Foreign Pilots

[bigboy]

I am a European flight instructor with a student visa and a temporary work permit. I have been looking at regional airlines as my next step but there is
one problem. In order to work a US based company, they have to be willing/eligible to sponsor you. Most regionals will not sponsor foreign pilots for a permanent working visa or a green card.
If anybody has any sort of information on this, please share, whether you know of somebody at your airline that has been through the same process or you know of an airline that sponsors foreing pilots. Any information would be of great importance! Thank you!

If I were you I would look into a 135 cargo operators to gain more experience while you sort out your situation. I would really doubt the fact that any US airline will sponsor you. plus if your permit is renewable, then you will not need a sponsor.

best of luck.

 

[PacoPollo]

I have an american girlfrieng Braz. (Un)fortunatley she has very loving and caring parents that play a huge part in her life and won't let her marry a flight instructor that makes 14 an hour. So you see my pain here...

Easy get her pregnant.

 

[buckman]

Sounds like Pinnicle would be a perfect fit for you.

 

[ATC@LWSK]

Vlatko, good luck. I have flown into Skopje many times between 2000-2005.

I am TWR ATC in Skopje
If you ever had a go-around in Skopje, that was me!
j/k

ATC@LWSK

 

[Check 6]

Skopje

ATC, we have probably spoken on the radio then. I always flew in under a "JM XXX" call sign in a LearJet and parked on the NATO ramp.

 

[Gorilla]

Typical FI, ragging on a guy with a serious question, presented in a respectful manner. If a U.S. pilot wanted advice on flying a foreign job, would the response be:

A) helpful, with a "good luck" at the end, or...

B) "Don't let the door hit you on the a$$ on the way out."

Hmm, now that I've typed this out, the answer is probably "B". This is a no-slack crowd! :nuts:

It just seems the answers could be a bit more civil. At least the guy is Macedonian, and not from an Islamic Sharia paradise.

 

[ATC@LWSK]

Yup, I remember that callsign.We used to have a lot of JM's, JG's etc back then. Now, only once in a while. Did you fly for the US Army?

 

[Check 6]

ATC, initially we used "JGO XXX" call signs and later on just used "JM XXX" call signs.

I was flying on contract with the US Navy from 1999 - December 2005.

Have things stabilised in town a little now?

The photo in my avtar is of two of the Learjets that I flew.

 

[ATC@LWSK]

Everything seems to be ok now, Check6. I mean, once you give them one finger, they go for the whole hand. And when they get it.....they are fine......but just for a while......and then again......I guess we're at this stage right now......
You know who I am talking about, right? The guys from the north that started it in 2001.
Whatever.......... Let's not start politics

ATC@LWSK

 

[Check 6]

Understand, and yes, no politics, just wanted to know how things were going for you. I always wanted to visit the city centre, but never left the airport because of security concerns.

You have a beautiful country. I wanted to visit Lake Ohrid but never had the opportunity.

Be safe,

 

[FlyingToIST]

Vlatko,
what did you get your BS in? I was lucky enough to be sponsored by my IT job. If you had a degree in aviation, forget about it.. Not too far from you, from Istanbul , born and raised..

Good luck..

 

[vlatko]

a reply for: buckman, LWSK, Check 6, bigboy, Gorrila, FlyingToIST

buckman: Why Pinnacle?

Hey LWSK kako si care?

I guess this is a pretty popular forum if even macedonian ATC is on here
I've never had the opportunity to fly in Macedonia just because I don't know
of anybody that has any single engine or light twin engine airplanes for rent. I would love to do it because our land is so beautiful with all the mountains and lakes. Oklahoma can get pretty boring after flying for 5 years over nothing but bare flat land. What's your name? How long have you worked there? I met a guy 5-6 years ago that worked at the lwsk tower, through a tennis coach at KTK, I wonder if there's a chance that might be you or someone you know.

Check 6: I'm glad to hear that. How do you like Skopje's terminal? haha Hey at least we have some CATII approaches Too bad you never went into Skopje. Skopje is a very safe place and any undesirable activities always happened far outside of Skopje, except on a few occasions where it happened in a farely distant suburb 10 miles outside of the city limits, Arachinovo. Other than then that, I've been going back home twice a year for the last 6 years since I moved to the US and have never had any problems. I'm just saying, you missed out bigtime on some good grub, great restaurants, cafe's, nightlife, culture and history. Maybe another time

bigboy: My permit is not renewable. With a 135 operator it would be the same as a regional or any other US company.

