Old FAA paper license to new plastic one

[goingmach_1]

I have a old FAA Commercial pilot license with all my type ratings, plus a Multi Engine IFR, Sea Plane license, and I have to admit that I did not keep up with all the changes that have occurred. This "paper" one is no longer valid. Has anyone converted to the plastic one? How did you do it? I went on their web site but it only mentions that the paper is invalid, and you need a plastic one to be valid. Someone just called me who bought a US registered aircraft and needs it flown back to Canada, which I have done a few times over the years, but not with a paper license. Any help would be appreciated.

[Hawkerflyer]

The plastic one came in to service about 4 years ago, maybe longer. You will have to go to a local FSDO (FAA) office to renew. Mine was sent to me when I added a type rating.
They will porobably issue you a temp until the card comes in. Good luck.

[shamrock104]

I did the exact same thing recently. A visit to the office is not required. Get a photocopy of old airman certificate and mail it to the FAA in Oklahoma, my new licence was returned in about 4 weeks, hope this helps.

[goingmach_1]

Down in DFW on re-current. There is a FAA guy on site I think, so I will start there. My hope is that all I have to do is little as possible and get the plastic one. Getting the paper one years ago was dead simple. The IFR was not though. Had to write the 70 question exam and do a IFR check ride with a designated flight test examiner, DFTE. Thanks for your reply.

[Cougar]

I'm in the U.S., and when the plastic ones came available a few years ago, I ordered replacement certificates online. It cost $2 for each certificate.

Here's the link -- I didn't read every choice, but I'd think you also could do it the easy way, here.

http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificate ... placement/

I hope this helps.

[ez4u2say]

Sure like to know where you guys managed to get yours via the mail.
This is what I went through:
Had to send all sorts of info to Oklahoma..copy of my new Canadian licence..copy of my old FAA cedrtificate, all the endorsements, medical..etc..here is a copy of the letter I received from them:

Thank you for your application to verify the authenticity of your foreign license. Please note that you did not provide a FSDO location where you will complete the process of converting your foreign license. Please choose from the list of FSDO's at the following website.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/

Please inform me at your earliest convenience which FSDO you have chosen. You will have 6 months from the day your letter of verification is written to appear at the FSDO. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you.

When we receive verification from the CAA, you will receive written notification that we forwarded a copy to the Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) you designated in your request. The verification is valid for 6 calendar months. You may apply for a U.S. certificate at the designated FSDO during that period.

I phoned the office I will picking it up from and he too indicated I should be able to have it mailed so he checked with Oklahoma. He called me back the next day and stated I had to apply for it in person.
It seems the letter authorizing the issue of the new plastic certificate one is sent to that particular office (copy to me) who in turn issue you a temporary one and Oklahoma sends you the permanent one..
A buddy of mine also had to do the same thing..fortunately he was allready in the USA (snowbird) but he still needed to fill in all the appropriate paper work and then travel to the nearest FSDO in that state...
The form which must be filled out is:
VERIFICATION OF AUTHENTICITY OF FOREIGN LICENSE, RATING AND MEDICAL CERTIFICATION form which can be found on line
http://forms.faa.gov/forms/faa8060-71.pdf

[Prairie Chicken]

I looked into the same question several months ago. As others have said, it appears they need to see your smiling face in front of an inspector in order to verify your identity before issuing the new document. It wasn't worth it to me to make a special trip.

[ez4u2say]

Just as an after thought...initially, when I asked to have my original FAA pilots certificate reisued to the new plastic type they instead sent me a photo copy of the one I already had and billed me $2.00. That's when I was told you had to go through the proceedure I went through as per my original post..I have all the documentation now and it just requires the trip to the States to pick it up...