Common CFI Recent Experience and Processing FAQs

An expiration date and a recent end experience date serve a similar purpose: both indicate the month and year for certificated flight instructors to track their 24-calendar-month recency requirements. However, newly issued CFI certificates will no longer display an expiration date. Instead, the recent end experience date will be available publicly on the FAA Airmen Registry.

No, your recent end experience date will be the same as your expiration date, provided you meet the requirements of FAR 61.197 within 4 calendar months of your original date. If you complete your recency requirements outside this 4-calendar month window, you will receive a new date.

If your CFI certificate lapses and you haven’t completed the required FAR 61.197 process, you will enter a 3-calendar month reinstatement period after your recent end experience date (REED). During this period, you will not have instructional privileges and are prohibited from instructing students. To regain your privileges, you must complete an approved flight instructor refresher course (FIRC) or a practical test with a designated pilot examiner.

Important note: If you complete your FAR 61.197 requirements within the 3-calendar month reinstatement period, you will retain your original recent end experience date.

To reinstate your CFI privileges after the additional 3-calendar month reinstatement period, you must take a practical test with a designated pilot examiner.

No, you must hold a valid, unexpired flight instructor certificate at the time you submit your renewal application. While attending a FIRC or completing an online eFIRC is beneficial for your knowledge, it cannot be used as the basis for your renewing your expired CFI certificate.

You have several options available to you, each with their own advantages. They are:

• Take an online Flight Instructor Refresher Course (eFIRC)
• Attend an approved Flight Instructor Refresher Course (FIRC).
• Take a practical test with the FAA or an authorized designated examiner.
• Present a record of training showing that during the past 24 months you have endorsed at least five students for a practical test, and at least 80 percent (four students) passed on the first attempt.
• Present a record that shows within the past 24 months that you have served as a company check pilot, chief flight instructor, company check airman, or flight instructor in a Part 121 or Part 135 operation, or in a position involving the regular evaluation of pilots in which the FAA inspector is acquainted with the duties and responsibilities of the position, and has satisfactory knowledge of its current pilot training, certification, and standards.

The one that fits your particular lifestyle and time constraints. Each recency method has its different advantages.

You have only one option — a checkride. The FAA refers to this as a "reinstatement." In most areas, this means a ride with your local FAA inspector, but some flight standards district offices (FSDOs) have authorized designated examiners to handle reinstatements. The good news is that you don't need to take a knowledge test, and one ride will suffice to renew all the ratings listed on that expired flight instructor certificate.

Remember, to maintain your current recent end experience date, do not sign your electronic 8710 in IACRA until you are within your 4-month recency window. This window includes your former expiration month and the three months preceding it. Signing the 8710 before the start of this recent experience window will result in an earlier recent experience end date. You can fill out the recency information in IACRA at any time without finalizing it, just return within your recency window to sign it. All your started and completed applications are saved under your IACRA profile.

It is essential to keep one mandatory module marked as incomplete in the eFIRC until you are in your recency window. You can complete most of the eFIRC—just leave that one module incomplete to prevent your course completion from being triggered early. If you finish the course before your 4-calendar month recency window, you will receive a new recent end experience date.

You may participate in any FIRC program and meet the recency requirements for all the ratings on your flight instructor certificate.

An additional flight instructor rating "resets" the renewal clock. Because you were issued a new rating on your flight instructor certificate, you should have a certificate with an expiration date 24 months from the date you obtained that rating. That new date is your expiration date.

Unlike other FIRC providers, ASI does not charge extra for processing your CFI revalidation, and allowing ASI to handle the revalidation will save you an immense amount of hassle. If you decide to take your recency program paperwork to the local FSDO yourself, be aware that you can no longer just walk into the FSDO. You must make an appointment - well in advance, in most cases - and be prepared to go through identification procedures. Also, all the extra security duties that have been assigned to FAA inspectors leave them with precious little time for routine duties, such as renewing CFI certificates. There have been cases where CFIs declined ASI's offer to complete their recency processing for their certificates, and then were unable to get an appointment with an FAA inspector until it was too late.