Gorrila: that's what I'm thinking to myself every time I read an arrogant/ignorant post. They're bashing on me like I'm some insurgent. Too bad there's a lot of schmo's that don't differentiate between an ambitious christian foreigner that probably speaks their own language better then themselves and an islamic terrorist or some 3rd world country illegal scum.

FlyingToIST: Long live Turkey - Marmaris and Bodrum in particular My BS is in Aviation Technology Management and yes I wish I had a BS in computer science like my brother - work visa would have never been a problem. But what are you going to do...

 

[Check 6]

Vlatko, we were getting bad info at the time because of the "troubles" to the north, and therefore we could not leave the airport. I never went inside the terminal, but went into the Airport Manager's office many times where they held us up for US dollars, cash of course, no credit cards

ATC was always good there.

I also love Turkey, expecially Marmaris. What a great place to visit. I spent a week in Marmaris in 2004. Very inexpensive there. I have also stayed in Dalaman. It is nice because there are not many tourists there.

 

[vlatko]

Check 6: Man you were living life for a while there Any job is a great job if you get to fly to places like Skopje and Marmaris I've been to 4 different Carribean islands, as well as Spain, Portugal, Greece and other places but nothing compares to tourist spots in Turkey, especially Marmaris. There's just something that is so unique to that place that you will never find it anywhere else in the world. Maybe it's Turkish hospitality, they know how to treat you like a king.

 

[Check 6]

I agree 100%, the Turks are some of the most hospitable people in the world. Turkey is a well kept secret as far as Americans going there on holiday.

I have also spent time on Majorca and it is a great place - the Capital of Palma for me, not the crazy places up the coast.

Crete is also a great place to stay (Chania), and also Rhodes (Rodos) to the east, both great places to stay.

I visited 25 countries while living in Italy.

 

[vlatko]

Check 6: Who did you work for when you lived in Italy and flew to all these places? I think you mentioned something about a contractor but I am not sure. Can you give more details about it. How did you go about finding that job, are jobs like that still available, do you have to be a citizen etc. It sounds very interesting. I wouldn't mind going living in Europe and flying anything over there, especially in a place like Italy which is one of my favorite countries that I haven't been to.

 

[Check 6]

Vlatko, check you PM's.

 

[D-Jumbo]

PS: Are you from Russia or something (based on your name) ?? In that case you don't even have to get a JAA/European license right ?

Wouldnt it be easier to go to Russia/Eastern Europe, convert your FAA (ICAO) license to a local CPL and fly a aeroflot 76 around ? (blond young girls and cheap wodka... you do the math)

Hey EIKEL, the guy has the same dreams and hopes as you apperently have yourself, why not give him a break and give him the info he is asking for. It appears you are a few (just a few) steps ahead of him. I am fortune enough to be in a totally different position, otherwise I would give him all I knew.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

Thanks for the name calling my German (D-reg) "friend" ....

READ my post, I'm just trying to help him, and I'm just asking the guy some questions.

In fact, I feel his pain like no other, so next time read a post before you start your cheap name calling. I gave him the best advice I could give him (getting a good lawyer to help him with his H visa).


---

translation: 'eikel' means ' jerk'

PS: I would love to fly a 76 for Aeroflot with some 25 y/old blond russian girls in the back. But hey, that's just me.

 

[Flyin'Finn]

vlatko -

my experience with h-1 to permanent residency in the short aviation career i've had so far is as follows:

1. get hired as an instructor by a university that has an aviation program; their position requirements (i.e. b.s. required) should satisfy h-1 specialty occupation requirement
2. start your PR process as soon as you are hired.
3. you can change employers after 6 mos of filing your I-485. at that point airlines don't have to sponsor you since you will have employment authorization even though your green card process is not complete.

the problems i've faced so far with the abovementioned process are the "prevailing wage" comparison: the petitioner has to pay you a fair salary which the universities always do, BUT industry average or "fair" as in let's say ~20k/yr, is not necessarily "fair" compared to rest of the h-1 category positions (EE, MIS, accounting etc); currently the PR process is bogged down when it comes to filing I-485 (last phase in the PR process), meaning you will be stuck with whoever sponsors your h-1 probably a good 2-3 years.(pm me if you want more specifics)

it's a tough deal trying to make it here as an entry-level pilot even if you don't have the immigration baggage with you, so best of luck! after all is said and done, i hope we'll be able to say it was all worth it ...