Foreign military to U.S. regionals with visa
05-29-2018, 12:28 AM
#1
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Foreign military to U.S. regionals with visa
Hi, I have 2x friends in the same boat: Both are foreign military pilots married to Americans (not citizens yet) who are exploring paths to come to the U.S. and fly.
Neither have U.S. ratings and if they leave their foreign military early, they are stripped of their official European licenses and degrees from their military academy.
With 1,500 hours of high performance jet time, is it realistic for them to get on with a regional assuming they have a work visa on the path to citizenship? Would the FAA recognize their flying time as they get the ATP and necessary civilian ratings?
Thanks
Neither have U.S. ratings and if they leave their foreign military early, they are stripped of their official European licenses and degrees from their military academy.
With 1,500 hours of high performance jet time, is it realistic for them to get on with a regional assuming they have a work visa on the path to citizenship? Would the FAA recognize their flying time as they get the ATP and necessary civilian ratings?
Thanks
05-29-2018, 06:03 AM
#3
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Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 40,038
The FAA would recognize all the logged time.
The problem is, with no foreign ratings to convert to FAA ratings, they would have to complete ALL required training for PPL, IR, and CPL.
Much of their logged time would count for total time, cross-country, landings, etc but the problem is that ALL of the required dual instruction MUST be performed by an FAA certified CFI, so they would have to complete all of the required dual training, as well as written tests, and checkrides.
So not starting from scratch, but definitely would be some significant costs to get the dual instruction time for the ratings. I don't think they'd be competitive for US majors, time is too low, too many unknowns, and they don't have the network of US military pilots to recommend them.
But once they have a CPL and meet ATP minimums any regional would hire them, and then they could progress their career via the civilian path. I think their military experience would then help them move up quickly once they have a "known quantity" baseline at a US regional.
The problem is, with no foreign ratings to convert to FAA ratings, they would have to complete ALL required training for PPL, IR, and CPL.
Much of their logged time would count for total time, cross-country, landings, etc but the problem is that ALL of the required dual instruction MUST be performed by an FAA certified CFI, so they would have to complete all of the required dual training, as well as written tests, and checkrides.
So not starting from scratch, but definitely would be some significant costs to get the dual instruction time for the ratings. I don't think they'd be competitive for US majors, time is too low, too many unknowns, and they don't have the network of US military pilots to recommend them.
But once they have a CPL and meet ATP minimums any regional would hire them, and then they could progress their career via the civilian path. I think their military experience would then help them move up quickly once they have a "known quantity" baseline at a US regional.
05-30-2018, 07:26 AM
#5
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Thread Starter
Joined APC: Apr 2008
Posts: 13
The FAA would recognize all the logged time.
The problem is, with no foreign ratings to convert to FAA ratings, they would have to complete ALL required training for PPL, IR, and CPL.
Much of their logged time would count for total time, cross-country, landings, etc but the problem is that ALL of the required dual instruction MUST be performed by an FAA certified CFI, so they would have to complete all of the required dual training, as well as written tests, and checkrides.
So not starting from scratch, but definitely would be some significant costs to get the dual instruction time for the ratings. I don't think they'd be competitive for US majors, time is too low, too many unknowns, and they don't have the network of US military pilots to recommend them.
But once they have a CPL and meet ATP minimums any regional would hire them, and then they could progress their career via the civilian path. I think their military experience would then help them move up quickly once they have a "known quantity" baseline at a US regional.
The problem is, with no foreign ratings to convert to FAA ratings, they would have to complete ALL required training for PPL, IR, and CPL.
Much of their logged time would count for total time, cross-country, landings, etc but the problem is that ALL of the required dual instruction MUST be performed by an FAA certified CFI, so they would have to complete all of the required dual training, as well as written tests, and checkrides.
So not starting from scratch, but definitely would be some significant costs to get the dual instruction time for the ratings. I don't think they'd be competitive for US majors, time is too low, too many unknowns, and they don't have the network of US military pilots to recommend them.
But once they have a CPL and meet ATP minimums any regional would hire them, and then they could progress their career via the civilian path. I think their military experience would then help them move up quickly once they have a "known quantity" baseline at a US regional.
05-30-2018, 10:22 AM
#6
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05-30-2018, 10:24 AM
#7
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Here's a thought... does your friend CURRENTLY hold a foreign civilian CPL based on his military training? If so, he should hurry and take a vacation to the US and convert that to an FAA CPL w/IR. Once he has that it never expires, regardless of what happens with his foreign certs. The conversion would be a lot simpler and cheaper than starting all over.
05-30-2018, 01:04 PM
#8
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Here's a thought... does your friend CURRENTLY hold a foreign civilian CPL based on his military training? If so, he should hurry and take a vacation to the US and convert that to an FAA CPL w/IR. Once he has that it never expires, regardless of what happens with his foreign certs. The conversion would be a lot simpler and cheaper than starting all over.
05-30-2018, 01:52 PM
#9
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Joined APC: Oct 2007
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There's no good conversion from a foreign commercial to a FAA commercial. If they hold a foreign commercial and are above 1500 hours they can go straight for the FAA ATP. Have the foreign CAA validate their license to the FAA, complete the CTP, pass the written and pass the checkride. To get a FAA commercial you must hold a FAA private. They would have to have to get the 61.75 based on certificate then pass the commercial written and checkride.
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