That option still exists but is not formally recognized in the regulations. An FAA inspector may sign you off on the recency of your flight instructor certificate based on his or her personal knowledge of you as a flight instructor. You may, however, find inspectors reluctant to exercise this option.

Instead you can submit your application for CFI Recency online;

1. Watch the video about Submitting Your Application for CFI Renewal
2. Download ASI’s Guide to Completing Application for Recency for step-by-step instructions.
3. Submit Your Application in IACRA
4. Send ASI Your ID, CFI Certificate and FTN for Processing

No, the recency window is four calendar months prior to your recent experience end date. For example, if your REED is in April, you could complete a FIRC as early as January 1st and still retain your original REED date of April 30th.

If you complete the FIRC more than four months before your REED, your new REED will be the end of the month in which you completed the FIRC.

For example, if your certificate expires on April 30th but you complete a FIRC early on December 31st, your new recent experience end date will be at the end of December, not your original April date. However, if you complete the FIRC on January 1st, you will retain your original REED of April 30th.

Remember, also to maintain your current recent experience month, wait to sign your electronic 8710-1 on IACRA.faa.gov until you are within your 4-month recency window.

No, you must hold a valid, unexpired flight instructor certificate at the time you submit your application for recency. Although attendance at a FIRC, or completing an online eFIRC, certainly would be beneficial from a knowledge standpoint, it could NOT BE USED as the basis for your reinstatement.

You must submit a copy of your flight instructor certificate with your application. If your certificate is lost, you may request a verification of privileges from the FAA's Airman Services web page, www.FAA.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/airmen_services/. This requires you to set up an account and request an emailed or faxed verification directly from the FAA. This confirmation notice may be used in lieu of the actual certificate. You also can contact your local FSDO for assistance.

No. A current medical is not required to complete your recent experience requirements for your flight instructor certificate. In fact, a current medical is not even required to instruct as long as you do not act as the pilot in command of the aircraft.

Maintain your CFI recency through ASI's eFIRC no more than four months prior to your recent experience end date (REED), former expiration date. When you follow FAR 61.197(b) and ASI processes your recent experience, we guarantee you will keep your original REED. For example, if your certificate expires on April 30th, you can complete a FIRC anytime in January, February, March or April and still retain the April 30th recent experience end date.

Remember, to also maintain your current recent experience month, do not sign your electronic 8710-1 on IACRA.faa.gov until you are within your 4-month recency window.

If you need to go into your reinstatement period, the three-calendar months after your REED, ASI's will guarantee you will maintain your REED when the FIRC course, signed IACRA 8710 and uploaded credentials are submitted no later than five business days before the last day of the reinstatement period.

Pop-up blockers are required to be turned off during your completion of the 8710 form in the IACRA website. IACRA utilizes pop-ups throughout the completion steps for review and authorization of information. If you are getting messages that the form is incomplete, turn off your browser's pop-up blocker and review the form to make sure you did not miss a step that was located in a pop-up.

How to turn off Pop-Up Blockers:

• Google Chrome (PC, Mac and Tablets): Instruction PDF
• Firefox Browser (PC and Mac): Instruction PDF
• Safari Browser (iPAD and Mac): Instruction PDF
• Internet Edge/Explorer (PC): Instruction PDF

After submitting your application to IACRA, you will need to send ASI the following;

1. Your FTN from the IACRA completion
2. Legible images of your government-issued photo ID (US driver’s license, passport, or military ID)
   AND
3. Both the front and back of your CFI certificate (full color is preferred).

You can do this through the "CFI Renewal Submission" module within the eFIRC or by uploading the images via the Submit Your Credentials to ASI online form or via email at [email protected].

 

It generally takes us two business days after you've submitted your completion information to us before we can verify your ID and complete our processing in IACRA. Once we've done that, you'll receive an email from ASI along with your eFIRC Graduation Certificate and Temporary Airman Certificate. Near the end of the month, priority is given to those nearing the end of the recent experience end date that particular month.

