Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

7 Answers

Has anyone experienced significant delays in receiving certificates from the FAA

Asked by: 3489 views Flight Instructor

Has anyone been experiencing unusual delays from the FAA in receiving your plastic certificates since the 2 week govt shutdown

It usually takes about 2 -3 weeks for a new certificate to show up, but we are now at the 60 day mark and counting.

Prior to IACRA it was about 60 to 90 days

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

7 Answers



  1. Jim F. on Nov 07, 2013

    Yup, my last one 1.5 years ago came in just under 3 weeks. I’m now right at 60 days for my current one, and not even thinking about plastic yet. A guy at my FBO got his a couple days before the shutdown, and that was on day 117 of the 120 day limit. The wonders of an inept government bureaucracy…

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Jarett L on Nov 08, 2013

    It’s because the govt shut down. Nothing was being processed while they were closed.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. MaggotCFII on Nov 08, 2013

    FIRC’d 08/23, plastic en-route as of yesterday.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  4. luisjoujr on Nov 08, 2013

    Here you can check how much delay do they have: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/

    As of today, they’re processing temp certificates issued on Aug 25th. I’m still waiting for my initial CFI plastic card (checkride passed Sep 17th… but it has to be mailed across the Atlantic! >_<)

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  5. Andy Erwin on Nov 08, 2013

    my PPL took 10 weeks, I did the checkride 6 weeks before the shutdown

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  6. Jarett L on Nov 09, 2013

    I took my multi commercial on sept 11 got my card yesterday

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  7. Bruce J. Sato CFI, CFII on Nov 19, 2013

    Took my CFII ride on Sept 11th, 2013 and also still haven’t received it, I hope its arriving soon! looks like it will by looking at (Jarett L)

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.