The short answer: your FAA Remote Pilot Certificate does not expire. What must stay current is your aeronautical knowledge. Under 14 CFR § 107.65, you must have a qualifying initial UAG test, eligible initial Part 61 online training, or qualifying recurrent training within the previous 24 calendar months before operating under Part 107.
When you renew that initial recency in 2026, the recurrent training is online and free. There is no recurrent visit to a knowledge-testing center, no new certificate application, and no certificate-renewal fee. The important choices are which FAASTeam course you are eligible to take and when your current window ends.
Terminology note: pilots often search for "Part 107 renewal," but the FAA certificate itself is permanent unless surrendered, suspended, or revoked. The recurring task renews aeronautical knowledge recency, not the plastic certificate.
Choose the correct recurrent course
| Your status | Correct 2026 course | Cost | Eligibility rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| You hold a Part 107 certificate, whether current or lapsed | ALC-677: Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent | $0 | Open to anyone who holds a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate |
| You hold Part 107 and a Part 61 pilot certificate with a current flight review | ALC-515: Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent | $0 | Only for eligible Part 61-certificated pilots who meet the current-flight-review condition |
The FAA's current certificated remote pilot page confirms both routes. ALC-515 and ALC-677 are not interchangeable labels for the same eligibility path. If you merely hold an old Part 61 certificate but do not have the required current flight review, use ALC-677.
The FAASTeam landing pages list both courses as no-cost training. They do not promise one universal completion time, so plan enough uninterrupted time to read the modules and complete the course review rather than relying on an unofficial two-hour estimate.
Calculate the 24-calendar-month deadline correctly
"24 calendar months" is not a rolling 730-day period. Your current month counts through its last day. FAA Advisory Circular 107-2A provides worked recurrent-cycle examples.
Use this calculation:
- Find the month and year of your latest qualifying event: passing the initial UAG knowledge test, completing eligible initial Part 61 online training, or completing qualifying recurrent training.
- Add 24 calendar months.
- Your continuous-currency deadline is the last day of that resulting month.
Example: a pilot who passed the initial test on April 10, 2024 remained current through April 30, 2026. Beginning May 1, 2026, that pilot could not exercise Part 107 privileges until completing qualifying recurrent training.
Completing training early starts the next 24-calendar-month window from the new completion month. FAA AC 107-2A illustrates that an early completion can move the next deadline earlier, so complete it before the deadline without leaving it to the last minute.
Recurrent training: the exact 2026 workflow
- Sign in to FAASafety.gov.
- Open ALC-677, or ALC-515 only if you meet its Part 61 and current-flight-review eligibility.
- Complete every required course element and the course review.
- Download the completion certificate.
- Save redundant copies and record the completion month and next deadline.
The FAA currency FAQ says the agency does not issue a new Remote Pilot Certificate. It also says you must be able to show a copy of the course completion certificate as proof of currency. Save the original file, a cloud copy, and an accessible phone copy; do not depend on a single device.
There is no new IACRA application in the FAA's recurrent workflow. The TSA security background check appears in the FAA's initial Remote Pilot Certificate application process, not as a separate periodic recurrent-training step. A website telling current pilots to renew a TSA clearance every 24 months is mixing initial certification with recurrent currency.
If your currency already lapsed
A lapse does not erase or automatically revoke your Remote Pilot Certificate. It means you may not exercise its Part 107 privileges until you reestablish recency.
The recovery path is straightforward: complete the course for which you are eligible. ALC-677 expressly accepts Part 107 certificate holders regardless of current recency. You do not retake the initial UAG knowledge test or submit a new certificate application merely because the lapse was long. Your new 24-calendar-month window runs from the month you complete recurrent training.
Do not treat a recreational flight as a loophole. If you genuinely operate under the recreational exception in 49 U.S.C. § 44809, you must meet that exception's conditions, including passing TRUST. The FAA AIM UAS guidance explains that a Part 107 certificate holder choosing the recreational exception must take and pass TRUST. TRUST does not restore Part 107 recency.
What recurrent training does—and does not—authorize
Recurrent training updates required knowledge, including the post-2021 rules for night operations and operations over people. Completion is important, but it is not a blanket flight authorization.
Night operations
Under the current rule, a properly trained and current remote pilot may operate at night without the old routine night waiver when all applicable conditions are met. The drone must have anti-collision lighting visible for at least three statute miles with a flash rate sufficient to avoid a collision.
If the flight is in controlled airspace, recurrent training does not replace an airspace authorization. The FAA's Part 107 airspace authorization page directs pilots to LAANC or FAADroneZone, as applicable.
Operations over people and moving vehicles
Training alone does not make every drone eligible to fly over people. The aircraft and operation must satisfy the requirements of Category 1, 2, 3, or 4, including the category-specific limits described in the FAA's Operations Over People overview. If the planned operation falls outside the rule, determine whether an operational waiver is available.
Waivers
Recurrent completion neither creates nor renews a waiver. The FAA's current Part 107 waiver page identifies provisions that may be waived and the conditions that can trigger a waiver request, including some night, visual-line-of-sight, altitude, and operations-over-people scenarios.
Registration and Remote ID are separate checks
Do not confuse pilot recency, aircraft registration, and Remote ID. They are separate compliance tracks.
For Part 107 operations, each drone must be registered individually. The FAA's registration page lists the current Part 107 fee as $5 per drone, with registration valid for three years. The recreational exception for drones weighing 0.55 pounds or less does not exempt a drone flown under Part 107.
Drones required to be registered or already registered must comply with Remote ID. The FAA's Remote ID page describes three compliance paths:
- Fly a Standard Remote ID drone.
- Add a Remote ID broadcast module and operate within its limits.
- For the standard equipment-free path, fly only within an FAA-recognized identification area, or FRIA, while meeting FRIA conditions.
Those are the three standard compliance paths. FAA-issued Remote ID Letters of Authorization can permit limited eligible operations outside them; follow every condition in the written authorization. Part 107 pilots register each Standard Remote ID drone or broadcast module separately in their inventory. Completing recurrent training does not update a Remote ID serial number, renew aircraft registration, or make a noncompliant aircraft compliant. By 2026, the temporary Remote ID enforcement-discretion period is long over; check aircraft status before every job.
A five-minute preflight currency audit
Before accepting a Part 107 operation, verify all five items:
- Pilot: your latest qualifying initial test, eligible Part 61 online training, or recurrent completion is within the previous 24 calendar months.
- Proof: your Remote Pilot Certificate is accessible, plus the applicable completion certificate when recency rests on online initial or recurrent training.
- Aircraft: the individual Part 107 registration is current and the aircraft is marked.
- Remote ID: the aircraft, module, FRIA operation, or applicable FAA written authorization uses a valid compliance path.
- Operation: night, controlled-airspace, over-people, and waiver conditions are separately satisfied.
That checklist prevents the most common category error: assuming one completed FAA course automatically clears the pilot, aircraft, airspace, and mission. It does not.
Prepare without overstudying
The recurrent course is training, not a repeat of the proctored initial UAG test. Review the rules that affect your actual work: night lighting, airspace authorization, Remote ID, crew responsibilities, emergencies, and operations over people.
Buy on Amazon
Take courses on Udemy