The International Pilot Proficiency Identity (IPPI) card was introduced in 1992 and is a neat, internationally recognised means of certifying your pilot proficiency, and so helping to prove your competence when visiting foreign sites. It uses an internationally agreed common pilot-rating format: the Safe Pro system for hang glider pilots and the Para Pro system for paraglider pilots.

When a pilot travels abroad, the IPPI card - together with the national rating card - will identify the pilot skills. It gives flying site managers, instructors and others responsible for hang gliding and/or paragliding flight operations an easy way of verifying the pilot experience level prior to approval of flight activities.

The card is valid only together with a current national licence or rating card. It is therefore not necessary to renew the card except when a change in the pilot national licence invalidates the IPPI card. For example, if the pilot receive a higher national ranking which corresponds to a higher stage in the SAFE PRO or PARA PRO system, a new card will be issued. As CIVL encourages all pilots to use the IPPI card, pilots receiving a Membership card or new Pilot Rating from the IHPA will automatically receive an IPPI card from 2008. If you do not have an IPPI card then you may, as a member of the IHPA, apply to the Training & Flight Safety Officer to have one issued. The cost of the card is covered by your IHPA membership fee. Please note that the card does not give any insurance cover. Please also remember that flight safety is ultimately the pilot's own responsibility.

Pilots applying for an IPPI card will be required to provide evidence of their existing pilot rating and contact details of the school where they trained, or of the National Association or Aero Club that issued their current Pilot Rating for verification. The pilot's full name, postal address, nationality and date of birth are also required to process the application.