The first time

[ramdam90]

Hi thomas, hope you're doing good
I just wanted you to remind us of the correct use of " it's not the first time that".
I mean after this phrase we have to use a certain tense, what tense is it please ? I thought there was a rule like this : we have to use the present perfect after this phrase. i'm not sure, but i'm looking forward to reading an answer. Thank you !

[Thomas]

Let's see here...off the top of my head, it would be the present perfect, yeah.

It's not the first time that I've been on a train.
This isn't the first time that he's been to Madrid.

If you take the "is" from the sentence and change it to "was" (something pretty common) then it becomes the past perfect.

That wasn't the first time she'd eaten Japanese food.
It wasn't the first time I'd fallen off a house.

As for other tenses, let's see here...

It's not the first time that...I'm...I was...I'm doing...I was doing...yeah, I believe you're right, it's just the present perfect, and it changes to the past or future perfect if the "is" changes to "was" or "will be"

"It won't be the first time that I'll have been to France" is a sentence I could have said last July, for an example in the future.