Airline Foreign Pilot Hire With Experience

[SeanA321]

Im a Pilot with 1500hrs on the A321, along with a frozen atpl. Im currently flying for Mihin Lanka in SriLanka and Im only 20yrs old. Will I have an opportunity to apply to american eagle or any other airline in US I mean will they hire me? And will they give me a work visa if they do cause I do not posses a Green Card nor do I have PR. Id pay for my training with the airline or id do an additional rating before joining. So would I have a chance?

[Tinstaafl]

Short answer: No.

[cyrilroy21]

@Sean

If you born in Sri Lanka or any other country that is considered eligible then you are eligible for the Diversity Visa lottery that issues about 50,000 green cards every year

Once you get that and convert to an FAA license then you should be eligible to apply to the regionals or majors in the US

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/DV_2014_Instructions.pdf

[viking767]

If you do come to the US to fly, please do not offer to pay for your own training or Type rating. Fortunately most airlines still look for experience rather than the willingness to open your wallet.
And i believe starting in August you need an ATP to get hired which means the lower age limit is 23.

[Gomrath]

If you born in Sri Lanka or any other country that is considered eligible then you are eligible for the Diversity Visa lottery that issues about 50,000 green cards every year

Not quite... there are strict entry requirements before you can apply for the DV.
Also 2014 is already closed... So a very long wait.

[weasil]

Previous poster is correct - you now have to be 23 to work for a US Airline, in addition to meeting other residency and ATP requirements.

[atpcliff]

Even if you were a citizen or a Green Card (the right to live and work) holder, no -121 airline would hire you now.

Why???:

On 3 Aug 2013, all -121 (Delta, Alaska, American Eagle, SkyWest, Miami Air, Pace, etc. etc.) airline pilots will need an ATP to fly the plane.

Specifically, ALL pilots, both the Captain and the First Officer will need full U.S. ATP licenses to fly any -121 airplane. This law had about a 5 year time delay, so there is no grandfathering. If you are a -121 First Officer, without an ATP, you will not be flying after 2 Aug 2013, for your airline, anymore.

Also, the U.S. does not have a PIC ATP and an SIC ATP, like most of the rest of the world does. The U.S. also does not have a "Frozen ATPL". You will need the full ATP, that currently requires a minimum of 1500 hours total time, plus a bunch of other requirements, before you can set foot in the right seat of any -121 U.S. airline.

Currently the -121 First Officer can fly with just a Commercial License and an Instrument Rating. Only the Captain currently requires the ATP.

[acheo]

@Sean

If you born in Sri Lanka or any other country that is considered eligible then you are eligible for the Diversity Visa lottery that issues about 50,000 green cards every year

Once you get that and convert to an FAA license then you should be eligible to apply to the regionals or majors in the US

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/DV_2014_Instructions.pdf


But if you are a Canadian PR born on North American soil then you are not entitled to the lottery. You will not be granted the right to work in the US. An interior designer or a librarian will but not a pilot. Curious how regulations work! Sri Lanka yes but not Canada.:ok:

[calemtrey]

wow, don't post rumors that Canadians can't fly for US Airliners...... I'm Canadian, with a job waiting for me at United. All you need is a job offer. The airline gives you a letter saying you have been hired, you then take that to the embassy, they then authorize you to work in the USA and give you a "crew member visa" specifically for Airline pilots and persons working on ships. So if you are Canadian you have a very good chance of being hired by US Airlines. Also the government is reducing the restrictions due to airlines having to close hubs, and shorten schedules now a day because of no pilots. If you are Canadian you CAN get hired. PS United hires Foreigners every day from around the world.

[gear up job]

You are 20yrs old and you already have 1500hrs on the A321! How? That means you were 18yrs old when you started flying A321!!!

why not apply Srilankan Airline and they are hiring A319/320/321 FO's.

