Expert: D. Norkus - 10/10/2008

Question
Dottie,

What about my case, I´m a student pilot here in Brazil. If I finish all the training courses here, like Private Pilot, Comercial Pilot, IFR certificate, multiengine, and sum up to 150 to 500 hours of flying, is it possible to get a first job in the aviation industry in the US? What kind of validation for my certificates do I have to do?

Thanks

Answer
Julio

As a foreign national wanting to come to the USA to work, your first concern should be getting a work permit. To be able to work in the USA, as a pilot or in any other capacity, you MUST have an Employment Authorization Document/EAD. To find out about how to obtain one visit this link-

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a...

Only after you know you are employable, should you even bother to convert your Brazilian pilot certificates and ratings to FAA ones. Find out about conversions at this link- http://www.pilotfriend.com/training/flight_training/faa_convert.htm

Of course, you may not land a job even with a work permit and FAA pilot certificates. You would have to have "competitive minimums" to get hired. Read more about that here- http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/professional_articles/judy_tarver/what_does_%...

Also, since the industry is currently in a big slump, when it recovers the competitive minimums will be higher as so many qualified pilots are and will be looking for work. With 500TT or less, you will be hard pressed to find a flying job other than perhaps as a flight instructor, banner tow pilot or skydive pilot (insurance requirements will dictate the hours required which may be 500 or more). Currently, there are many American pilots with several times those flight hours who are unemployed, so I cannot say your odds would be good in the next year or two.

I suggest these U.S. pilot message forum links for more insight on airline hiring and career prospects here-

http://forums.flightinfo.com
http://www.forums.jetcareers.com

Hope this helps,
Dottie