Last Updated on 3 months by JoinTheWays

How to Register Your Drone | Step-by-Step Explanations

In order to operate drones in today’s environment you need to register them. It is a vital process before even testing out a drone because it ensures the safety of the drone itself and the people around it.

But many drone enthusiasts don’t know how to register their drones and they end up when things like crushes happen they don’t have insurance, a license, or a pilot ID. Therefore they end up losing their drones, in conflict with the police, or even ending up paying unnecessary fines

So, How do you register your drone? – In this article, We will cover step by step process you need to make to register your drone in the US, UK, and Australia so that you can fly your drone in a safety way possible and avoid any potential conflicts.

Let’s dive In;

How to Register Your Drone In the US

Register your drone at FAA DroneZone under part 107 or the Exception for Recreational Flyers. If you are unaware of what kind of a drone flyer you are, check out our User Identification Tool or visit our Getting Started webpage to learn more.

Every drone has to be registered, except those that weigh 0.55 pounds or less (less than 250 grams) and are flown exclusively under the Exception for Recreational Flyers.
Drones registered under Part 107 are permitted to fly for recreational purposes and under part 107.
Drones registered under the Exception for Recreational Flyers are not permitted to fly for Part 107 operations.

Remote Identification and Your Drone

Beginning September 16, 2023, all drone pilots required to register their drones must operate their aircraft by the remote-ID rule for pilots, which gives drone owners sufficient time to upgrade their aircraft.

Drone manufacturers have until September 16, 2022, to produce drones with built-in standard remote IDs. View Remote ID for Industry. The FAA also encourages the early production of remote-ID broadcast modules.

How to Register

Information Needed to Register

Physical address and mailing address (if different from physical address)
Email address
Phone number
Make and model your drone
Specific Remote ID serial number provided by the manufacturer (if applicable)
Credit or debit card

Registration Fees

Part 107 registration costs $5 per drone and is valid for three (3) years.
The Exception for Recreational Flyers registration costs $5 and is valid for three (3) years.
Once registered, no transfers are allowed for drone registration between license types (part 107 or the Exception for Recreational Flyers).

Registration Requirements

13 years of age or older (if the owner is less than 13 years of age, a person 13 years of age or older must register the drone)
A US citizen or legal permanent resident.
For foreign operators, FAA will consider the certificate issued to be a recognition of ownership rather than a certificate of US aircraft registration.

Where to Register

After You Register

Once you register your drone, you will receive an FAA registration certificate. You must have your registration certificate (either a paper copy or a digital copy) in your possession when you fly. If another individual operates your drone, they must have your drone registration certificate (either a paper or digital copy) in their possession.

Federal law requires drone operators to register and show their certificates to any Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer if asked.

Failure to register a drone that requires registration may result in regulatory and criminal penalties. The FAA may assess civil penalties up to $27,500. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and (or) imprisonment for up to three (3) years.

Label Your Drone

The FAA requires that you mark all drones with your registration number before you fly them. Here is how to label your drone:

Label your drone (PDF)
Must be maintained in a legible condition.
Must be affixed to the small Unmanned aircraft by any means necessary to ensure that it will remain affixed for the duration of each operation.
Must be legibly displayed on an external surface of the small Unmanned aircraft.

Renew Your Drone Registration

When your drone registration expires, you have to renew your registration at the FAA DroneZone. If you are having trouble logging into the DroneZone, you may need to reset your password (PDF). Be sure to use your user email address that registered your drone with the FAA.

Drone Registration Data and Additional Information

You can find a geographic list of drone registry enrollments and registrants on our website.
14 CFR Part 48 — Registration and Marking Requirements for Small Unmanned Aircraft

How to register Your drone in Australia

You now need to register your drones, or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), if you fly them for business or as part of your job.

There are some circumstances where you don’t need to register your drone. It includes when:

you don’t intend to fly your drone
you’re only flying for sport or recreation, including model aircraft flown at CASA-approved model airfields
you’re a commercial drone repairer or manufacturer, but you must keep records.

