Originally Posted by
Dudule54
To my understanding it is possible to apply to an F/O position in a legacy airline.
Last year I was in touch with an AA recruiter who told me that if I had an EB2 I could be interviewed.
Yes, you can certainly apply for any position you wish. The question is whether they're currently messing with visa holders (vs citizens or green card holders) at the time you apply. The hiring game is fickle and volatile: what was true last year (or last month) may or may not be true this (month) year. I'd want to see the acceptance of specific visa holders in writing on the airline's official website and they don't seem to be all that forthcoming with that info (a few regionals have in the past). What some recruiter told you is less than meaningless.
Spirit Airlines took visa holders in the past (in addition to E3) but I doubt they're hiring at the moment. Frontier Airlines is reportedly taking visa holders of some kind but I don't know what category...and I haven't seen that on Frontier's website.
My guess is that the places you'd want to roll the big dice on and make a family move for won't be particularly welcoming to visa holders. DL, UA, AA, UPS, etc just don't have to mess with this issue when there are hordes of citizens storming the gates. Plus, hiring at the legacy level is somewhat less recently than in the hot-and-heavy past.
And as soon as hiring slows even slightly, the competitive requirements go up. What's listed as minimum requirements is meaningless.
Someone else mentioned the time in the RHS. If this would bruise your sensitivities, you won't be happy. And once one gets that magic 1,000 hours, there's no absolute guarantee LHS positions will be available to the very junior pilots. It certainly has been for a few years but I wouldn't plan a life-altering move based on that being the case if it's a deal breaker for you.
I'm happy to see people achieve success in their efforts and admire their willingness to make big efforts and take big risks. But getting reliable, unequivocal information is tough at times.
Best of luck to you and your family. Let us know how you get along. It'll be informative to a lot of people.