License Conversion

[Tanay 0]

If a skydiver holds a license from the authority board of any jurisdiction, how easy is it to change it to USPA?

Currently I am planning to do my AFF course and Accuracy jumps either from South Africa or Australia where I would be provided with A license from the respective authorities such as PASA and APF and in near future I would be moving to US where I would like to explore and jump, does these licenses allow me to jump in any US DZ or should I need to apply for USPA for liability insurance purpose? 

If I had to apply for USPA membership again, how the process work, is it just the paper work? or should I need more additional jumps on my logbook to avail USPA? which again costs me! 

Please guide me on this!

Thanks in advance:)

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

You say 'moving to the US'.

Are you planning a permanent (or long term) move?

That would be different than a short term stay (vacation).

As a visitor, you can use your home country's license, and get a temporary USPA membership. As noted above, it's primarily so you have insurance for any damage you may do (3rd party liability).
You can jump your own rig, provided it follows the rules of your home country (equipment certification and inspection/repack).

If you plan on being a US resident, it changes some.

Your rig needs to have a US FAA TSO certification, and needs an I&R by a FAA rigger in the past 180 days.

You'll need a USPA membership and license. Converting the license is usually a paperwork thing. You sit down with an instructor and go over your log book. If you can show you meet the requirements and pass the written, you can apply for the license.

Somehow not too surprisingly, I found the info about the licenses at...

USPA.

 

https://uspa.org/Discover/News/foreign-or-military-license-and-rating-conversions

[riggerrob 558]

USPA membership is easy .... just send them a few dollars.

USPA licenses will require you to demonstrate (e.g. logbook entries) that you have done all the skills required for the USPA license and demonstrate the knowledge by passing the USPA written exam.

If you are only a short-term visitor to the USA, then local DZs might allow you to jump with only your APF membership and license. If you plan to live in the USA for a while, then DZOs will require you to pay for USPA membership.

The process is similar in Canada, with DZOs sometimes letting visiting jumpers only pay for short-term CSPA membership, primarily for the third party liability insurance. CSPA's insurance policy pays for damages if you land on a third-party's car.

[Bokdrol 40]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:13 AM, Tanay said:

Please guide me on this!

I haven't jumped in the USA for about 5 years so the rules may have changed somewhat (e.g. If you are jumping your own gear I believe that you now need USPA rigger sign-off on your reserve repack which wasn't required previously) and may vary per State/DZ, but when I have jumped at Elsinore I had to show USPA membership, which I got online prior to leaving the UK, current log-book, BPA licence, and then go through the video rigmarole where you confirm that you are jumping of your own free will blah blah, California apparently being the litigation capital of the world. The vid. is done by the DZ staff at reception. It's all (or was) quite straightforward. E&OE. 

[riggerrob 558]

Dear bokdrol,

In the USA, all civilian parachute riggers are licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. It has been a long time since the United States Parachute Association has had anything to do with licensing riggers.

USPA was only briefly involved during the 1980s when they took over the ram-air reserve endorsement initially offered by Para-Flite. This was to help civilian riggers learned how to pack the new-fangled ram-air reserves. The Para-Flite or USPA "ram-air reserve" endorsement was in addition to FAA certification, but FAA never required the endorsement. I doubt if the FAA took Para-Flite's or USPA's endorsement seriously. At best, the FAA considered the endorsement to be "pack in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions." The FAA is famously slow in changing their ways. USA Federal Air Regulations change even slower.