According to what my old school says though, you are still at risk if caught training in the US by the Immigration Service without a proper visa.
....and you take the risk to be baned for 10 years even after your training.The immigration keep a file on you (I-94)and you can be denied entrance in the States.
ant1,
I have lost:
130$ application fee with TSA, non refundable
230$ finger prints
200$ flight ticket to USA(by chance the travel agency has refunded me 70%)
500$ travel for fingerprint
1000$ books and online course to study at home.
total: over 2000$ and a lot of deception
.
the TRTO told me to go with a B1/B2 visa.
I have applied with the TSA, and 30 days later, after paying everything with my credit card, they told me I was ineligible.
They(TSA) asked me to apply for an M1 visa on the sevis website, but I did not find any visa for this course.
The school has tried to help me,but a few months later they told me they were sorry! and it was over for me...
I got an email from the TSA help department, and they explained me I was denied for improper visa, and the only visa accepted was M1 or F1.
I will send a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security in Washington and I suggest you to do the same and ask for clarification.
you have probably received a form from your US school that says a B1/B2 visa is accepted. This form is not valid anymore or has never been valid, and if you apply, you are right , you are at risk to be deported (and be baned from the USA for 10 years)even if you have the clearance from the TSA.
With a tourist visa, you can only say to the Custom Officer you come for tourism...if they discover you lie they will send you back home, or they can ban you if you decide to make appeal and you lose your case. Believe me, I had an inspection A recently, and they have asked me thousand of questions for 25 minutes and even called a friend in the USA to see if I was lying or not.!(I was in the USA for vacation, but they thought I came to work illegaly)
I am not the only one who have been denied training...and I wont reapply again.(the TSA seems to deny who they want and you can not even defend yourself, even if they did a mistake... (they have the same system in N.Korea).
"This application was denied due to the fact you have a B1 Visa and are attempting to take flight lessons that are not part of a commercial aviation business lease agreement. Under the current AFSP policy, flight students who are not commercial pilots must obtain a M1 or F1 visa to take flight lessons in the
U.S. If you wish to take flight lesson within the U.S., you will have to submit an application to a provider that is able to issue the I-20 which will allow for the issuance of a M or F visa."
you can go with sim center, they are approved by the TSA, but they are not JAA.
if I was you, do not pay anything until you have your M1 visa and TSA clearance.
let the TRTO takes the risk. The immigration will deport you, not the school.
concerning cost at simcenter, this is a minimum cost.
ad 20-40% to be ready for the FAA checkride.
if you have received an INS form explaining to come and study under a B2 visa...it is not longer valid, because the INS does not exist anymore!!!!