Training and Working as a Pilot in Other Countries

It's great that you are researching becoming a pilot in another country! We have many come here asking about it. If you come from a disadvantaged country, you're just looking to work somewhere else, or even just looking to train in the US, this post should clear some things up. 


Please note, this is US based information. There are some countries that allow foreigners to apply and work for them. I'm not familiar with those companies, but off the top of my head some middle eastern and Asian countries has hired foreigners. But keep in mind, most countries don't have the same protections that the US has (unions), and they can and will fire you for whatever reason. We saw this during COVID, many companies let go their expat employees and kept all their national employees. 


Visas / Work Authorization

Many coming here think visas are easy to come by. That is far from the truth. I'll discuss a few visas and the pitfalls of each.

F1 Visa: If you need to do schooling, you're probably looking for an F1 visa. This allows you to take classes in the states. It also gives you 1 year of OPT, which is work experience authorization (only for 1 year!). An M1 visa is similar, but doesn't provide 1 year of OPT. You can find schools that offer visas here; select "flight school" under education type. Many say they will get an F1 visa and then work while they look for an employer who will sponsor their H1B visa. But...

H1B Visa: no US airline sponsors H1B visas. This is the general work visa. Sponsoring an H1B takes time and money for the sponsoring company. The only reason many US companies sponsor H1B visas is because they can hire foreigners with a cheaper salary, and they are "on the hook" to stay and work for them (or else lose sponsorship). But, airlines in the US are mostly unionized with a collective bargaining agreement, which means every pilot is paid the same. The company is not going to spend extra money on someone who will be paid the same as an American. Also, there are plenty of American pilots, there's not much need to hire foreigners.

EB3 Visa: The EB-3 is an immigration visa (green card). The H1B is a non-immigration temporary visa, but both H1B and EB-3 require a sponsoring company. But this is for experienced individuals. Here are the requirements. I haven't heard of any EB-3 sponships, just like H1B. However, there are some 

EB2 Visa: The EB2 is a self sponsoring visa, but the requirements are higher. Here are the requirements.

E3 Visa: this visa is for Australians. Before, during , and immediately after COVID, some airlines hired Australians under this visa. Now with a hiring slowdown, I haven't heard of any E3 visa hires happening anymore.  

Diversity Visa Program: this is the greencard lottery. You apply, submit a bunch of forms, and if you're one of the 55,000 lucky few out of the 22 million applicants a year, you can have a chance of getting a greencard. That is if your country hasn't been already banned from applying.... Chances aren't great on this one.

Marriage: yes, the age old tale of "get tinder and get swiping." I know some who became US citizens this way.

Please note: this is not an all inclusive list. This list is just a very surface level summary. Consult an immigration lawyer for your situation. I am not a lawyer.


License Conversion

Work authorization is the hardest part. But if you have that figured out, great! If you do your flight training in another country than where you want to work, you will have to convert your licenses. In the US, usually only a private pilot license can be issued based on a foreign license. To get more advanced licenses converted, you will probably have to take checkrides, and get some training done.

In some countries, this is the only way to get training. Some counties just don't have the aviation infrastructure for flight training, so pilots have to train in other countries. I'm not familiar with this, but I know it's a thing that happens. You must do your research on the process of converting licenses for your specific country.


Please let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, corrections, or additions to this post. I'm not super familiar with immigration things, this is just what a dumb pilot has researched, so if I've made a mistake, I'd love to know and correct it. You can comment on this post directly, or contact me on Reddit, u/raisetheded

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