PSI testing question - ID

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StraightnLevel

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StraightnLevel
I'm scheduled for my PPL knowledge test tomorrow morning. It's PSI administered at a local FAA mechanic training school.

Here's the question: The email I got from PSI says that they need to verify my address. How do they do this?

The reason I ask is that I have multiple residences. My driver's license is Wisconsin and shows the address of our farm, but I am doing my flight training near our company HQ in Houston, and that's the address that the FAA has on my application. I have some utility bills, etc. with my Houston address, but it's not going to match my DL. A US passport doesn't have an address, so that isn't going to work (unless they accept that in combination with physical mail addressed to my Houston condo).

Any thoughts as to how to prepare so that I don't get turned away by a mindless bureaucratic catch-22?
 
Well, naturally POA should be the first place to ask any aviation question......
 
Half Fast said:
Well, naturally POA should be the first place to ask any aviation question......
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Well, if you want several complete, mutually contradictory answers coupled with some entertainment, of course it is!
Gilbert Buettner said:
Why not call the testing center and ask them?
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Well, that seemed reasonable, but they only gave me the phone for their central "corporate" center, and they don't seem to care to answer the phone.

:mad2:
 
When I took the PPL written, I had a similar situation where I had recently moved but had not updated my ID yet. I entered the address that was on my ID when I registered for the exam with PSI. When I setup my FTN in IACRA, I used my new address. Testing center, flight school, FAA, etc. never said a peep.

YMMV. This post comes with no warranty.
 
If you have an FAA certificate, use the address on file with the FAA. If you have changed address and have not up dated with the FAA, you need to do so prior to a written or practical test.

Address mismatches are a red flag in OKC.
 
Clip4 said:
If you have an FAA certificate, use the address on file with the FAA. If you have changed address and have not up dated with the FAA, you need to do so prior to a written or practical test.

Address mismatches are a red flag in OKC.
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How do they deal with people like me who have multiple residences?

My flight school and primary office is in Texas, so that's my FAA, tax, and financial address. My farm and most of my vehicles are in Wisconsin, so that's where my driver's license and insurance are located (insurance reasons).
 
StraightnLevel said:
How do they deal with people like me who have multiple residences?

My flight school and primary office is in Texas, so that's my FAA, tax, and financial address. My farm and most of my vehicles are in Wisconsin, so that's where my driver's license and insurance are located (insurance reasons).
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“A residence address must be furnished. If you want us to use your P.O. Box rather than your residence as your mailing address you may provide both.

If your residence address is listed as General Delivery, Rural Route, or Star Route, you must provide directions or a map for locating the residence. You are not required to obtain a new FAA certificate showing your new address.”

When you submit an address to the FAA that doesn’t match the address on record, the FAA may suspect you aren’t correct person submitting the application.

So unless you live at your office/flight school, it isn’t a residence.
 
Clip4 said:
“A residence address must be furnished. If you want us to use your P.O. Box rather than your residence as your mailing address you may provide both.

If your residence address is listed as General Delivery, Rural Route, or Star Route, you must provide directions or a map for locating the residence. You are not required to obtain a new FAA certificate showing your new address.”

When you submit an address to the FAA that doesn’t match the address on record, the FAA may suspect you aren’t correct person submitting the application.

So unless you live at your office/flight school, it isn’t a residence.
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I do live there. It's just not the home address that is on my Wisconsin driver's license.

If I move my driver's license to TX, my insurance for the farm and all but one of my vehicles will get cancelled, due to Wisconsin state law. My primary employment and flight school however, are in TX, and that's where my mail goes and is the address from where I file my federal taxes.

I also have a place in North Carolina that is near both my in-laws and my son's university. That address does not factor in this situation, however.

Not everyone has a life that fits into neat little bureaucratic boxes.
 
StraightnLevel said:
Not everyone has a life that fits into neat little bureaucratic boxes.
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In my opinion, you’re making your life not fit in the boxes. Pick an address and use it for all your dealings with the FAA. What did you use for your student pilot certificate and medical?

I also have multiple residences. It has never been a problem.
 
mondtster said:
In my opinion, you’re making your life not fit in the boxes. Pick an address and use it for all your dealings with the FAA. What did you use for your student pilot certificate and medical?

I also have multiple residences. It has never been a problem.
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I've been 100% consistent in using my TX address for every transaction involving FAA and the IRS. PSI is the issue - they want a photo ID that shows the same address, and that is the sticking point.
 