You can also access your transcript and processed certificates under your profile in the eFIRC. In the eFIRC, in the upper right side in the top bar, use the menu to select "My Profile." There you will find your transcript of course progress and certificates once they are issued.

It takes the FAA about 6-8 weeks on average to process an application. You can check the Airman Certification homepage, www.FAA.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/, to see the approximate date of applications they are processing. It is at the top of the page under News & Highlights.

You can check the airman certification division processing status here: FAA Airmen Certification.This page will let you know what application date the Airman Certification branch is currently processing. 

You can also see whether the FAA has processed your personal application or not on IACRA or through an airmen certificate information search at: FAA Airmen Information.

You can also check your application status via the Applicant Console in IACRA. Select the appropriate application under “Your Existing Applications” and look at the Status column. It will change from “Complete” (ASI finished our processing) to “Received by Airman Registry” (FAA is doing their processing) finally to “Airman Registry – Complete” (the FAA has issued the new CFI certificate.)

First, try reviewing our guides:

1. Download ASI’s Guide to Completing Application for Recency for step-by-step instructions with screen grab images.
2. Watch our about Submitting Your Application for CFI Renewal for a step-by-step video.

Still need help?

Contact the FAA’s National AVS IT Service Desk:

• Hours of operations are: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
• Telephone number: Toll-free at  877-287-6731 (ask for Tier 2) 
• E-mail address: [email protected]
• The Web address for IACRA is http://iacra.faa.gov/iacra

You can’t. That’s a known glitch in IACRA and will be fixed during a future update to the program. It will not affect your ability to submit your application for your CFI certificate recency.

The short answer is in some cases–the FAA is pushing for online IACRA submissions. You can contact our PIC and they can help you fill out the online 8710-1. In some cases, a paper 8710 may be accepted. Please call us for help in determining the best solution.

Call 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672) Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., ET.

We'll still need to verify your ID for recency with any application. You can either scan and email an image of your CFI certificate to [email protected] or upload it on our "submit application for renewal" of the eFIRC.

You should contact the FAA’s Airman Certification Branch

If necessary, you can also request an extension through the FAA airman certification branch. In order to request the extension visit the FAA’s website at: www.FAA.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/airmen_services/, login and request temporary authority – this will issue a 60 day extension to your temporary CFI certificate.

Nope, but you will need to submit a legible (preferably color) copy of your flight instructor certificate. Your old certificate will no longer be valid without holding a FIRC graduation certificate which acts as your temporary certificate for 120 days.

To submit your Credentials to ASI:

After submitting your application to IACRA, you will need to send ASI the following;

1. Your FTN from the IACRA completion
2. Legible images of your government-issued photo ID (US driver’s license, passport, or military ID)
   AND
3. Both the front and back of your CFI certificate (full color is preferred).

You can do this through the "CFI Renewal Submission" module within the eFIRC or by uploading the images via the Submit Your Credentials to ASI online form or via email at [email protected].

 

There is no requirement to complete the record of pilot time section of the 8710 form for a flight instructor recency. You may, however, want to do this for other reasons. It might serve as possible proof of previous time should you lose your logbooks.

Yes, if you already have a Gold Seal it will carry through to the new recency record. If you want to add a Gold Seal you must go to your FSDO to do that. When our ACRs review your credentials, we note the presence of a Gold Seal and confirm that in the Certifying Officers processing of your 8710.

Signing the 8710 before this window opens will result in an earlier recent experience month.

You can complete the recency information in IACRA at any time without signing it; your partially completed applications will be saved in your IACRA profile.

Just remember, your recency window consists of your recent experience month plus the three months leading up to it, giving you a total of four months.

Additionally, to avoid triggering an early completion of your eFIRC, make sure to leave one mandatory module incomplete until you enter your recency window.

