https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov/fp_instr.html. Note: Any candidate who has previously submitted fingerprints and received confirmation of fingerprint receipt for a prior AFSP training request is not required to resubmit fingerprints. If possible, TSA will use the fingerprints on file for that candidate.

Note: Aliens are exempt from resubmitting fingerprints for taking additional flight training. Fingerprints will continue to be transferred to new flight training requests but only if the alien uses the same account (pin) number that was used for the initial flight training request.

?$130 Application Processing Fee. The fee must be paid by credit card on the TSA's Web site. (Candidates now have a maximum of 10 attempts at paying the processing fee. After the tenth failure, the training request is canceled by TSA's system, and the candidate must submit a new training request. Please verify that your credit card is valid before attempting to pay the processing fee).
?Photo. The student should have his or her photo taken by the flight school when he or she arrives at the flight school for the first day of flight training. The flight school will be required to upload this same photo, not one copied from the candidate's passport or other identification, to TSA's Web site or have it faxed to TSA at 571/227-4532 or 571/227-4534. For guidance on taking and uploading the photo of the candidate, please see the frequently asked questions section below

(2006, October 30). TSA Rules. Retrieved March 21, 2007, from Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association Web site: http://www.aopa.org/tsa_rule/