StraightnLevel said:
I've been 100% consistent in using my TX address for every transaction involving FAA and the IRS. PSI is the issue - they want a photo ID that shows the same address, and that is the sticking point.
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Then you created your own problem. The FAA simply wants an address where they can contact you and send things to. In my opinion, your best option at this point would be to either change your driver’s license or your address with the FAA. PSI is not really the issue here, they’re just a contractor for the FAA so it will eventually get messy if things aren’t rectified.
 
PSI is miserable. Unfortunately they have a monopoly, despite providing inferior service. I tried to become a ODA to set up sn alternative. The lady in charge of that NEVER answered the phone OR returned a call.

Went through the FSDO, was told they said they won’t allow any more AKT ODAs… WTF???

Like lots, it’s CODIFIED in the FARs and they just won’t do it. With no reason given.

Sooooo… as untenable as it is, whatever PSI’s idea of verifiable address is, is what you must provide. And they are nearly as unresponsive as the faa.
 
mondtster said:
Then you created your own problem. The FAA simply wants an address where they can contact you and send things to. In my opinion, your best option at this point would be to either change your driver’s license or your address with the FAA. PSI is not really the issue here, they’re just a contractor for the FAA so it will eventually get messy if things aren’t rectified.
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Changing my DL isn't an option because of state insurance regulations. Changing my address for federal activities would create a massive tax headache, as well as permanently sending all of my mail to the wrong address.

I'm stuck between competing state and federal bureaucracies.
 
I’d just make sure the addy you give psi is on a piece of plastic you carry. They have NO CLUE what a pilot cert is or looks like…

You going to an independent test center (they’re trying to run them out of business) or a psi branded one?
 
StraightnLevel said:
Changing my DL isn't an option because of state insurance regulations. Changing my address for federal activities would create a massive tax headache, as well as permanently sending all of my mail to the wrong address.

I'm stuck between competing state and federal bureaucracies.
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You don’t understand. Your “federal address” isn’t changing. It’s just the address that the FAA is using to send correspondence. There’s no reason it couldn’t be the same as your driver’s license.

I use one property of mine for residency despite it now t being the property I am at more. I pay taxes based on the state I work and mainly live in. You’re manufacturing your own problem and the easiest way to extricate yourself from this is to change your address on file with the FAA to the one listed on your driver’s license.
 
Tools said:
I’d just make sure the addy you give psi is on a piece of plastic you carry. They have NO CLUE what a pilot cert is or looks like…

You going to an independent test center (they’re trying to run them out of business) or a psi branded one?
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It's an aviation mechanic's school, booked through PSI.
 
mondtster said:
You don’t understand. Your “federal address” isn’t changing. It’s just the address that the FAA is using to send correspondence. There’s no reason it couldn’t be the same as your driver’s license.
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Trouble with that is twofold:
1) All my official mail would go somewhere where I only visit every 45-60 days.
2) It creates a potentially very expensive tax trap, which is beyond the scope of this thread.
 
You can’t do it in time for your test, but is it possible for you to get a different type of ID with your Texas address? Global Entry, Texas carry permit, a work ID card, fishing license, something?
 
Half Fast said:
You can’t do it in time for your test, but is it possible for you to get a different type of ID with your Texas address? Global Entry, Texas carry permit, a work ID card, fishing license, something?
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Good idea. Global Entry and Passport cards don't have addresses, nor does my company ID. You're right, though, about some other state ID that isn't a DL being a possible option.

I find it a bit interesting, since nearly every other situation I have run into allows a passport combined with utility bills or bank statements to show proof of residence.
 
Florida has state ID cards for folks who don’t drive. My daughter has one. I imagine most states have something similar.

Easiest option, though, is probably to change your FAA address to match you DL.
 
Half Fast said:
Florida has state ID cards for folks who don’t drive. My daughter has one. I imagine most states have something similar.

Easiest option, though, is probably to change your FAA address to match you DL.
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Well, for now I've gone onto the PSI website and changed my profile address to match my DL. I have no idea whether or not that will change it for the person staring at my ID with a bored look tomorrow morning, but it's the best idea I've got at the moment.
 
That should work… an independent and aviation site should also increase your odds. It’s a federal test, don’t matter where you live. Just gotta know who you are, ie some method to help prove you ain’t takin it for someone else. Good luck!
 
StraightnLevel said:
I do live there. It's just not the home address that is on my Wisconsin driver's license.

If I move my driver's license to TX, my insurance for the farm and all but one of my vehicles will get cancelled, due to Wisconsin state law. My primary employment and flight school however, are in TX, and that's where my mail goes and is the address from where I file my federal taxes.

I also have a place in North Carolina that is near both my in-laws and my son's university. That address does not factor in this situation, however.

Not everyone has a life that fits into neat little bureaucratic boxes.
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You are likely violating Texas law by not transferring your vehicle registrations and drivers license.
 
