I have been a flight instructor (CFI) since about 1978 or there about. At one time I did quite a bit of instructing, but not so much lately. When you get a pilot certificate in the US, it is good for life. There are certain currency requirements that you have to meet, but the certificate itself never expires. For the CFI, it is a different ball game. The certificate is only good for two years. You have a number of options to renew the certificate. If you have enough flight activity, you can get an automatic renewal. I have never been able to do that. The most common renewal method is the Flight Instructor Refresher Course (FIRC). This can be done as a weekend course which is two days and 16 hours of instruction. This is what I like to do because it gives the opportunity to interact with the speakers and the other flight instructors.

This year, because of our travel schedule, I couldn't attend the course, so I had to take the online course (eFIRC). It takes way more than 16 hours to complete and is boring beyond belief. Anyway, I finished it today and got this spiffy graduation certificate. I had to register on the FAA IACRA web site and send a bunch of stuff to AOPA. Now some time I will get my new certificate. I hope I can go to the weekend course in 2016 when I have to renew it again.