Revalidation and Renewal of theoretical certificates of UAS pilots/drones

Who is it aimed at?

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This paragraph is intended for all remote pilots who hold the theoretical certificates issued in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947 on the rules and procedures applicable to the use of unmanned aircraft and who need to renew or revalidate any of the following remote pilot certificates;

• Certificate of theoretical knowledge in A1/A3 of the category “open”. 
• Certificate of theoretical knowledge in A2 of the “open” category. 
• Certificate of theoretical knowledge in STS of the “specific” category.

Remote pilots are reminded that the certificates mentioned above are valid for five years from the time they are issued. Therefore, certificates close to expiry, or those that are already expired, should initiate the revalidation or renewal procedure, as appropriate. 

The following sections detail the procedure that each remote pilot must carry out depending on the status of their certificates and the level of theoretical training that each pilot has and wishes to maintain in force.

IMPORTANT* This information is only valid for the training described in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947, the revalidation or renewal of training based on Royal Decree 1036/2017 or Royal Decree 517/2024 that does not correspond to the ‘open’ and ‘specific’ category is not valid.

Pilot Certificate Levels to Revalidate or Renew

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In order to have a valid and unique expiry date for all certificates of theoretical knowledge of remote pilot (A1/A3, A2 and STS), the expiry date of the certificate of theoretical knowledge of higher level of training shall in any case be considered valid, with A1/A3 being the lowest level certificate, A2 being the medium level certificate and STS being the highest level certificate.

Where the three remote pilot certificates are available, with different expiry dates on each of them, it is the remote pilot certificate in STS that will give validity to all previous certificates, unifying the expiry date to the higher level.

IMPORTANT* In case the pilot has a remote pilot certificate with a validity date close to its expiration, it must only revalidate the highest level of training. Where remote pilot certificates at lower levels are revalidated, certificates at higher levels shall be revoked.

Difference between Revalidation and Renewal

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All remote pilots wishing to update the expiry date of their theoretical certificates, both in the ‘open’ category and in the ‘specific’ category, must check whether or not they have exceeded their expiry date. 

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Depending on the state of validity of the theoretical certificates, two procedures are distinguished:

Revalidation of theoretical remote pilot certificates:

All remote pilots who hold a theoretical pilot certificate issued by AESA as the competent authority, the expiry date of which has not been exceeded, may apply for the revalidation of their pilot certificates within 3 months prior to the expiry date.

In order to proceed with the Revalidation of the theoretical certificate, only the revalidation of the highest level certificate must be requested and, subsequently, a theoretical test must be passed.

The remote pilot must apply for and pass the theoretical test before the certificate expires in order to be able to revalidate the certificate. This test will be done online completely free of charge and will be provided by AESA.

Depending on the level of training you want to revalidate, the test will have the following number of questions;

• 20 questions to revalidate the certificate in A1/A3,
• 35 questions to revalidate the certificate in A1/A3 and A2,
• 52 ask to revalidate the certificate in A1/A3, A2 and STS.

In any case, the pilot will have one minute per question to carry out the test and must obtain at least 75% of the correct answers, having an attempt to pass the test. In case of failure to pass the test and within the period of validity of the certificate, a new application for registration may be made. 

Once the test has been passed and the remote pilot certificate has been revalidated, a new certificate shall be issued, maintaining the pilot number and incorporating a new expiry date, which shall be 5 years from the day following the expiry date of the certificate that has been revalidated.

If the interested party does not pass the theoretical test before the expiry date of his certificate, it will be invalid and must be renewed.

The procedure for the application for revalidation of certificates will be published shortly.

Renewal of theoretical remote pilot certificates:

Remote pilots who have not carried out the revalidation of the theoretical certificates and these have expired , must proceed to carry out a renewal of their remote pilot certificates.

The renewal procedure with EASA will entail the need to re-perform remote pilot training and examinations from scratch. Once completed,a new certificate with a new remote pilot identification number and a validity date of 5 years from the time of re-issuance shall be issued.

The registration procedure for remote pilot training is detailed in its corresponding category, through the following link. 

The following document provides an informative outline of the different cases in which the remote pilot can be found, as well as the types of training level and various examples:

• Scheme for the revalidation and renewal of certificates. 

In case of doubt or special situations related to the revalidation and renewal of the theoretical certificates of remote pilots you can direct your query to the training mailbox (formaciondrones.aesa@seguroaerea.es).