cfi training and jobs

[maverick2872]

hi everyone, i have an FAA cpl, wanna be a cfi, i am NOT an american citizen, are there any schools that train cfis and hire them after training? and also help them with visas?

[sapperkenno]

Where are you a citizen of?

I hold FAA CFI/CFII certificates and am a UK citizen. Apart from marrying a US citizen there is no simple way of getting a green card and employment authorization. I know this as I had a flight school willing to sponsor me, but it's not possible to get work authorization and prove to the Dept of Labor that there are no suitable US citizens to do the job.

The flight school I'm at get around 10-20 resumes a week, and there are around 4000 registered CFI holders here in Arizona alone... They are behind me 100%, but unfortunately current immigration legislation makes things very difficult. If you read into the immigration rules/regs as I have, and find previous USCIS cases (I found 2; one for a heli instructor, one fixed-wing) who were turned down it'll give you a better idea of why it's pretty much impossible to get a green card as a pilot. I don't know if there are still some raw-nerves post 9/11 with foreigners and flying!? There are no work-arounds either, ie filing as a skilled worker, or a temporary non-immigrant visa etc...

If you can find another way of making this happen, ie. You're a doctor/astronaut/pop-idol and can easily get a green card through those professions, or can afford to lose $500k - $1 million through investment to buy a green card, you're ****-bust outta luck. Just like me, and the numerous others before us.

If you can find a way around that without breaking the law and bending the rules too far, you might be in with a chance. Then, with work authorization, you'd be looking at waiting on a visa number becoming available, which for people from the UK (one of the countries with the shortest wait) you'd still be looking at 3+ years.

So, even if you found a sponsor, who are willing to fund the initial filing and attorney fees - which the law states they must, who are willing to wait years for you, and you had no trouble getting your case approved, it would be around 3 years until you could start working...

I'm now looking at Canada. Easy FAA to TCCA conversion, and easier immigration rules (for Brits). I'm playing my cards close to my chest though, and don't want to give too much away. It's up to you to make things work out. Take it from me though, the US isn't an easy place to get into! Hopefully you'll realize that soon, prior to forking out thousands on attorney fees and waiting around for years if you do miraculously have a case that may work. Good luck finding a wife.

All the best.

[ReverseFlight]

Apart from the US wife, there's the green lottery. People have been known to win it.

Did you obtain your CPL on an M visa ? You are only eligible for a J visa if you hold no more than an ICAO PPL before you start training.

If that's not the case, and you are able to go the J visa route, there're a small number of flight schools which allow employment as a CFI until the expiry of your visa, ranging from Orlando FT and Delta Connection in Florida to Hillsboro Av in Oregon - do a search in these forums.

Hurry before the J visa program expires mid-2010 ... never before, never again.