After submitting your application to IACRA, you will need to send ASI the following;

1. Your FTN from the IACRA completion
2. Legible images of your government-issued photo ID (US driver’s license, passport, or military ID)
   AND
3. Both the front and back of your CFI certificate (full color is preferred).

You can do this through the "CFI Renewal Submission" module within the eFIRC or by uploading the images via the Submit Your Credentials to ASI online form or via email at [email protected].

 

It generally takes us two business days after you've submitted your completion information to us before we can verify your ID and complete our processing in IACRA. Once we've done that, you'll receive an email from ASI along with your eFIRC Graduation Certificate and Temporary Airman Certificate. Near the end of the month, priority is given to those nearing the end of the recent experience end date that particular month.

You can also access your transcript and processed certificates under your profile in the eFIRC. In the eFIRC, in the upper right side in the top bar, use the menu to select "My Profile." There you will find your transcript of course progress and certificates once they are issued.

It takes the FAA about 6-8 weeks on average to process an application. You can check the Airman Certification homepage, www.FAA.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/, to see the approximate date of applications they are processing. It is at the top of the page under News & Highlights.

You can check the airman certification division processing status here: FAA Airmen Certification.This page will let you know what application date the Airman Certification branch is currently processing. 

You can also see whether the FAA has processed your personal application or not on IACRA or through an airmen certificate information search at: FAA Airmen Information.

You can also check your application status via the Applicant Console in IACRA. Select the appropriate application under “Your Existing Applications” and look at the Status column. It will change from “Complete” (ASI finished our processing) to “Received by Airman Registry” (FAA is doing their processing) finally to “Airman Registry – Complete” (the FAA has issued the new CFI certificate.)

First, try reviewing our guides:

1. Download ASI’s Guide to Completing Application for Recency for step-by-step instructions with screen grab images.
2. Watch our about Submitting Your Application for CFI Renewal for a step-by-step video.

Still need help?

Contact the FAA’s National AVS IT Service Desk:

• Hours of operations are: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
• Telephone number: Toll-free at  877-287-6731 (ask for Tier 2) 
• E-mail address: [email protected]
• The Web address for IACRA is http://iacra.faa.gov/iacra

You can’t. That’s a known glitch in IACRA and will be fixed during a future update to the program. It will not affect your ability to submit your application for your CFI certificate recency.

The short answer is in some cases–the FAA is pushing for online IACRA submissions. You can contact our PIC and they can help you fill out the online 8710-1. In some cases, a paper 8710 may be accepted. Please call us for help in determining the best solution.

Call 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672) Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., ET.

We'll still need to verify your ID for recency with any application. You can either scan and email an image of your CFI certificate to [email protected] or upload it on our "submit application for renewal" of the eFIRC.

You should contact the FAA’s Airman Certification Branch

If necessary, you can also request an extension through the FAA airman certification branch. In order to request the extension visit the FAA’s website at: www.FAA.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/airmen_services/, login and request temporary authority – this will issue a 60 day extension to your temporary CFI certificate.

Nope, but you will need to submit a legible (preferably color) copy of your flight instructor certificate. Your old certificate will no longer be valid without holding a FIRC graduation certificate which acts as your temporary certificate for 120 days.

To submit your Credentials to ASI:

After submitting your application to IACRA, you will need to send ASI the following;

1. Your FTN from the IACRA completion
2. Legible images of your government-issued photo ID (US driver’s license, passport, or military ID)
   AND
3. Both the front and back of your CFI certificate (full color is preferred).

You can do this through the "CFI Renewal Submission" module within the eFIRC or by uploading the images via the Submit Your Credentials to ASI online form or via email at [email protected].

 

There is no requirement to complete the record of pilot time section of the 8710 form for a flight instructor recency. You may, however, want to do this for other reasons. It might serve as possible proof of previous time should you lose your logbooks.

Yes, if you already have a Gold Seal it will carry through to the new recency record. If you want to add a Gold Seal you must go to your FSDO to do that. When our ACRs review your credentials, we note the presence of a Gold Seal and confirm that in the Certifying Officers processing of your 8710.