The Alien Flight Student Program is a program operated by the United States

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

to screen prospective flight student candidates who are not citizens of the United States, before they are allowed to undergo pilot training. This program was created in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, in recognition of the fact that the individuals who piloted the hijacked aircraft first learned to fly at US flight schools. The mission of the program is to ensure that foreign students seeking training at flight schools regulated by the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

(FAA) do not pose a threat to aviation or national security. Section 612 of the Vision 100 – Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (Public Law 108-176, December 12, 2003) prohibits flight schools regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from providing flight training to a foreign student unless the

Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the U ...

first determines that the student does not pose a threat to aviation or national security. Vision 100 transferred responsibility for conducting security

threat assessment Threat assessment is the practice of determining the credibility and seriousness of a potential threat, as well as the probability that the threat will become a reality. Threat assessment is separate to the more established practice of violence-r ...

s for foreign students seeking flight training from the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

to the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

. On September 20, 2004, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued an interim final rule establishing the Alien Flight Student Program (AFSP). Persons seeking flight training must submit a request if they are not citizens or nationals of the U.S. and: *They wish to receive flight training in the U.S. or its territories, regardless of whether training will lead to an FAA certificate or type rating; and/or *They wish to receive flight training from an FAA-certificated facility, provider, or instructor that could lead to an FAA rating whether in the U.S. or abroad. (NOTE-Certain exemptions to AFSP published in 2004 and 2005 are still in effect.) The rule as written has a broad scope, and at first seemed to pilots to extend to required regular flight reviews as well proficiency training given to non-citizen private pilots. After consultation with the pilot community, the TSA issued clarifications restricting the scope of the program: for example, in small airplanes, it only applies to pilots undergoing training for an initial certificate, a multi-engine rating, or an instrument rating

Candidates log onto th
AFSP Candidate website
to submit their background information and flight training request(s). Once the application process is completed, the AFSP performs a security

to determine whether the Candidate poses a threat to aviation or national security.

References

*AFSP Candidate Website
https://fts.tsa.dhs.gov
*Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Guide to TSA's Alien Flight Training/Citizenship Validation Rule
Aviation in the United States Flight training Transportation Security Administration