You can register your drone online. It only takes a few minutes. Each registration is valid for 12 months.

Drone registration requirements

You must register it before you fly if you fly a drone or RPA for:

Business
Use it as part of your job.

It applies to all drones you fly to provide any service, no matter how much the drone weighs. It may include activities such as:

selling photos or videos are taken from a drone
inspecting industrial equipment, construction sites, or infrastructure
monitoring, surveillance, or security services
research and development
any drone activities on behalf of your employer or business.

You have to be aged 16 or older to register a drone.

You must also get an RPA operator accreditation if you fly your drone for business or use one as part of your job.

You don’t need an RPA operator accreditation if you have a remote pilot license (RePL) or only fly for sport or recreation.

Registration levy

You may need to pay a levy for some drones flown for business or used as part of your job.

Drones weighing 500 g or less

It’s free to register drones that are 500 g or less.

Drones weighing more than 500 g

A registration levy of $40 per drone applies.

Registration is mandatory. In exceptional circumstances, you may be eligible to apply for a refund of the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) registration levy.

Register your drone

It only takes a few minutes to register your drone using myCASA.

Registering a drone, you must:

be 16 or older
have a digital identity or proof of identity
have a myCASA account
have an aviation reference number (ARN)
know the make, model, serial number, weight, and type of drone
download and(or) print your certificate of registration from myCASA.

Consider whether you need an organization aviation reference number (ARN). If you’re a business, this will allow others to manage your fleet of drones.

You can also follow these steps to register your drone:

Log in to myCASA using your account
You still have to create an account if you haven’t used the myCASA portal.
Navigate to the myCASA portal and enter your email address and password to log in.
You can also use Digital Identity to log in to the portal.
Select ‘Apply for an individual ARN’
After you have logged in, navigate to the ‘Need an ARN?’ section and select ‘Apply for aviation reference number (ARN)’
You can link your existing ARN or apply for a new one. If you’re operating on behalf of a business, you’ll also need an organization ARN.
Enter your details
You will then enter your details. These include:
- name
- address
- date of birth
- sex
- phone numbers
- nationality.
Submit your identification
After entering your details, you will see a prompt to submit your identification.
You will only need one type of identification. Most identity documents can be verified online, including:
- Australian passport
- Australian birth certificate
- Australian citizenship certificate
- ImmiCard
- foreign passport.
Register your drone
Select the ‘individual’ or ‘organization’ account.
Select ‘drone registration’ and then ‘Begin drone registration’.
Select your:
- drone manufacturer from the list provided
- model of your drone.
If your drone’s manufacturer and model aren’t listed, select ‘other manufacturer’ or ‘home built’ and add:
- manufacturer name
- model name
- drone category
- drone weight.
Enter your drone’s serial number
Enter the drone’s unique serial number. You might find this inside the battery compartment, on the warranty card, on the packaging for the drone, or via associated apps.
Let us know if your drone is registered overseas.
Review the summary and read the declaration
Review your registration summary.
You can add additional drones if you’re registering more than one. To do this, select ‘Add Drone’ and repeat the previous steps for all the drones you need to register.
Read the declaration carefully.
Complete payment details
Once you have completed the registration form, add your payment details to complete the application.

Renew your registration

Drone registration is valid for 12 months. You’ll be notified by email when your registration is up for renewal.

You can renew your drone registration under the ‘Manage registered drones’ section of your myCASA account.

Registrations are renewable 30 days before and up to 30 days after the due date. Registrations expire automatically. To keep flying, make sure you have renewed your drone registration by the due date.

If you forgot to renew your registration within 60 days, you must re-register your drone again.

