Reminder for Pilots
The applicant must enter the numbers for the month, day, and year of birth in order. Name, date of birth, and Social Security Number (SSN)* are the basic pilot identifiers. When an AME communicates with the FAA concerning an applicant, the AME must give the applicant's full name, date of birth, and if at all possible, SSN. The applicant should indicate citizenship (e.g., USA). *Providing an SSN is not mandatory. Forr applicants who do not wish to use their SSN (Item 4) then the AME will be instructed to leave the SSN blank in the AME system and click the box next to International/Declined to Submit. Clicking this option will then trigger the FAA to assign the applicant a pseudo SSN (as of Jan 2026). If the applicant is not yet 16 years old and wishes to solo on or after his or her 16th birthday, they have options, as there's no minimum age for the medical itself, but the medical certificate only becomes truly useful for solo flight once they turn 16 (or 14 for gliders/balloons) and the aspiring aviator is old enough to get their Student Pilot Certificate, which requires the medical to be valid for soloing, according to the FAA guidelines.
You can get the medical early (even years before) to identify any potential issues, but it must be timed to be valid for your solo flight on your 16th birthday, often by getting a Third-Class medicalthe Examiner should issue a white FAA Form 8500-9 (if the applicant is fully qualified medically). On or after his or her 16th birthday, the applicant may obtain a student pilot certificate for the flight from a FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) or designated Flight Examiner upon presentation of the FAA Form 8500-9 (white medical certificate).
As described elsewhere, the Student Pilot Certificate: used to be combined with the Aviation Medical Certificate, but now you get this separately from the medical (often from your CFI or FSDO after turning 16), but using it usually requires the accompanying medical certification.
There is a maximum age requirement for certain air carrier pilots. Because this is not a medical requirement but an operational one, the Examiner may issue medical certificates without regard to age to any applicant who meets the medical standards.
This is a second field dropdown entry in Item 6 after the Date of Birth entry portion. The applicant must indicate citizenship; e.g., U.S.A. This is a secondary dropdown field near block 6 (Date of Birth) entry.