FLIGHT CREW (http://www.srilankan.com/corporate/en_uk/Careers/carrees-page-five)

[TheBigD]

"wow, don't post rumors that Canadians can't fly for US Airliners...... I'm Canadian, with a job waiting for me at United. All you need is a job offer. The airline gives you a letter saying you have been hired, you then take that to the embassy, they then authorize you to work in the USA and give you a "crew member visa" specifically for Airline pilots and persons working on ships. So if you are Canadian you have a very good chance of being hired by US Airlines. Also the government is reducing the restrictions due to airlines having to close hubs, and shorten schedules now a day because of no pilots. If you are Canadian you CAN get hired. PS United hires Foreigners every day from around the world."

You're a 23 year old Canadian that got hired on with United mainline....No US green card....:rolleyes:. I guess United can't attract US regional pilots with thousands of hours of TPIC time so they have to hire foreigners.....:ugh::D

Thanks for the laughs. I needed it this morning. Hopefully, your second post on PPRUNE will be just as amusing.

p.s. With your amazing knowledge and skill set, why not just skip United and get hired on as CP for Virgin Galactic.
p.p.s United has foreign born pilots by the way, but they are US citizens or permanent residents...

[zondaracer]

Crew member visa is for pilots and crew members of foreign airlines to fly into the US, for example an Air Canada flight operating into the US. The US is different in the respect that they require a crew visa for all foreign crews, including those from countries that belong to the Visa Waiver Program. Their take on it is that you are "working" within the borders of the US, therefore you require a visa.

What a previous poster was referring to with respect to Canadians not eligible and Sri Lankans eligible is the Diversity Lottery. The rules for the DV-2015 state
For DV-2015, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply, because more than 50,000 natives of these countries immigrated to the United States in the previous five years:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam

[gcpilot8]

Im a Pilot with 1500hrs on the A321, along with a frozen atpl. Im currently flying for Mihin Lanka in SriLanka and Im only 20yrs old. Will I have an opportunity to apply to american eagle or any other airline in US I mean will they hire me? And will they give me a work visa if they do cause I do not posses a Green Card nor do I have PR. Id pay for my training with the airline or id do an additional rating before joining. So would I have a chance?

No matter how much experience you have, you have to be a Permanent Resident of the US (Green Card Holder) to be eligible to work for the airlines here. The US aviation industry does not have a shortage of qualified pilots. We have thousands of qualified RJ pilots in the regional industry with turbine PIC time waiting to upgrade to mainline LCC, legacy and national airlines. In short, no PR=no chance

If you do come to the US to fly, please do not offer to pay for your own training or Type rating
:ok: please do not promote p2f

Also the government is reducing the restrictions due to airlines having to close hubs, and shorten schedules now a day because of no pilots. If you are Canadian you CAN get hired. PS United hires Foreigners every day from around the world.
this is absolutely wrong, please do not post things that you have no idea of. if you cant provide the right information that you are 100% sure about, shut your piehole.

[cykzstudent]

Crew member visa is for pilots and crew members of foreign airlines to fly into the US, for example an Air Canada flight operating into the US. The US is different in the respect that they require a crew visa for all foreign crews, including those from countries that belong to the Visa Waiver Program. Their take on it is that you are "working" within the borders of the US, therefore you require a visa.

Having worked for a Canadian airline for 7 years flying into the US with no visa of any kind, I would strongly disagree with your statement.

[zondaracer]

Ok, maybe Canada was the wrong example, but citizens of many countries must get the C1/D visa.

The fact of the matter is that a crew visa does not entitle one to work for a US carrier and that is what I was trying to point out, but thanks for providing clarifying information.

[pilotchute]

Why is everyone wanting to run to the US to work for a Regional on wages that are so low you cant support yourself?

$23 an hour to fly an E190? Are you kidding me?? So if you fly 85 hours a month you make a whopping $2000? WTF!!!! A four year FO only makes $3145 a month. So your Degree/flight training only cost what 120K? What a return on investment that is.

An Indonesian 19 year old FO makes more than that at Lion Air.