Modifying a registered drone

Modifying a registered drone may require you to unregister the drone and register it as a new drone. It applies if the modifications:

changes the category or type of drone (for example, airplane to multi-rotor)
changes upwards the classification of the aircraft (for example, very small to medium); or
increases the take-off weight by more than 20 percent (take-off weight includes payload)
don’t contain parts and components from the permit version that are critical to the operations of the drone.

Unregistering your drone

You must Unregister your drone if you:

lose it
damage it beyond repair
sell or dispose of it.

If you sell or transfer your drone, you must cancel your registration. If you don’t, you might be held responsible for any offenses committed by the new owner.

You can unregister your drone from the ‘Manage registered drones’ section of your myCASA account.

Never remove the serial number from your drone after unregistering it. A drone’s serial number remains the same even if it is transferred to someone else.

After you have unregistered your drone, the new owner will register it using myCASA.

Follow these steps to unregister a drone or cancel its registration:

Log in to myCASA using your account
Navigate to the myCASA portal and enter your email address and password to log in.
You can also use Digital Identity to log in to the portal.
Select ‘Manage registered drones’
From the list of drones, find the drone you want to unregister and select ‘Manage’.
Select ‘De-register’
Confirm it has the correct details and select ‘De-register’.

Penalties for flying an unregistered drone

You can be fined if you fly an unregistered drone for business or as part of your job. The fine is up to $11,100.

You can be asked to produce your certificate of registration by either:

an authorized representative of CASA
a member of the Australian Federal Police or state and territory police services

How to register Your drone in the UK

You must register before flying most drones or model aircraft outdoors in the UK

There are two requirements, and you may need to meet both, if you will fly, you must pass a theory test to get a flyer ID

if you’re responsible for a drone or model aircraft, you must register for an operator ID

You can get both your flyer ID and operator ID at the same time

Warning It is against the law to fly a drone or model aircraft without having the required IDs. You can also be fined for breaking the law when flying. In the most serious cases, you could be sent to prison.

Toys and small drones and model aircraft

You do not need to register if you will only fly or use the following types of drone or model aircraft:

Toys below 250g or in C0 class

Those in C0 class with no camera, whether they are a toy or not

those below 250g with no camera and no class mark, whether they’re a toy or not

Take a look at the registration requirements for drones and model aircraft to find out if you need to register.

Flyer ID

The flyer is the person who flies the drone or model aircraft.

You must pass an online theory test to get a flyer ID. The test is free. You should prepare for the test before you take it.

Children under 13 must also pass the test to get a flyer ID. For data protection reasons, they must register with their parent or guardian.

There’s more information in the children and parent guidance.

Operator ID

The operator is the person responsible for managing a drone or model aircraft. This means they’re responsible for things like maintaining it and making sure that anyone who flies it has a flyer ID.

They’re usually the person or organization that owns the drone or model aircraft, but not always. For example, if you’re younger than 18 and you own a drone or model aircraft, you must ask your parent or guardian to register for an operator ID. You’ll still be able to fly as long as you have a flyer ID.

The operator must:

make sure that only people with a valid flyer ID use their drone or model aircraft
label their drones and model aircraft with their operator ID
You must be 18 or over to register for an operator ID. You can use the same operator ID for all your drones and model aircraft.
If you’re responsible for drones or model aircraft, but will not fly them you can register as an operator only.

Prices

Operator and flyer registration costs and validity

Registration Cost Valid for

Operator ID £10 1 year
Flyer ID £0 5 years
Insurance requirements

Drones and model aircraft below 20kg

If you fly a drone or model aircraft below 20kg for recreation, sport, or as a hobby, you can choose whether or not to have insurance.

If you fly it for any other reason, you must have third-party insurance.

Drones and model aircraft 20kg and above

If your drone or model aircraft is 20kg or more, you must always have third-party insurance, no matter what you use it for.

How to Register Your Drone – FAQs

How much does it cost to register a drone in the US?

$5 per drone

How to Register Your Drone | Step-by-Step Explanations

How to Register Your Drone | Step-by-Step Explanations