How to Get a Student Pilot Certificate Through IACRA

You don't need a student pilot certificate to start flying lessons. You need it before your first solo flight. You apply through the FAA's online IACRA system with your flight instructor, who checks your ID and signs off the application, and the FAA says the card arrives by mail in approximately three weeks (FAA).

Here's how to get a student pilot certificate step by step: who qualifies, what to bring, what it costs, and how it fits into training with Merlin Flight Training, a Part 61 flight school at Northeast Philadelphia Airport (KPNE).

Who is eligible for a student pilot certificate?

Under 14 CFR 61.83, you need to:

• Be at least 16 years old to fly airplanes (the minimum is 14 for gliders and balloons)
• Be able to read, speak, write and understand English

Our minimum age to enroll is also 16, and a parent or guardian signs consent paperwork for students under 18.

You don't need a medical certificate to apply. As a new student you'll almost certainly need one before you solo, but the two are separate documents, so you can work on both at the same time.

How to apply in IACRA, step by step

IACRA (the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application) is the FAA's online system for pilot certificate applications. You can also apply on paper with FAA Form 8710-1, but IACRA is faster. Here's the process from IACRA's student pilot guide:

1. Create your account at iacra.faa.gov as an applicant. Your profile comes with an FAA Tracking Number (FTN). Write it down: your instructor uses it to find your application, and the FAA asks you to have an FTN before your knowledge test.
2. Start your IACRA student pilot application. From the Applicant Console, choose Start New Application, pick Pilot, then Student Pilot. This is the online version of Form 8710-1. You'll confirm your personal details, answer questions about English proficiency, drug convictions and any previously denied certificate, review the Privacy Act statement, and submit.
3. Meet your instructor. Submitting doesn't finish the job. Your instructor pulls up the application, verifies your identity from your photo ID, and confirms your English proficiency and age. You log in and sign electronically, including an acknowledgment of the Pilot's Bill of Rights, and then your instructor signs and sends it to the FAA. Our instructors walk you through this part.
4. The FAA processes it. The application goes to the FAA's Airmen Certification Branch, and TSA vets student pilot applicants behind the scenes. You don't file anything extra for that.

How long does a student pilot certificate take?

The FAA's answer is approximately three weeks by mail, and it notes that applying through IACRA minimizes the wait. IACRA has another advantage: once the FAA has your application and TSA vetting is complete, you may be able to download a temporary certificate from IACRA. IACRA's applicant guide estimates it shows up on your Applicant Console about seven days after TSA vetting is done. The FAA emails you when your application is approved (AC 61-141), and the permanent plastic card follows by mail.

Two things to know. Your instructor can't hand you a temporary student certificate on the spot, because only the Airmen Certification Branch can issue one. And paper applications don't get the download option, so you wait for the card. Processing times vary and we can't guarantee when yours will arrive, which is why we suggest applying early.

What to bring to your instructor

Just two things:

• Acceptable, government-issued photo ID (details below)
• Your IACRA username and password, since you sign the application yourself during the meeting

The FAA lists acceptable ID in its Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix, and an instructor has to stop the application if you can't show it (AC 61-141). In short:

• Your ID has to be valid and current, and together your documents must show your photo, date of birth, signature and residential address.
• US citizens and resident aliens: a state or other US government ID (such as a driver's license or military ID), a passport, or an alien residency card.
• Non-US citizens: a passport plus a US driver's license or another government-issued ID card.
• No address on your ID? You can use your parent's residential address, or bring one of the address documents the matrix lists, such as a utility bill or mortgage statement. PO boxes, rural routes and business addresses don't count, and neither does the flight school's address unless you actually live there.
• Under 18 without an acceptable ID? A parent or legal guardian comes to the meeting, shows their own ID and vouches for yours.

If you're not sure your documents qualify, tell us before the meeting so your instructor doesn't have to stop the application partway through.

Is the TSA citizenship check the same thing?

No. It's a separate requirement, and it comes earlier. Under 49 CFR 1552.7, a flight school must establish your citizenship before it provides any flight training, not just before solo. A discovery flight doesn't count as flight training under the TSA rule (49 CFR 1552.3), so the check happens when you enroll.

• US citizens: bring an unexpired US passport, or a US birth certificate plus a government-issued photo ID. TSA keeps the full list of acceptable documents on its FTSP Portal.
• Non-citizens, including green card holders: you need a TSA Determination of Eligibility through the Flight Training Security Program before your first training flight. Our TSA Flight Training Security Program guide explains the steps.

Does the student pilot certificate cost anything?

The FAA doesn't charge for an application made directly to a Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). A flight instructor, a designated pilot examiner or a Part 141 school's certification representative may "charge a reasonable fee" for processing it (FAA). Ask us whether there's a processing fee when you enroll.

What happens once you have it?

Student pilot certificates issued after April 1, 2016 don't expire (FAA; only the older paper certificates had expiration dates under 14 CFR 61.19). Yours stays valid until you earn a higher certificate, such as your private pilot certificate, which supersedes it.

When you fly solo, 14 CFR 61.3 requires you to have these with you or readily accessible in the airplane:

• Your student pilot certificate
• Your medical certificate
• A photo ID

Your solo endorsements go in your logbook, not on the card. You need one for the specific make and model you'll fly, such as our Direct Fly Alto, from an instructor who trained you within the previous 90 days (14 CFR 61.87). Solo cross-country flights need their own endorsements (14 CFR 61.93).

The certificate comes with limits, too. Among them, under 14 CFR 61.89, a student pilot acting as pilot in command can't:

• Carry passengers
• Fly for compensation or hire, or in furtherance of a business
• Fly with less than 3 statute miles of visibility during the day or 5 at night, or without visual reference to the surface
• Break any limitations your instructor writes in your logbook

When should you apply?

Before you solo, you need your student pilot certificate and, for nearly every new student, at least a third-class medical (14 CFR 61.23). Here's the order we suggest:

1. Take a discovery flight. It's an introductory Part 61 lesson with one of our FAA-certificated instructors, and it doesn't require either certificate.
2. Enroll and complete the citizenship check before your first training flight.
3. Book your FAA medical early. If the aviation medical examiner defers your application to the FAA, the decision takes longer, so it's better to find out at the start.
4. Apply in IACRA when you start lessons, so your certificate is waiting on you, not the other way around. If you're hoping to solo close to your 16th birthday, the FAA advises submitting the application at least 60 days before that date (AC 61-141).
5. Solo when your instructor endorses you. First you pass a pre-solo knowledge test covering the regulations, the airspace and procedures at KPNE, and the airplane, and you show proficiency on the required maneuvers (14 CFR 61.87).

On our private pilot timeline, first solo is the milestone that ends Phase 2 (Foundations + Pre-Solo), which typically runs weeks 2-8. That's a typical pace, not a guarantee: weather, how often you fly and how quickly the skills come together all move it. Applying in your first weeks gives the FAA's roughly three-week mail time the best chance to finish before your instructor is ready to send you solo.

Next steps

• Book a discovery flight to try an introductory lesson at KPNE.
• Schedule a free phone consultation if you have questions about getting started.
• Read our guides to the FAA third-class medical and first solo flight requirements.