Q: My friend is a British citizen who wants to change careers from the construction field to being a pilot. Is there a way for him to do his training in the United States and then work here as a CFI without going through a very expensive sponsor process? I’m sure he can get a student visa by signing up for a Part 141 school, but what is the process for getting a job to build hours after that? –Trapper
A: Your friend’s best bet is to contact an FAR Part 141 flight school’s admissions department. Only an FAA-approved FAR 141 school can put all of the immigration pieces together for a foreign pilot to train in the United States.
For Part 141 flight schools that offer employment to their students, there is a legal means to remain in the United States and gain some on-the-job experience, even while completing the school’s training program. Your pal will probably need what is called an F-1 visa. The F-1 visa (academic student) allows an individual to enter the United States as a full-time student at an accredited college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program. The student must be enrolled in a program or course of study that culminates in a degree, diploma, or certificate, and the school must be authorized by the U.S. government to accept international students.
F-1 students may not work off-campus during the first academic year, but may accept on-campus employment subject to certain conditions and restrictions. Students with F-1 visas are generally allowed to work on the campus of the school at which they study for up to 20 hours a week. Various programs are available for F-1 students to seek off-campus employment after the first academic year. F-1 students may engage in three types of off-campus employment after they have been studying for one academic year:
• Curricular practical training.
• Optional practical training (pre-completion or post-completion).
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) optional practical training extension.
The goal of most international students after they graduate is to remain in the United States to gain work experience relevant to their degree studies. The H-1B visa program is designed for and made available to F-1 students to achieve this goal.
The H-1B visa confers temporary worker status on the person who holds the visa. H-1B positions often appear at institutions of higher learning but can be offered by any employer who needs the services of a person in a specialty occupation who holds at least a four-year degree or the equivalent in experience.
The H-1B visa has an annual cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from the cap.
Here’s a very expensive heads-up. President Obama has signed into law a $1.8 trillion spending package which, among other things, introduces a $4,000 fee for certain categories of the H-1B visa.
The whole visa issue is perplexing, and any foreigner wishing to train and ultimately work in the United States is best served by getting personal guidance from an admissions specialist at a qualifying Part 141 flight school or legal counsel expert in such matters (which we admittedly are not).
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