As of October 5, 2004, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has posted the new ruling regarding screening of all Non-U.S. Citizens and other designated individuals seeking flight training.
Please refer to the requirements for: U.S. Citizens Non-U.S. Citizens If you have any questions regarding the TSA rule, please contact your Account Executive or our TSA Compliance Team at 972-456-8057.
Federal Register (PDF)
U.S. Citizens U.S. Citizens must provide proof of citizenship in order to attend pilot training. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will not allow flight training to commence without proof of U.S. citizenship in the form of one of the following documents:
A valid, un-expired United States passport. The passport must remain valid throughout the entire length of the training course An original birth certificate, with raised seal, documenting birth in the United States or one of its territories, along with a valid unexpired government issued photo ID (such as a driver license) An original U.S. naturalization certificate with raised seal (Form N-550 or Form N-570), along with a valid unexpired government issued photo ID (such as a driver license) An original certificate of U.S. citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561) or a certificate of repatriation (Form N-581), along with a valid unexpired government issued photo ID (such as a driver license) A U.S. federal government issued ID badge if training for the U.S. government and a U.S. government entity is paying for the training
Non-U.S. Citizens Due to passage of Vision 100 - Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is now required to screen all non-U.S. citizen candidates for flight training on any aircraft.
To accomplish this screening, most non-U.S. citizens seeking flight training with FAA-regulated flight training providers (whether in the US or abroad) will need to submit information via the Alien Flight Student Program (AFSP) website https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov.
The request will be submitted to the appropriate flight training providers, to verify that the applicant is truly seeking training at that facility. After this acknowledgement, the Transportation Security Administration will conduct an initial screening.
If the results are favorable, the candidate may then be fingerprinted. After fingerprints are submitted, those results will be checked, and training may commence if approved by the AFSP.
The law allows the Transportation Security Administration 30 days to process Category 1 applications and 5 days to process Category 2 applications after all information (including fingerprints) is received.
Any candidate that has previously received a Final Approval from TSA and never received a Final Denial, is not required to submit fingerprints. TSA will use the fingerprints on file for that candidate.
All other candidates, prior to receiving Final Approval, must be fingerprinted by a person approved by the TSA, which includes any U.S. law enforcement officer. Candidates must be fingerprinted in strict accordance with the instructions documented in the packet.
Fingerprints taken by other means will not be accepted, and the candidate will not be allowed to train. The fingerprinting process takes places after the candidate has submitted all other required documentation for each training request.
After a candidate has received final approval on their training request, they may apply for additional training without undergoing the fingerprinting process.
How does the AFSP work?
Step 1:
Training requests may be submitted under one of four categories. Please see the AFSP website login page for a definition of the categories. Flight training candidates in Categories 1 through 3 request an account to access the AFSP website by completing the account request form.
Step 2:
A UserID and password are emailed to the flight training candidate. This allows the candidate to access the AFSP website.
Step 3:
The candidate completes online training request forms requesting the following types of information:
A.Residence and citizenship;
B.Places and terms of employment;
C.Details of the requested training; and
D.Other background information.
Step 4:
Upon submission of the completed training request forms, the AFSP confirms the validity of the training request with the flight training provider identified by the candidate.
NOTE: IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE CANDIDATE CONTACT CAE SIMUFLITE TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FOR TRAINING PRIOR TO SUBMISSION OF THE COMPLETED TRAINING REQUEST FORM. DELAYS IN APPROVAL WILL OCCUR IF THE FLIGHT TRAINING PROVIDER IS NOT AWARE OF THE CANDIDATE'S PLANS.
Step 5:
Upon acknowledgement of the candidate's request for flight training by CAE SimuFlite, the candidate will be notified by AFSP and directed to pay the $130 USD processing fee. After payment, AFSP reviews the request.
Step 6:
If the flight training request meets the criteria, the candidate and CAE SimuFlite will be notified of a preliminary decision on the training request. The flight training candidate must complete a training request for each course or instance of training he/she wishes to attend, even if the training is with the same flight training provider.
Step 7:
If the preliminary decision is favorable, the candidate will be provided with instructions on how to submit fingerprints. Category 1 and Category 2 students must wait until a final review is completed by TSA and approval is granted before commencing flight training. An approval email will be sent to both candidate and CAE SimuFlite.
The Online Tutorial (Power Point) offers a step-by-step guide for category 1 and Category 2 students.