Alien Flight Student Program (AFSP) Made Easy

History: Getting right to the point, this program was established right after 911. It was designed to BET new flight training students that are not US Citizens. That means that even US Permanent Residents must complete the application prior to commencing training. The only thing you can do while we do this process is your discovery flight and ground school.

For what type of training or rating category must you submit a training event request?

Candidates seeking flight training are separated into one of four different types of categories.

Each of the below-listed training events requires a separate training request. These training event requests may not be combined into one request.

• Initial Training

  Initial training includes training that may lead to obtaining:

  • An initial Airman Certificate with one of the following endorsements:

    • Private

    • Land or Sea

    • Fixed Wing or Rotorcraft

  Candidates who are training in the operation of aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds or less (thats is probably you) are participating in an Initial (category 3) training event.

  If a commercial license is the candidate's initial FAA license (meaning already rated in a foreign contry), it is considered an initial airman certificate.

• Instrument Rating

  Candidates who are training in the operation of aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of 12,500 pounds or less are participating in an Instrument Rating (category 3) training event.

• Multi-Engine

• Type Rating

How do I start the Process?

1. Complete the initial application online. Use this link to get to the application.

Make sure that you select Category 3, otherwise you will need to resubmit the application.

Do not leave out any information. Scan all documents (visas, green card, all passports, etc.)

Select “Aviator Zone Academy” as your flight training provider. The course code is “Private Pilot (PPL), Instrument (IA), or Multi (MEL)”

2. We receive the request and approve it.

3. You will receive an email to pay. The fee is $130 paid to the TSA. You can pay with a card on the portal.

4. Wait! Now they will look at the application and if everything they need is there, you will get the email with permission to submit the fingerprints.

5. To get the fingerprints done you must complete the application online via this link. The fee for the fingerprint is $99 paid to NATA. Once the enrollment is received you can make an appointment and get fingerprinted in our office. There is no charge for fingerprint collection unless we come to you. This is the same with any collector although many will charge you anyways. We don’t!

6. We wait some more. Once the TSA has the fingerprints we wait for the email to initiate training. Once we receive that email we can begin flight training!

More information can also be found under the application guide or under the Frequently Asked Questions.