The requirements for a foreign pilots applying for a positon in US airlines
 

I'm a F/O serving in a Chinese airline. I've got 2500 hrs totally up to now, 2000 hrs among which are accumulated on A320.
Will there be a chance for me to get a F/O positon in any of the US airlines? (Regional or Bugdet are in consideration also) What documents do the US arilines usually request from a foreign pilot? Will they ask for any recommendation letters from my previous employer or license verification letter from the issuing aviation authority ? Cause getting those stuffs means Mission Impossible to me...
Guys I do need your help.!:}
Any advice for me other than those above is also greatly appriciated!:D:D You can also mail to me if you have any question on Chinese aviation [email protected] ;)

That might put a fly in the ointment! Why would obtaining those things be a nightmare? You can get your hours countersigned by your current employer and an Authority to Authority check of your licence number should provide validation. Assuming you would have to gain a US ATP then I would take it as read that the FAA would want verification of hours and qualifications prior to US license issue.

All that after the various Visa's/Green Card/Employment issues.

Perhaps a letter to the FAA might help.

First off you are going to need a Green Card or at least an EAD (Work permit). No airline in the USA is going to sponsor you for one of these and the only way to get one realistically is to be married to a US citizen. Even then the process can still take upwards of two years. (I'm speaking from personal experience here).

After that you'll need to convert to an FAA licence. No matter what licence you have, if it isn't FAA, no Part 121 carrier is going to even look at you. As you have over 1,500 hours the easiest way to do this will be to get an FAA ATP. You will need to sit the ATP written (very easy, I passed after studying for a couple of days) followed by an ATP check ride and oral. The oral section is very comprehensive, so don't be fooled into thinking that you only need to study the question bank for the writtens and then you'll be fine. The oral section can be upwards of four hours long and is then immediately followed by the check ride. This can be done in a sim or in the actual aircraft. It's like a standard LPC. Once you've passed all of that you'll be issued a temporary airman certificate and you'll be mailed your permanent certificate within two months after that.

Getting a job in the US isn't too challenging at the moment if you have the time. You might get a look in at JetBlue, but realistically I would imagine that you'll more than likely have to look to the regional airlines for your first job. The majors over here generally ask for at least 1,000 hours turbine PIC in addition to at least 3,500 hours total time. However, nearly every regional is hiring right now, some in huge numbers. Your best bet would be American Eagle or Pinnacle, maybe even Republic. I applied to a number of airlines and with every application, bar one, got invited to interview within a week of applying. My total times are about half what yours are, but having a lot of turbine time really helps.

You'll be fine, as long as you can get the work permit issue resolved.

Good luck, and if you need any further advice, feel free to PM me.

Thanks a lot my friend. However, the truth is, in China, especially in the one I'm workin' for, if an airline pilot decides to leave the company, he will have to pay about 3 million RMB (equals to $450,000) to the employer as a default fine. Otherwise he'll be unable to obtain the verification letters I mentioned. So it's quite a dilemma to me -- I wish to leave without a fine which is a huge number to me, and at the same time get my flying experience reserved and countersigned. Anyway, your reply really helps me a lot and I've written to FAA already.
Many thanks, cheers!:D:D:ok:

You are far too kind, and I can't thank you any more! I got quite a lot to ask. PM you already. :ok::ok::ok: