The A1/A3 certificate is valid for 5 years after you pass, and CAA Latvia states that it is recognised across the European Union. That makes the qualification portable. It does not make every flight abroad automatically legal.
What the certificate actually proves
After a successful A1/A3 exam, CAA Latvia says the proof appears in its UAS information system. It confirms that you have completed the required online training and exam for A1/A3 Open-category flights.
EASA describes the same competence path for several Open-category drone classes: complete the online training and pass the online theoretical exam to obtain the A1/A3 proof.
That proof is about pilot competence. It is not a local airspace clearance.
The 5-year validity is the easy part
The validity period is straightforward: 5 years. Put the expiry date somewhere you will actually see it before buying a heavier drone or planning a trip.
If you are moving toward A2 later, remember the order. A2 is not an alternative to A1/A3. It builds on it. EASA lists A1/A3 proof as part of the path toward A2 competence, and CAA Latvia treats A2 as a separate step.
The second clock nobody watches
The certificate runs for five years. Your operator registration runs for one, costs 5 EUR, and is what the systems actually check.
That asymmetry is where people get caught. A lapsed registration does not warn you politely: in BGKIS the flight-request section simply does not appear, and the usual place to discover this is in a field with a packed drone. Register once, whatever number of drones you own, and put the annual date in the same calendar as the five-year one.
What "expired" looks like in practice
Latvia publishes the renewal rule for the A2 competence certificate, and it is worth knowing even if you only hold A1/A3, because it shows the shape of the problem:
- before expiry — an online knowledge-refresher course, which you may start no earlier than 90 days and no later than 5 days before the certificate runs out, then 5 EUR for the new certificate;
- after expiry — no refresher. You sit the in-person exam again, at the CAA or at a recognised organisation.
Renewal is national, so the answer changes at the border: for A1/A3 in Poland, the CAA there states that extending competence means going through the training and the online exam again in its national system. Recognition of a valid certificate is EU-wide; the procedure for a lapsed one is not.
A certificate earned abroad still needs to be filed
Recognition is automatic, paperwork is not. If you passed A1/A3 in another member state and then want to move on to A2 in Latvia, the CAA route is to upload the existing proof through the e-services portal — "Kvalifikācija" → "Reģistrēt esošu vai ārvalstīs iegūtu kvalifikāciju". The same logic runs the other way: your Latvian certificate is valid abroad, but a national system may still want to see it registered before it lets you take the next step.
Registration itself is the one thing you cannot duplicate. You register as an operator in the country where you live, or where your business is established, and never in two member states at once.
EU recognition does not remove local checks
Recognition means you do not normally need to repeat A1/A3 just because you cross a border inside the EU. The certificate travels with you.
The operational checks do not.
Before flying in another country, check:
- whether your operator registration is valid for your situation
- the local UAS geographical zones
- insurance requirements
- airport and controlled-airspace restrictions
- protected areas, privacy rules, and local no-fly procedures
The certificate answers "do I have the basic pilot competence?" It does not answer "is this exact place legal today?"
What to keep with you
Keep the certificate available digitally or printed. CAA Latvia's qualification page says remote pilots must be able to present a valid qualification document in digital or printed form.
For travel, also keep your operator registration number and any local confirmations you needed for the flight.
Your next step
If you still need the certificate, start with the A1/A3 course path, then practise in topic drills and a full mock exam. If you want to take the exam outside Latvia, use the official A1/A3 exam portal directory. If you already hold it and plan to fly abroad, read flying your drone in another EU country before packing the drone.
