This page is for instructors and students alike and pertains to foreign pilots. On FAA flight certificates, nationality will indicate either "USA" or the country in which the applicant is a legal citizen. To clarify:
NATIONALITY refers to "legal citizenship" and is what is seen on the FAA Certificates.
ETHNICITY refers to "cultural heritage" and is not reflected on any FAA Certificate.
Foreign Students who have come to the US to train: You must have...
a letter from the TSA stating you are allowed to train, the certificate you are seeking, the valid period for training, and with whom you are permitted to train, AND
a current passport or legal document from your country showing your nationality
Your certificate will have your country named under "nationality."
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Foreign Students who have a green card or a permanent residency card for the U.S., and you do NOT possess a U.S. Passport, you must have...
a letter from the TSA stating you are allowed to train, the certificate you are seeking, the valid period for training, and with whom you are permitted to train.
Your certificate will have USA named under "nationality."
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Foreign students who have a nationality other than "USA" listed, you have an FAA certificate that shows nationality OTHER than USA, AND you have since obtained a US Passport:
you MUST go to your local FSDO and change your nationality to "USA."
A checkride CANNOT be conducted until your nationality is updated
Your nationality cannot be changed by anyone OTHER than the FSDO as they need to see all of your naturalization documents.