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EASA to FAA, which ATP variant?

Hello Gents and Ladies of this great forum,

I am a European citizen with a UK CAA issued ATPL, 6700TT 5000+ A320 with 2700 PIC on the A320. I currently fly for a LoCo here in Europe.

Due to family reasons I would like to emigrate to the USA, I'm not too interested in the green card aspect of the process but the licence part.

I know I would have to convert my UK ATPL to FAA ATP and I believe the process is as follows.

1) Licence verification from UK CAA so they can release info to FAA.
2) Licence verification to provide FAA Private SE VFR
3) FAA ATP CTP Course
4) FAA ATP Knowledge Test
5) ATP Checkride.

I have a few questions:
-Being type rated on the A320, is there a way to obtain the 320 Type Rating on my FAA licence without having to go through a full TR?
-Should the former not be possible, and provided I wanted to get employed by a regional in the US, which ATP checkride should I go for? MEIR or SEIR? SEIR is cheaper.
-Does having an ATP with a SEIR affect hiring in regionals? Do you require a MEIR to start a type rating in a regional jet?

I would appreciate any info you may have, thank you very much for your time.

-Polo

Polo,

Since you mentioned regionals, have you considered directly contacting those regionals that take Aussies (and are familiar with training/processing someone with a non-FAA license) to see if they might be willing to take you in without an FAA license ? This won't get you the A320 type rating on the FAA ATPL but would save you a boatload of money and hassle.

Probably a long shot but it's free and easy to write and ask.

Either way, good luck.

I wouldn’t even bother with the ASEL ATP. The regionals will take you with a multi engine commercial or ATP (AMEL, airplane multi engine land). It would probably cost you less to do the commercial since you would not have to spend money on the ATP-CTP course. The regionals all have their own courses for that and they include it in their training.

Some airlines have hired Australians and have been able to hire them without any FAA certificates and they get issued the ATP when they finish their training. The airlines that hired Australians have been SkyWest, Mesa, Piedmont, Expressjet, Commutair, Gojet, and TSA.

There is also a TSA background check separate from the license verification. Step #2 is not required. If you do step 2 you will get a 61.75 FAA certificate that says Private Pilot Single and Multi-engine Land (assuming that's what's on your CAA license) A320 VFR ONLY. If you can show the instructor who instructed you for your CAA 320 type held a FAA CFI certificate then when you get a regular FAA certificate the 320 type can be transferred. Otherwise there's no way to transfer it. You can skip step 2 because you are eligible for a regular FAA ATP as the holder of a foreign ATP. Looking at a few Regional hiring pages some want a ME Commercial or ATP some only want 50 MEL. And in the FAA system the ATP is just a fancy IR so adding that to the name of the ATP is redundant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zondaracer (Post 10523051)

Some airlines have hired Australians and have been able to hire them without any FAA certificates and they get issued the ATP when they finish their training. The airlines that hired Australians have been SkyWest, Mesa, Piedmont, Expressjet, Commutair, Gojet, and TSA.

It would be interesting to hear if any regional has taken non-Aussie pilots (who already had the immigration issue settled with no airline assistance) without FAA tickets. There are probably more than a few people who'd be interested in this issue.

aviator35 had a similar situation but I'm not sure how it turned out for him.

You did not mention in your opening post if you have the rights to work in the US or not, if not then scrap doing anything as it will be useless unless there is a way you can get a green card via family or have US permanent citizenship...

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAe 146-100 (Post 10523731)

You did not mention in your opening post if you have the rights to work in the US or not...

I also didn't understand what Polorutz meant by, "... I'm not too interested in the green card aspect of the process...". I took it to mean he already has that square filled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bafanguy (Post 10523462)

I don't know about that, but my airline seems to be emptying Avianca of anyone with American paperwork. Damn fine pilots, too, I've flown with several now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyboyike (Post 10524972)

...but my airline seems to be emptying Avianca of anyone with American paperwork.

fbi,

What is American paperwork ? FAA licenses or legal ability to work in the US...or both ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polorutz (Post 10522680)

Hello, your list of to do items is all correct. Very easy and straightforward process. Do the verification and then the ATP CTP course. After you have done the written test, you can take the checkride. The problem will be, as you have no FAA type rating course done, you won’t be able to do the checkride in an A320. I did the same process last year, so I can speak from experience. What I did was to find a shortened type rating course with prior on type experience. This way I was able to do the ATP checkride in a 737. Way better then renting a Seneca or similar. And you already have a good type rating on your FAA license. If you consider the Regionals, you could only apply with your written ATP. You could then combine the type and ATP checkride which the company pays. But I would strongly recommend to apply to the LCCs, such as JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier or Allegiant. They all fly 320s. It’s way better to work for them than for a Regional. By the way do you have a 4-year Bachelors degree? That would be very important if you want to move up the ladder.
All the best!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunrig (Post 10525447)

If you consider the Regionals, you could only apply with your written ATP.

Several US regionals are providing the ATP-CTP course to new hires as part of initial training...or at least they were within my recent memory. The cost to someone doing that on his own is about $5K+living expenses during. That's why going the regional route is somewhat more cost effective to the individual.

Lots of ways to do this.

Quote:

By the way do you have a 4-year Bachelors degree? That would be very important if you want to move up the ladder.

All the best!

No 4 year degree but I could get one once working over there.

Does Spirit, Allegiant or Jetblue require a degree?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polorutz (Post 10526053)

Does Spirit, Allegiant or Jetblue require a degree?

Spirit and Allegiant list the degree as preferred. Couldn't find the Jetblue requirements.

However, seeing the degree listed as preferred isn't necessarily a green light to it not being a factor. The question becomes how much of the competition for the job DO have a 4-year degree.

It's possible for preferred to become a de facto required.

Whether this will change in the future is anyone's guess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bafanguy (Post 10526072)

Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant and Jet Blue all hire you without a degree. If you apply with your experience they will all probably invite you for an interview. Some say the LCCs prefer people without a degree because they won’t likely jump ship to a Legacy. If you want to get hired at a Legacy there’s no way around having a degree. Though only Delta and FedEx list it as required and the others only prefer it, you won’t get a call unless you complete your degree. Nobody knows if that is gonna change in the future. As of now there is no pilot shortage at the Legacy level.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bafanguy (Post 10524992)

fbi,

What is American paperwork ? FAA licenses or legal ability to work in the US...or both ?

Both. Quite a few are dual citizens and/or US-trained initially.