This is article can answer the most frequent questions of foreign pilots: “How to get FAA ATP if I have ICAO CPL or ATP”. This article is for foreign airline pilots without an FAA Airline Transport Pilot Certificate who would like to earn this Certificate. This article concerns inquiring commercial or airline pilots with at least 1500 hours of logged total time and NON-U.S. citizens.
To be qualified for FAA ATP you have to have:
More detailed requirements you can find in Part 61.153 and Part 61.159.
All prices here are just approximate expenses. Your personal situation can be different from the common cases (age, experience, pause in an aviation career, personal abilities, etc). Some people need individual approaches, so this price is not a public offer but just an example of how much standard person in standard conditions can spend on the process of getting an ATP license.
If you need M-1 visa, you have an additional $600 processing fee for I-20 form issuance.
You can download enrollment application for your personal ATP training with ATP.Academy
You can download our instruction for TSA application for foreign pilots. Be aware that initial process can take up to 8 weeks.
Andrey Borisevich, Chief Instructor
Call us: (954) 399-6911
Email us: info@flydreams.us
Check eligibility requirements according part 61.135 and aeronautical experience according part 61.159.
If you don’t have US visa we can help you with student M-1 visa. Download our instruction for foreign students.
Make sure you have enough time becasue verification process can take up to 90 days!
When you have US visa, immediately apply for TSA approval. Use our instruction for ATP-CTP. You need TSA for each course (ATP ME or A320 type)!
The ATP-CTP course is a mandatory pre-requisite in order to take the ATP written exam. ATP-CTP course include 30 hours of ground school and 10 hours of sim training.
ATP ME written test includes 125 questions and you have 4 hours for pass this test. The minimum score is 70%.
The cheapest way to get your ATP license - training and checkride in light-twin airplane. We can offer Beechcraft Duchess (BE76) or Tecnam P2006T (with Garmin G950) for your training.
Training itself include 7-10 flight hours of training, 3-5 hours of ground school.
When you ready for checkride we will help you with checkride appointment and schedule your checkride. More details about ATP ME checkride on webpage.
FAA regulations allows you to take your ATP checkride simultaneously with type rating check.
We can offer you ATP training combined with Airbus Type Rating at no additional cost. You will be train for type rating but your checkride will include both - ATP and Type Rating check.
Your checkride will be the same like standard type rating checkride but it will be combined check. As a result you will have ATP license with type rating.
If you don't have enough time or money you can do step-by-step. Start from ATP ME on light-twin airplane and later on add type rating to your ATP license!
Start your training on BE76, pass your checkride and get your ATP ME license.
When you ready for checkride we will help you with checkride appointment and schedule your checkride. More details about ATP ME checkride on webpage.
Then join our Initial type rating program and add A320 type rating to your ATP license.
Your checkride will be in full flight simulator and only as add-on to your ATP license.
You will need the I-20 form issued by SkyEagle Aviation Academy (ATP.Academy is DBA), proof of SEVIS I-901 fee payment, a valid passport, your visa interview appointment confirmation, a passport-style photo, and financial documents proving your ability to cover tuition and living expenses.
Getting your ATP license provides a straight path to charter operators, because it’s much easier to get a job from part 135 charter operators (business aviation) and cargo airlines. Some Miami cargo companies hire Australian pilots.
The total price is combined from the ATP-CTP course cost + cost of your ATP course and checkride. As you can see from this page you have a choice between "non-type ATP" and "ATP + type rating". The approximate price depending on your personal case will be:
There are no direct converting from EASA CPL to FAA CPL. You have 2 options, depending on the number of flight hours you have now:
You have 2 options here:
This is a very common question. But the truth is - you really need type rating to get your FAA license with type even if you are Captain with XXXX thousand hours on this type. The reason for that - your FAA license is independent license of the United States of America and you need to comply with FAA regulations. Not your local regulations. It means that you need to take some training on the same type before checkride. Most of the schools (and ATP.Academy also) can offer you Reduced Program, which means you don't need to go over again as Initial training. You just need 4-8 hours of SIM training and some ground school before your checkride. Also, be aware that your FAA checkride will be absolutely the same and full as normal checkride for initial type rating even if you have XXX thousand hours on type.
TSA – Transportation Security Administration. These are the same people who carry out passenger screening at US airports, for example. They also check and screen foreign students pilots and then approve them for flight training. After 9/11, all foreign students applying for a license from an FAA pilot are required to obtain a training permit from the TSA. This is to prevent another catastrophe similar to 9/11. All of the hijackers on 9/11 received flight training in the US to some extent. You must visit https://www.fts.tsa.dhs.gov/, to register and apply for training at a specific educational institution. IMPORTANT: When submitting an application, you must know exactly which flight school you will train at because you choose a service provider. If after the confirmation of TSA you decide to change the school – you will have to file a new application and pay a fee for the new ($130 for each application). If you apply for ATP-CTP and Type Rating, there will be two applications. After the TSA examines your application and they can confirm everything you will need to be fingerprinted. They can be handed in either with the police or with a special TSA agent. A list of which can be found on the website above. We provide our own agent for the cost of $90 and he does everything in one day.
If you have a foreign (non-FAA) license, and you are meet all part 61 requirements to get FAA ATP based on the foreign license, you need to prove that your license is valid, not expired, not revoked, etc. The official way how to do that - request a Letter of Verification from FAA authority. FAA will request this confirmation from your local CAA authority. The process itself can take up to 90 days and you need a Letter of Verification before your ATP checkride or ATP + type rating checkride.
You can find the best answer on government FAA-portal: https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/foreign_license_verification/ Pay special attention that this process can take up 90 days!