No more certificates for non citizens

[chawbein]

OK, really seriously, if you have a green card, cool, get some. Otherwise, too bad so sad.

 

[Wiggums]

What about europeans that want to do some flight training over here since it is so expensive in their home countries? Should we just turn their money away? I think there are quite a few flight schools and instructors in Florida that depend on foriegn money.

You can convert from JAA-FAA pretty easily. The conversion from FAA-JAA isn't so bad anymore either with the recent rule changes. The main problem is getting authurization to work. It's difficult for someone on either side of the Atlantic to get a work permit for the otherside, especially after 9/11.

 

[sparticusflt]

Granted in pre 9/11 it was near to impossible to GET work in Europe. I hope to all my South American friends you didn't take offense to this. It is easy for Americans to head south so this is only really directed towards Europe and Asia. Personally I don't really care about the whole foreign pilot issue. I don't care if i can get a job in Europe or Asia. What I do care about is that it is far easier for a foreign pilot to come to the USA and get a job then it is for an American to go out. Make it equal then its not a problem. A green card doesn't make you a citizen either, and it is nice to have all the benifits without any of the headaches, such as taxes.

Ask me my opinion about foreign pilots working in the states and American pilots on the streets unemployeed.

 

[willbav8r]

Good topic here.

I was born in England.

I have a Green Card.

I live and work in the USA. Have done for many years.

So I should be fine to get my CFI etc right? But, what if I didn't have the right to live here, and was merely getting flight time and licenses?

The argument now becomes: could I be a dodgy terrorist?? Of course, that is how the bas@#$%s got away with it, and has to be considered as a future threat.

However, flight schools in this country derive a great deal of their business from overseas "students".

I'm all for checking an individual before letting them loose to do anything, anywhere, near my friends and family: but why not go after the obvious suspects?

I almost hate myself for typing this, but there has to be less risk of Paddy O' Riley from Dublin than A. Mohammed from Baghdad??

Not wanting to get off topic, but with FBO's already hurting, and the likelihood of a fuel increase, insurance costs rising, etc etc - this type of blanket security can do an awful lot of harm?

Not trying to make a statement, just my 0.02 into the ring.

 

[Flywrite]

[ Make it equal then its not a problem. A green card doesn't make you a citizen either, and it is nice to have all the benifits without any of the headaches, such as taxes.



If you are under the impression that Green Card holders in the US dont pay taxes, you are very mistaken. We pay the exact same taxes as everyone else. On top of that we are required to register with selective service, just like citizens.

I came to this country from England when I was 10 years old because my father's employer couldnt find a comparable engineer in the US. I didn't just get here hoping to take an american pilot's job.
I worked my a$$ off pumping gas and washing planes to pay for my ratings, than paid my dues like everyone else. There are people walking around alive and well today because I did my job well on those few occasions when it hit the fan, and I'm getting a little tired of the xenophobic BS flowing these days about how I shouldnt be allowed to work here as a pilot.
It's called a free market. I am legally allowed to live here for as long as I want, I pay taxes to support the nation's aviation infrastructure, and when I turned 18 I signed up to be drafted to fight for this country, so you will have to fogive me for thinking that I have earned the right to make a living as a pilot here.
I hate to tell you, but curling up into a ball and excluding everyone who is not a US citizen is not the answer to the world's problems.

Flame away

 

[Wiggums]

Granted in pre 9/11 it was near to impossible to GET work in Europe. I hope to all my South American friends you didn't take offense to this. It is easy for Americans to head south so this is only really directed towards Europe and Asia. Personally I don't really care about the whole foreign pilot issue. I don't care if i can get a job in Europe or Asia. What I do care about is that it is far easier for a foreign pilot to come to the USA and get a job then it is for an American to go out. Make it equal then its not a problem.

I would say that it is about equal. It's pretty much impossible for someone from Europe to get a green card, and similarly it's very difficult for an American to get a work permit for the EU.

A green card doesn't make you a citizen either, and it is nice to have all the benifits without any of the headaches, such as taxes.

Not true, it's the other way round. Green card holders have all of the drawbacks of being American such as selective service and taxes, but cannot do anything about it because they cannot vote. I believe "No taxation without representation" was invented here.

 

[sparticusflt]

Alright I was mistaken about the green card and the tax issue. However, are you going to say that it is just as easy for an American to get his CAA ratings then apply to British Airways, then a British pilot to come do his FAA ratings and apply to United? No I still don't think so. I'm not about the closing of the doors to foreign nationals. And to the one who came here when he was 10, I would wadger that you are probably an American citizen now. It is not equal and it has never been equal. This was my point. Most of the Eurpean pilot buddies would agree to that. As far as Mohammad from Bagdad, well thats another point all together. Not every middle eastener is a terrorist.

And something tells me that they are not going to deny foreigners the right to come to flight school.

 

[sparticusflt]

What about europeans that want to do some flight training over here since it is so expensive in their home countries? Should we just turn their money away? I think there are quite a few flight schools and instructors in Florida that depend on foriegn money.


If your looking for sympathy for a poor old flight instructor, talk to your non flying friends. Many of us paid our dues doing what you do, and servived just like you will. There are plenty of students out there. And the government isn't going to shut off the foreign students from flight school. If they did that then they would have to deny them from all of the universities.

 

[bobbysamd]

Foreign flight training revenue

It would be a big mistake to deny "ferners" access to U.S. sources of flight training, provided they are screened thoroughly by Homeland Security.

Foreign flight students are a major source of revenue to U.S. flight schools, especially in Florida. That revenue turns over several times, in the form of salaries paid to school employees (in other words, jobs are created for low-time CFIs needing hours!!), sales of fuel, property taxes, etc. Not to mention the students' out-of-pocket expenses, such as food, rent, services, cars they purchase and the fuel for their cars. This is all fresh money coming in from abroad and not recycled, domestically-earned revenue. Many of these schools would go out of business but for foreign pilot training.

I don't know how many foreign-born pilots are hired into jobs for which Americans are also competing. I know that some Florida-school-trained foreign pilots get CFI jobs here after they graduate. Based on my experience and encounters with foreign students at FSI, I think most of them go home after they earn their ratings.

Once again, Homeland Security must screen diligently for undesirables and keep them out of our country. Nothing the matter with "desirables" giving their business to American flight schools.

 

[Flywrite]

I've been here since I was 10, thats over 22 years now and I'm still a UK citizen. I could have become a US citizen years ago, but I like being British. Not that I dont love the good old USA, but I'm sure you would feel the same way if the tables were turned.

I will concede that it is easier to get into the aviation business here, much easier. I would never have been able to afford to learn to fly on my own if I had stayed in England, and I dont have the vision for the Betty Windsor Flying Club.

I understand it is easier to convert an FAA license to JAA these days...still harder than the opposite though.

I guess the fact is that America has always been the land of opportunity, and there is no point being bitter because it still is. How many US citizens on this board would be here if your ancestors had been told they couldnt come to the USA?