FAA Part 107 Waivers: How to Apply, Costs & Approval Timelines (2026)

A Part 107 waiver is the FAA's written permission to operate outside a specific rule in Part 107, and it costs nothing to apply for. Section 107.200 lets the FAA issue a certificate of waiver when you show that your operation can be conducted safely using alternative methods, section 107.205 lists the ten regulations that can be waived, and applications are now filed through the FAA Aviation Safety Hub rather than FAADroneZone. The FAA aims to answer within 90 days.

What a Waiver Is, and What It Is Not

A waiver is not a licence and not an airspace authorization. It does not change 107.13, 107.17 or any of the certification rules, and it does not transfer to another pilot automatically. It is tied to the operation you described: the area, the altitude, the aircraft, the personnel and the mitigations you committed to in the application. The first duty of flying under a waiver is reading it, because the conditions it lists become the rules for that flight.

The Ten Regulations You Can Waive

Part 107 is short, and the waiver list is shorter. Anything not on this list must be complied with exactly as published.

Regulation	What a waiver lets you do
107.25	Operate from a moving vehicle or aircraft
107.29(a)(2) and (b)	Operate at night or during civil twilight without anti-collision lighting
107.31	Operate beyond visual line of sight
107.33	Use a visual observer without meeting every visual observer requirement
107.35	Operate more than one small unmanned aircraft with a single remote pilot
107.37(a)	Deviate from the requirement to yield the right of way
107.39	Fly over people with an aircraft that does not meet Category 1, 2, 3 or 4
107.41	Operate in certain airspace without an authorization
107.51	Exceed 100 mph groundspeed, 400 feet AGL, fly below 3 statute miles visibility, or fly closer to clouds than the rule allows
107.145	Fly over moving vehicles with an aircraft that does not meet the operational categories

Two carve-outs are written into the rule itself. No waiver of 107.25 or 107.31 will be issued to allow carrying property of another person by aircraft for compensation or hire. That is the boundary between Part 107 waivers and Part 135 air carrier certification.

What You No Longer Need a Waiver For

Two large categories moved out of the waiver process. Night operations became legal without a waiver on April 21, 2021, when the FAA amended 107.29 to allow flying at night with anti-collision lighting, which is why the waiver list now references only 107.29(a)(2) and (b). Controlled airspace access moved mostly into the authorization process, and LAANC returns an approval in seconds for altitudes inside the facility map grids. A 107.41 waiver is now the fallback for airspace or altitudes that LAANC cannot cover.

How to Apply: The Four Steps

Step 1: Identify the exact rule you need to deviate from

Match your problem to the table above. Flying at 500 feet AGL is a 107.51 waiver. Filming a marathon from the far side of a barrier is a 107.31 waiver. Getting this wrong is the most common reason applications stall, because the safety analysis has to address the regulation being waived.

Step 2: Write the Waiver Safety Explanation

This is the heart of the application. The FAA expects four things: a description of the proposed operation, the operational risks, the mitigations you will use, and a detailed answer to each Waiver Safety Explanation Guideline for the section you are requesting. Expect to describe the area by latitude, longitude and map, the maximum altitude, the airspace within five miles, and the character of the area you will fly over, from rural to congested. Expect to describe the aircraft: type, power source, maximum flight time, range, speed, dimensions, weight with payload, how any load is secured, and how the aircraft is contained or terminated in flight. Expect to describe the personnel: the minimum experience the remote pilot in command will have, how many people the operation needs, the training visual observers receive, and how competence is documented. A description of the operation without identified hazards and mitigations is disapproved on the ground of insufficient information.

Step 3: Submit in the Aviation Safety Hub

Create an account at aviationsafetyportal.faa.gov and file the operational waiver application there. You do not have to register the aircraft to apply, but you must register it before you fly any operation. If you intend to operate during civil twilight or at night, say so and explain the additional risk mitigations, or the waiver may be limited to daylight only.

Step 4: Respond to requests for information

The FAA aims to complete its review within 90 days of a complete submission. If the reviewer needs more information, the request arrives through the Aviation Safety Hub with a response deadline. If you do not respond within 30 days, the application is cancelled and you start over. That single rule is why the responsible person listed on the application needs to watch the account email.

Planning Around the Timeline

The practical planning number is to apply at least 90 days before the operation, and longer for a first BVLOS application or anything involving flight over people with a non-compliant aircraft. Read the valid operational waivers published on the FAA site: they show the language the FAA accepts for similar operations, which is the fastest way to write a safety explanation that reads like an approval letter instead of an experiment.

Certificate, Authorization, Waiver

Keep the three FAA permissions separate in your head, because exam questions and real operations both depend on the distinction. A Part 107 remote pilot certificate is your authority to fly commercially. An airspace authorization, usually through LAANC, is your permission to enter controlled airspace. A certificate of waiver is your permission to depart from one of the ten operational rules. A single flight may need all three, and a waiver never substitutes for the other two.

How This Shows Up on the Exam

The UAG knowledge test does not ask you to draft a waiver, but it does test the structure of the rule. Know that 107.205 contains the waiverable list, that 107.200 authorizes deviations, that night operations no longer require a waiver, that LAANC covers most controlled airspace authorization requests, and that the two commercial carriage carve-outs are absolute. Drill the airspace and regulations chapters until the boundaries between certificate, authorization and waiver are automatic. Start with the Part 107 study guide, then work the LAANC and airspace authorization guide and operations over people so the three permissions stay distinct. Free practice questions will tell you whether they do.