Worldwide · Country guides
What a drone qualification costs, country by country
Every country calls it something different, charges a different amount for it, and disagrees about whether you need training at all. Almost none of them recognise each other's certificates. These pages set out what each regime actually requires, checked against the national regulator rather than against the training industry that sells it.
| Country | Regulator | What it's called | Cheapest legal commercial route | Training compulsory? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | CAA | A2 CofC · GVC, becoming RPC-L1 | £418 | Yes |
| United States | FAA | Remote Pilot Certificate (Part 107) | $180 | No |
| Canada | Transport Canada | Pilot Certificate — Basic, Advanced, Level 1 Complex | $10.17 | No |
| European Union | EASA, issued nationally | A1/A3 online test · A2 certificate of competency | Set nationally | No |
| Australia | CASA | Operator accreditation · RePL · ReOC | Free | No |
| New Zealand | CAA New Zealand | No certificate under Part 101 | Free | No |
| Ireland | IAA | Proof of online training · A2 competency certificate | €220 in IAA fees | Yes, for A2 |
The single most useful thing on these pages is the recognition section. Qualifications almost never travel: the FAA, for instance, recognises no foreign remote pilot certificate at all, so a UK GVC counts for nothing in America. If you are flying abroad, read that section before you book anything.
What these countries disagree about
They answer the same question in opposite ways. Britain requires you to buy training from an approved provider before you can hold a GVC. America and Canada require you to pass a test and do not care how you prepared for it — which is why the cost of getting legal differs by more than a hundredfold across three comparable countries.
United Kingdom
Training is compulsory and only CAA-approved entities may deliver it. That is why the same certificate ranges from £97 to £450 for an A2 CofC — the syllabus is fixed, so what varies is the teaching around it.
United States
No training requirement whatsoever. The test costs about $175 and anyone may sit it. Courses are optional exam preparation, sold at $159 to $299, and the FAA approves none of them.
Canada
Also no training requirement, and the exam costs $10.17. The certificate never expires. The real money is the flight review needed for Advanced operations, which Transport Canada deliberately leaves the reviewer to price.
Which country next?
Everything we set out to cover is now covered, so what gets written next is decided by what people ask for. We would rather publish nothing than publish a regulatory summary we have not read at source — which is why a country appears here finished, or not at all.
Flying somewhere that is not on this list and cannot find a straight answer? Tell us which country and it goes to the front of the queue.
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