CAA CFI to FAA CFI?

[jimbo jet set]

All,
whats the procedure to convert a UK CPL/IR/CFI to a US equivalent to enable me to instruct in the US?

Also, what is the situation with the Visa? I have serached the forums but haven't quite found the information I require.

Thanks in advance,

Jim:ok:

[OneIn60rule]

Do you realize that you'll have to do the CFII as well if you intend to train people for their instrument rating?

Maybe you already have enough hours to unfreeze it for that purpose, I don't know. You don't really give any information as to how many hours you have as an instructor, that could be helpful.

About the visa, you can apply I believe for a J-1 and work with that.

On the other hand you could maybe get an M-1 which is what a freind of mine did, he was still short on a few hours so he applied for it and got it. Now this is a bit unorthodox since the M-1 is intended for students that are actually in training.
I don't know of any other visas that you can apply for.



Cheers mate.
1/60

[BobC]

I made the same transition as you are thinking of, but it was 10 years ago so this info may wel be out of date.

The only thing that I was allowed to 'convert' was my UK CPL; I was granted a US CPL but with a big "PPL priveleges only" stamp
all over it. To get where I wanted to be I had to do the tests
theory and practical) for the CPL, IR, CFI and CFII. As some things are quite different "over there" I had to do some training before the tests.

As to visa, I went on an F1 student visa - to qualify for that I had to enrol as a student at a US university. You'll need to check out the visa situation with the US authorities - the US embassy web site used to be a good source of info.

Hope all this helps some - good luck!