US VISAS
 

Hi

If I want to go to the USA to do my PPL this summer, where can I get a Visa that allows me to do it?
Do I just ring the American Embassy in London and explain the situation?

Thanks,
Tri

If as your profile suggests, you are an EU citizen, the procedure is no different than going to the US to visit Disneyland. You simply need to fill out a Visa Waiver form on the airplane. Remember though to state in the section "Reason for visit" to say holiday and NOT training otherwise you may have some problems with the immigration guys. You will not be making a misdeclaration by stating this. If you intend long term training, this is altogether different and you would need a J1 Visa which you will not need simply for PPL training. Good luck!

Whatever you do, don't tell US immigration you are going to be attending a 'flying school'. The word school normally means visa needed. If you search pprune, you'll come across a thread where someone was sent straight back to the UK for this.

I always tell them, that I'm here for a holiday, and to do a bit of flying (cos I've got a PPL)

ickle

I agree with my compatriots who have posted before but let me add something.

Most schools worth their salt can sort you out with a legitimate visa; the M1. Its a student visa that is easy to get and keeps it all above board!

I am in the US on an H1 visa working at one of the aircraft manufacturing companies. Come on over, the flying is cheap, the weather is fine!!

Defintely agree with all the above - speaking from my own experience:

M1 schools have to be specially approved by Immigration in the US and therefore have had to prove themselves.

If you speak to the US Embassy and tell them that you will be completing a PPL in the US they will say that you have to have a M1 Visa to allow you to study in the US. This really applies to those students who need to be int he States more than the 3 months allowed on the Visa Waiver.

It is a 50/50 thing with the nervous people preferring to go the proper route and get the M1 (the paperwork is no big deal) and the rest saying that they are just on holiday.

Thanks for the info. I would rather go for a visa because I won't be impressed if I find I have to come back to the UK straight away!

Will the J-1 Visa cost me anything?
Also how does this differ from the M-1 Visa?

Tri

I did my PPL in LA last summer, and needed no special visa. When I got to US immigration and said I was carrying $7000, I was asked if they were in "Rhumanic sovereigns" or something like that. I said no, and when asked what I was doing in the US I stated that I was obtaining a recreational private pilots licence, they had no problem with it and I went on my way!

Good Luck

The immigration guys at MCO are pretty used to seeing Brits and Swedes walk through the gates with the intention of getting a PPL. They know the score.

I know that one British flight school in Florida actually has a letter from our friends at the INS stating that their students are exempt from obtaining any special visas.

So if it's a PPL, don't even bother thinking about visas unless you intend to spend more than 3 months doing it!

Trislander, trust me, you don't need a J1, M1 or any other sort of special visa to do a PPL in the USA unless you plan on staying on more than 3 months I think it is. Don't even think of mentioning that you are there for anything else other than for holiday and recreation because that is all that you are there for. If you say that you are there for training then the immigration guys may misinterpret your intention and believe that you are there to do a university degree or similar. Nobody gets a J1 or M1 visa to do a simple PPL. Honest!

This is a very dangerous area. Don't 'trust' anyone - talk to the US Embassy and establish *exactly* what you need. Remember that if your name gets onto the INS computer as a non-desirable you will never, ever, get into the US again. The same applies to instructors going to the various schools offering JAA training.

A very good friend of mine spent 48 hours in the chokey at MCO before being deported and has just had to explain to his kids why he can't take them to DisneyWorld!