How to Get Your FAA Student Pilot Certificate (IACRA, Vetting and Timeline)
Quick answer. Apply in IACRA, meet an authorized person (usually a CFI) who verifies your identity and submits the application, wait for TSA vetting, then your temporary certificate becomes available in your IACRA applicant console (the FAA says about 7 days). The permanent card arrives by mail. You need it before your first solo. Minimum age: 16 (14 for gliders and balloons).
The four stages, kept separate
- Application. Create an IACRA account as an Applicant, note your FTN, and start a Student Pilot application. You can start at 13, but it can't be completed until you're within 90 days of your 14th birthday (IACRA help).
- Certifying meeting. A recommending instructor (or a DPE, FSDO inspector, or Part 141 ACR) looks up your application, checks your photo ID, age and English proficiency, reviews it with you, and you both sign electronically. They do not print you a temporary certificate at this meeting.
- Vetting. The application goes to the FAA and TSA. Once you're old enough and TSA vetting is complete, the temporary certificate appears on your IACRA Applicant Console ("about 7 days" per IACRA). Print it or carry it as the FAA allows.
- Permanent card. The plastic certificate is mailed. The FAA estimates about three weeks (FAA student pilot page).
Correction. An earlier version said your instructor can "usually print a temporary certificate." That's not how the current process works.
Plan around it
Apply weeks before you expect to solo. You also need the solo endorsements in 61.87, and for airplane solo toward a private certificate, a medical certificate (or the sport pilot driver's-license option when training for sport pilot).