How do you get a Permit to work as a helicopter pilot in America?
 

Platinumpure said on another threadHow dd you get to work in the US (assuming you are not an American citizen)?

I believe the Green Card scheme is closed to British Nationals now, and the operators I spoke to (who were kind enough to even bother replying) said they don't do immigration sponsorships. Is marriage to a local the only way through?

Si

platinumpure

I'm interested too in how you got your work permit.

The school I was flying at in US afterwards started discussing the possibility of a job with them, but when I mentioned they need to a get a visa/work permit for me they went as cold as yesterdays dinner.

You can try the diversity lottery program if you were born abroad or you or your wife are from Northern Ireland. (or Eire)

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigra...ypes_1322.html

Or you can marry a US national and emigrate properly.

Or you can get a sponsorship (99.9% unlikely)

Or you can join the queue and try your luck over the Rio Grande at around 0230hrs

Other than that - Forget it:(

All true, however if you are a professional of the type they need (helicopter pilots are not unfortunately), such as nurse/doctor/surgeon, it is made very easy.

NEO.

Very , very difficult to do these days , it was hard enough to do before 9/11 let alone now. Letsbe is on the money with his reply but the marriage route is not so simple as all sorts of proof and checks are now required ( joint bank accounts , rent contracts etc. ) Even if you went in as a wetback you still have to prove eligibility to work. Being a pilot is even worse considering the twin towers/aircraft connection - lets say they are somewhat jumpy about foreign pilots.
Lots of work in the US though , so I wish you luck - I think you'll need it.

Marriage route; you mean marry an American. Thats a bridge to far :D

Ah come on now..there's plenty of New Orleans Evacuee's that would take you on as a free meal ticket....make it a marriage of convenience. It would be better than the welfare route and they would not have to go all the way to the mailbox for the check....

Come on We have more than our fair share of Ugly Fat Chicks who would love to wallow in a Mobile home with a struggling Helicopter Pilot. After a couple of years and a green card, just divorce her. All you will lose is the mobile home........
Had a flight through the southland this week and all the hotels seem to be filled with homeless trash that didnt have homes to start with. The Government is going to screw us big time to pay for this mess.
Hey Ten Million Mexicans cant be wrong, just walk across the border. Worse thing they will do is send you home..............free
This town(Vegas) is full of them, working, enjoying free medical benefits and all the things that go with corrupt government. Pick yourself a name, go to one of those new Print shops, and within minutes you have all the paperwork you need. You can even make your new logbook happy with as much flight time as you need.
Those that get in here"legally" seem to be those that have nothing, no education, no smarts and a shopping list of other useless relatives who will spend the rest of their lives on the public tit. It seems that if your a White Anglo type with an education and something to make you self sufficient, YOUR NOT WANTED.
Its time for sleeping Amerika to Wake the :mad: up.

It is very hard to do, aswell as very time consuming.

I had a sponsor for an H1-B1 visa, which would have allowed me to work legally for up to 6 years.

We hired an attorney to do all the paperwork. We didn't try and go through the pilot route, that was secondary.
We applied in April, but were told that all the H1's had been taken, so we should apply again in October, for the following April. If we were successful, then the visa would be issued the following October. They only issue 65,000 visas.

In the meanwhile we applied for a 'B' visa, which allowed me to work in the US for a set amount of time, but I had to be paid in the UK.

All in all it was a very frustrating thing to try and do.

The only up shot was that while over here I met a great woman (not like the ones that Mr. Sousa describes!). We took the plunge and spent a heap of cash on more paperwork, which we are still waiting to be completed.
I have to say that what Mr. Sousa desribes is very true. It would have been easier for me to go to Mexico and walk over! Heck they would even have given me a free driving licence.

Pre 9/11 you could go to this Street corner in West Hollywood, Pay your $60 and 1 hour later come away with a green card and a S/S number!!
Every European Flight Instructor working in LA had one...

Bert,

In the UK papers the other day...gal from Jamaica showed up...claimed asylum...entered UK Govt paid nursing school...graduated three years later...got a job...the employer sponsored her for a work permit....WHAM! Arrested and now faces deportation after her asylum request was turned down. She is a hard worker, well respected, teaches in her Church Sunday School, wants to continue working in the UK which has a shortage of nurses....and received the government paid nurse's training but .....the UK guvmint says she goes!

Go Figger!:{

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...19/ixhome.html

This is the very same guvmint that will not deport Muslim Fundamentalists who openly advocate and endorse the destruction of the very society that grants them the freedom to do so.

What am I missing here?

Ain't that the truth. It's the same in UK. I left that crap pit back in 2000. Still go back the odd weekend man it changed :(

I'm taking the Canadian route started Jan 05 they reckon could take up to 2 years :{

er..looks like the fat chick option for you then Si - that plum accent of yours will have you fighting them off with a ****ty stick !:rolleyes:

Canada also has some Major Political problems. As I understand the health care system is free, but unusable.
Having said that they also have:
1. Some of the best scenery in the world.
2. Great Beer.
3. Even better Hockey
And the pastries shops in Montreal are to die for..........

And what country doesn't . Certainly not the UK or US


Same as the UK :D

B. Sousa said: "...all the hotels seem to be filled with homeless trash..........It seems that if your a White Anglo type with an education and something to make you self sufficient, YOUR NOT WANTED.
Its time for sleeping Amerika to Wake the :mad: up."

B. Sousa's thoughts sound even better in their original German. I hope those new jackboots fit nicely, B, do they go well with your armband? Your ignorant English shows that you don't know the difference between "your" and "you're," probably because the Bund comic books spell it wrong, too.

ooooooooohhhh!.... Get you......:}

A fellow that I know is in the two-legged export business -- detention and export officer for ICE (nee INS). It is my understanding that the Boston office of ICE (covers Boston and eastern Massachusetts) has a quota of deporting about 5000 people per year. With hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in Massachusetts, you can guess just how soon we'll have a handle on this problem. The only people deported from Massachusetts are those who have committed felonies.

To top it off, local and state police officers are not allowed to detain perpetrators believed to be illegal immigrants. Only the feds can do that. Heck, even detention export officers can't detain persons believed to be here illegally (only certain ICE officers and Border Patrol can do that).

Our immigration/border control system is completely messed up.

Please don't misunderstand me; I don't have anything against immigrants. All four of my grandparents immigrated legally from the USSR. It's the illegal part that I've got a problem with.

So whats the real story on the Pilot job market in the States? Is there a shortage of experienced guys? There seems to be a lot of EMS positions advertised. Is there not enough locals to fill the slots?

Aha....A raw nerve........One who has not been there but is so easy to be critical..... As in the Just Helos forum when unable to find a sound response, it becomes the Grammer Police........
Im sure also one who is so willing to tell me what I should support.........his belief, yet its my money........

I will say it again. In Mobile Alabama our whole (or is that hole) crew (four helicopters)had to pay top dollar to stay in a sleezy dive with the assorted trash, because our government in its quest to be the kind and compassionate government is now housing anybody who comes forth to say they are "victims" of Katrina. You think these slugs would be out looking for a job.....Not on your life, they are about the 15th generation now living on the tit. Maybe even more with a new generation every 10 years.

So RJ........You pay the Bill or better yet, move a few in your spare trailer.....For those many folks who were deserving of assistance and now cannot (or is that Can't) get it. Theres about 200,000 reasons why..
Get the spell check warmed up, theres a couple in there for you.
Bottom line....GFY