Clip4 said:
You are likely violating Texas law by not transferring your vehicle registrations and drivers license.
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I'm violating Wisconsin law if I transfer it, since all but one of the vehicles never leave Wisconsin.

Trust me, I've been fighting dealing with multi-state legal hassles for decades. There is no way to own property and vehicles in multiple states and not be violating a law in one of them, somewhere.

Example: A couple of years ago I ran afoul of emissions testing requirements on a car that my daughter had with her at an out of state university. When I went to the DMV, the lady started digging into the overall situation, and after about 20 minutes of trying to explain the rules, she finally realized that they were impossible to comply with between the two states without having to make a 2,000 mile round trip drive for a 5 minute test. At that point, she handed me a renewal tag sticker for the car and swore me to secrecy that I would never tell anyone how I got it.

That's just one example. I could give you dozens.
 
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I was in the Air Force stationed in Kansas, and purchased a car and registered it there. Kansas law required me to have a Kansas driver license. I also had a vehicle with a Wisconsin license plate and had a Wisconsin driver license.

Home on leave, I went to renew my Wisconsin driver license. One of the questions on the renewal was "Do you possess a current driver license from another state? If yes, which state?"

I answered honestly, and the clerk then asked me to surrender my Kansas license. But I said I need that, because I live in Kansas and one of our vehicles is registered there. The clerk's response: "You should have lied."

He then told me that I could operate in Wisconsin on an expired driver license as long as I was on active duty.
 
I’m a straight up nomad. Every time I go to a DMV, I break out in a cold sweat. We got any lawyers here I could put on speed dial? Askin for a friend…
 
If the your picture ID doesn’t include an address (like a passport) then there are several other ways to prove your address including a utility bill. The FAA testing matrix (https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/testing_matrix) explains exactly what is acceptable. The attached picture is page 4 of that document and lists different items that you can use for proof of residence.
 

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It's possible to have vehicles registered in a state you don't have a DL in. It's also possible to own property in states you don't live in. These situations aren't unique. Plenty of people split time and have vehicles and property in more than one state. But a Texas resident can't legally drive on an out-of-state license. And I suspect that an out-of-state resident can't have a Wisconsin driver's license, either.
 
Wheels said:
If the your picture ID doesn’t include an address (like a passport) then there are several other ways to prove your address including a utility bill. The FAA testing matrix (https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/testing_matrix) explains exactly what is acceptable. The attached picture is page 4 of that document and lists different items that you can use for proof of residence.
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Thank you, sir! Not sure why I hadn't found that earlier.

I'll take a passport, Global Entry ID, and a couple of utility bills to get this handled.
 
Lindberg said:
It's possible to have vehicles registered in a state you don't have a DL in.
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Have you ever actually tried doing this? I have, and I have never yet had success. They always want an in-state license and proof of in-state insurance, neither of which you can get with a license from another state.

In North Carolina we tried this for one of my daughters and the person at the counter literally told us that not only could we not get her an in-state tag, she could not legally drive in the state of North Carolina after 30 days as a student when her legal address was in Wisconsin. (We knew that this was complete and utter nonsense, but trying to argue with a DMV bureaucrat is like nailing jello to a tree.) That's why we moved her out of the dorm and got a permanent place.
 
StraightnLevel said:
Have you ever actually tried doing this? I have, and I have never yet had success. They always want an in-state license and proof of in-state insurance, neither of which you can get with a license from another state.
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Not all states have such requirements, although I am aware that some are stricter. I have vehicles registered in both states that I have residences in.
 
Across my military career, I had vehicles registered states I was not licensed in. They were also insured. I’ve had the same Texas DL# my entire life. Florida, Oklahoma, Colorado I owned or rented homes and registered vehicles there without a hitch.
 
StraightnLevel said:
Have you ever actually tried doing this? I have, and I have never yet had success. They always want an in-state license and proof of in-state insurance, neither of which you can get with a license from another state.
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Yes. And you can get insurance even without a license.
StraightnLevel said:
In North Carolina we tried this for one of my daughters and the person at the counter literally told us that not only could we not get her an in-state tag, she could not legally drive in the state of North Carolina after 30 days as a student when her legal address was in Wisconsin. (We knew that this was complete and utter nonsense, but trying to argue with a DMV bureaucrat is like nailing jello to a tree.) That's why we moved her out of the dorm and got a permanent place.
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Why were you trying to register the car in NC if she wasn't claiming residency there?
 
Lindberg said:
Yes. And you can get insurance even without a license.

Why were you trying to register the car in NC if she wasn't claiming residency there?
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Because it didn't make sense to drive it 2,000 miles to get an emissions test done so that we could title it in Wisconsin.
 
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