The FAA Remote Pilot Certificate has a 24-month shelf life—which means that drone pilots need to go through a recurrent knowledge training and testing process every two years to re-up and to maintain their stature as a commercially certificated sUAS operator.
As of April 6th, 2021, drone pilots who are already certified no longer need to take an in-person recurrent exam at a PSI test center.
You still have to demonstrate currency every 24 months, but it is now through a free online training course from the FAA.

Part 107 Recurrent Training Registration Steps
- First, create a free account over at FAASafety.gov
- Then, sign up to take this free online training: ALC-677: Part 107 Small UAS Recurrent
- The training takes about 2 hours — at the end of the course, you’re given 90 minutes to pass a short multiple-choice test (45 questions)
- You can take the exam as many times as you’d like, but you need to score a 100% within one 90-minute sitting to get a Certificate of Completion
Questions? Let us know over at support@dronepilotgroundschool.com.