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Airworthiness Certificates, Registration Certificates, Radio Licenses, Medical Certificates, Temporary Airman Certificates and other important documents are commonly printed on paper, which can be easily damaged or destroyed. Replacement can take weeks or months, grounding the plane or pilot unnecessarily.

Is there any regulation (or other general legal principle regarding official documents) that prohibits lamination to protect them? If so, is there another widely accepted solution?

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    $\begingroup$ Just make copies of your documents. You won't be grounded for eons if you have backup evidence. Take pictures of everything with your phone and email the pics to yourself. $\endgroup$
    – John K
    Commented Mar 24, 2019 at 23:09
  • $\begingroup$ FYI a family member of mine had a problem getting a "Real ID" driver's license because he had laminated his Social Security card. So the accepted answer may not apply to non-FAA-issued documents, or to cases where documents are being presented to someone other than an FAA official. $\endgroup$
    – quiet flyer
    Commented Mar 8 at 15:51

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You may laminate certificates after any required signatures are made.

For pilot certificates, we find this in FAA Order 8900.1:

5-196    PERSONAL POSSESSION OF PILOT CERTIFICATES. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 61, § 61.3 ...

NOTE:  Airmen may either use clear laminating sheets to protect permanent FAA-issued certificates or have the certificates professionally laminated, as long as the airman’s signature is placed on the certificate before lamination. Without the signature, the certificate is not valid.

The FAA also allows lamination of aircraft airworthiness certificates. From FAA Order 8130.2J:

When printing a (airworthiness) certificate using the PDF version of the form, set the page scaling to none, or actual size. The printed form should be approximately 5��”by 3-3/8”. Use white 8½” by 11” paper (if the applicant wishes, they may trim the document to size) or appropriate size card stock. You should use a heavy weight paper or cardstock. The forms will print in grayscale; using a color printer is not required. Laser print may be subject to displacement. Encourage applicants to protect the document by lamination or other document protection processes.

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For protecting non-wallet documents, consider using a vacuum seal bag for food. To prevent warping the simplest thing is to squeeze the air out and only use the seal function, without vacuum.

This way way if somebody has an issue or you need to modify the documents, you can cut open the pouch and retrieve them in original state.

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    $\begingroup$ similar things exist as dedicated document sleeves as well. Might be less messy if you work for a company that has such a device. $\endgroup$
    – jwenting
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 5:05
  • $\begingroup$ @jwenting I seem to recall seeing something like that, thermally sealed on the edges but I can't find it. You have a link? $\endgroup$
    – user71659
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 23:57

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