The overwhelming majority of foreigners flying as airline pilots in the USA did not come in on these visas. They came in because they had dual citizenship through a parent, had a US spouse, or came as students when they were young and did all their higher education and pilot licensing in the USA. The airlines worth working for in the USA are not short of pilots to the degree of needing to start sponsoring significant amounts of pilots to immigrate to the USA.

Just another thing to keep in mind, I speak from the perspective as a “world citizen” whose wife is a foreign national, I’ve worked in several airlines in the USA and the Middle East, now at a major US airline. Be sure living in the USA is really going to be right for you, after having hardly been in the USA for around a decade, it’s really changed and not for the better. I find working with all these former military pilots to be hardly bearable, I constantly get abused by crazy conspiracy theories about Trump or the virus being fake and lambasted about not having been in the US military. Living and working here is like being trapped in some kind of twisted reality tv program.

So... Delta or FedEx? :E

civil conversations
 

Very hard, just like it is hard for them to adjust to us foreigners ;))
I really enjoy talking politics, religion conspiricies etc. BUT having flown in Europe, Africa and South America i now know that these subjects need to be discussed with people who can have a civil discussion without trying to change the others opinion..... I am contemplating moving there but will try to keep the discussions about politics, gun laws, religion, the military as far away from the flight deck as possible... I will try to stick to the bilboard 100, sports and company policies :) ( i stole this tip from the jetcareers.com)

A difficult task to obtain the greencard, indeed. Also looking forward to receiving more tips.

To be fair, they’re not the only ones. We have our fair share where I’m at and it’s not always former military guys.

pilotcbp,

That's quite a negative picture you paint of your time and personal experience in US airline flying.

Not to be confrontational or impertinent, but why are you still here working under the conditions you describe ?

Whilst I haven’t run into too many ex mil guys or girls at my airline, the conspiracy theorists and religion nuts do sometimes get on my nerves. Not enough to make me leave but it’s extraordinary how some very well educated people can believe in Jewish space lasers and that Hillary Clinton ran a child trafficking ring.

That’s just 2 examples which are pretty old now but proof that some people will believe anything on Fox/CNN or Facebook. I added CNN because democrats aren’t innocent of peddling crap either.

"""""""At this stage I see it as more of an experiment for pilots, and its not cheap. The average quotes for the NIW have been anywhere from $5k-$10K plus more IF the NIW is approved then its onto the next step"""""".

thanks for your information mate. Just a few questions; what do you mean by "$5k-$10k"? Is that the lawyers' quotes or self-applicants costs?

Just for my case example: CPL- INS-CFI (EASA ATP Frozen) from ICAO, CASA and EASA, +3500 hours. Master degree MBA, Bachelor of Aeronautics. Any chance for this NIW EB-2?

Thanks all for anyone else's opinions.

Good day mate, I am planning to get the ATP SE, would you please lead me to some links related to some theory and the practical exams and check ride preparations links. Thank you.

Good day mate. I am planning to travel to the US for the ATP SE and later on the multi Eng. Would you please get in touch with me, Thanks

Hi Ana, I have an Australian Passport, Phd student, got an MBA already (Master of Business Administration), Bachelor of Aeronautics, Three pilot licenses CPL/INS/CFI from ICAO, CASA and EASA (ATPL frozen), +3500 hours. What would be my chance you guess?

Thanks

Tony

Maybe because he passed the point of no return? I am in the same boat. Working for a major airline in the US, and am also appalled at the rise of nutters amongst pilots.

​​​​​​​You forgot AAL!

Squawk7777,

Must be pretty bad. What percentage of the people you fly with are "nutters" ?

According to a few immigration lawyers, unless you are a test pilot from Airbus, forget it. Ordinary line pilots are nothing special.

Scam - Congress or the USCIS will NOT approve this. We dont need foreign pilots to steal our jobs.

Just like you are “stealing” jobs based in Paris working for fedex ?

Says the guy stealing our jobs in Europe with cabotage. And these idiots don't even pay social contributions and taxes while being domiciled in Europe.

Thanks (no sarcasm). If it's a dead-end, the voices saying so need to become more numerous, the confirmation bias to 'go' is clearly visible upthread. A lot of money could be lost. As long as some of it ends with the middle men they're not the ones telling you. No matter if honestly underinformed or actively scheming.

On the second sentence, agreed as well. A second wrong doesn't fix the first one (re: BananaJoe). A real shortage will drive the packages up, attracting the worldwide US pilots back to home soil. That tide will raise all the boats.
Airlines chasing foreigners only have a singular motivation to secure lower-cost labour while avoiding employment responsibilities normally associated with running their business.

You can say similar thing about DHL in the U.S. Why are Canadian and European carriers operating through CVG carrying packages sent from the U.S?

I don’t think there are pilots in the US to steal jobs from.