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Foreign License Validation: FAA Medical needed?

Asked by: 2343 views FAA Regulations, General Aviation, Private Pilot

Hi guys,

following up to my earlier question, I'd also be interested to know if I actually need an FAA Medical in order to validate my foreign license. I have received a verification letter from the FAA confirming the validity of my foreign license. This letter contains the following note:

"The Airman Certification Branch, AFS-760 was unable to verify the validity of the
airman’s foreign medical license due to one of the following reasons: the medical date has
expired, the provided medical was not from the same country as the foreign license, or the
information was not verified by the CAA. Please ensure that the applicant has obtained
an FAA medical certificate under Part 67 before applying for a U.S. Pilot certificate in
accordance with Part 61.75 or before applying for any FAA certificate that might require
a FLIGHT test. Testing in a simulator does not require a medical certificate."

Now I'm wondering whether a foreign license validation would count as a "U.S. Pilot certificate in accordance with Part 61.75 or before applying for any FAA certificate that might require a FLIGHT test."

Do I need an FAA medical for the validation?

2 Answers



  1. KDS on Sep 25, 2018

    When it comes to foreign licenses, there are no nice simple procedures and I tore my hair out whenever I encountered one.

    Someone on this site may be a subject matter expert, but my advice would be to contact the school with which you anticipate training. If it is a typical Florida based school that specializes in foreign students, they will know this stuff backwards and forwards.

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  2. Kris Kortokrax on Sep 26, 2018

    At the end of the process, you will be issued a U.S. Pilot certificate. Order 8900.1 Volume 5, Chapter 2, Section 14, Paragraph 5-597E outlines the medical requirements. If your European medical certificate cannot be verified, you will need a U.S. medical certificate prior to being issued the U.S. pilot certificate.

    That is also the language included in the letter.

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