If you hold an FAA certificate and you’ve moved, you have 30 days to notify the FAA of your new address in writing. Miss that window and you automatically lose the right to exercise your certificate privileges until the address is corrected. The FAA change of address rule applies to pilots, flight and ground instructors, mechanics, repairmen, air traffic control tower operators, and remote pilots. Aircraft owners face a separate 30-day requirement through the Aircraft Registry.
The 30-Day Deadline
Under 14 CFR 61.60, a pilot, flight instructor, or ground instructor who changes their permanent mailing address may not exercise the privileges of the certificate after 30 days unless they’ve notified the FAA in writing.1eCFR. 14 CFR 61.60 – Change of Address The rule is self-executing. Nothing arrives in the mail telling you you’ve been grounded. Once day 31 hits without notification, you’re simply no longer legal to fly.
The same 30-day deadline applies to mechanics, repairmen, and control tower operators under 14 CFR 65.21,2eCFR. 14 CFR 65.21 – Change of Address and to remote pilots under Part 107.3eCFR. 14 CFR 107.77 – Change of Name or Address The date that counts is when the FAA receives your notice, not the day you sent it.
How to Update Your Airman Certificate Address
Online
The fastest route is the FAA’s Airmen Online Services portal. Create an account with the Airmen Certification Branch if you don’t already have one, log in, and use the address change function to enter your new permanent mailing address.4Federal Aviation Administration. Update Your Address The change is recorded immediately in the FAA’s airman database.
Updating your address does not generate a new plastic certificate. The FAA only issues a replacement if you specifically request one, which costs $2.5Federal Aviation Administration. Replace an Airmen Certificate Your old card stays valid because the address of record lives in the database, not on the card.
By Mail
Send FAA Form AC 8060-55 (Change of Address Notification) or a signed written request that includes your name, date of birth, Social Security number or certificate number, and your new address to:4Federal Aviation Administration. Update Your Address
Federal Aviation Administration
Airmen Certification Branch
P.O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0082
If you’re close to the 30-day mark, use the online portal. Mail is slow, and only the FAA’s receipt date stops the clock.
P.O. Boxes and Rural Addresses
If your permanent mailing address is a P.O. box, you also have to give the FAA your current residential street address. The agency needs a physical location on file. If your residence is listed as General Delivery, Rural Route, or Star Route, you’ll need to include written directions or a map for locating the residence.4Federal Aviation Administration. Update Your Address
One Update Covers All Airman Certificates
A single address change through the Airmen Certification Branch applies to every certificate held there, including your medical.6Federal Aviation Administration. Does My Change of Address Apply to All FAA Certificates Hold a private pilot certificate, a ground instructor certificate, and a Part 107 remote pilot certificate? One update covers them all.
Aircraft registration is the exception. The Airmen Certification Branch and the Aircraft Registry are separate systems, and updating one does nothing for the other.
Aircraft Owners: A Separate Process
If you own a registered aircraft, 14 CFR 47.45 requires you to notify the FAA Aircraft Registry in writing within 30 days of any change in your mailing address. The rule also applies when only your physical address changes while your mailing address stays the same, and P.O. box users again have to provide a physical location.7eCFR. 14 CFR 47.45 – Change of Address
Use AC Form 8050-1 (Aircraft Registration Application). Check the box in Block 11 indicating the form is for an address change only, then fill in your N-number, name, new address, and signature.8Federal Aviation Administration. Aircraft Registration Application AC Form 8050-1 There’s no fee for an address-only submission. You can file it online through CARES.FAA.gov or mail it to the FAA Aircraft Registration Branch, P.O. Box 25504, Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0504. The Registry issues a revised Certificate of Aircraft Registration with your new address at no charge.7eCFR. 14 CFR 47.45 – Change of Address
If Your Name Is Changing Too
A marriage, divorce, or court-ordered name change can be handled alongside your address update, but the name change has its own paperwork. Under 14 CFR 61.25, the application must include your current airman certificate and a copy of the marriage license, court order, or other document verifying the change.9eCFR. 14 CFR 61.25 – Change of Name The FAA returns those documents after inspection.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
Your Privileges Stop Automatically
The penalty is built into the regulation. Once 30 days pass without notification, 14 CFR 61.60 says you “may not exercise the privileges of the certificate.”1eCFR. 14 CFR 61.60 – Change of Address No suspension order has to be issued. Every flight, inspection, or lesson after that mark is a regulatory violation. If the FAA later discovers what happened, the violations compound: the address failure plus each activity conducted without valid privileges.
Enforcement Notices You Never Receive
Under FAA enforcement policy, service of a legal document is considered complete when counsel sends it to the address of record, whether or not the certificate holder actually receives it. If the FAA mails an emergency revocation order to an old address, the order is legally served. Deadlines to respond or appeal start running. Certificates have been lost permanently because holders missed appeal windows on enforcement actions they never saw.
Civil Penalties
The FAA can also pursue civil monetary penalties. For most individual violations of FAA regulations, penalties can reach up to $17,062 per violation, with a maximum of $100,000 per civil penalty action.10Federal Register. Revisions to Civil Penalty Amounts, 2025 A simple address oversight on its own is unlikely to draw the maximum, but each unlawful flight discovered after the 30-day lapse is a separate violation, and the numbers add up fast.