Conversion of TC - FAA

[princessflying]

I have a Canadian cpl , no luck in job marker , will my stars change if I move down south , hows situation there ? and whats the procedure and cost involved in converting to FAA ( moderators please do not delete this , I know for some reason some is deleting all my post - - keep this until I get some info )

[Chaxterium]

Conversion is easy. It can take some time but it's simple. You'll have to get an FAA Cat 1 medical. Thankfully there are a number of AMEs in Canada that can do FAA medicals. You'll find a link on the FAA website for finding AMEs close to you.

I'll give you the link with all the info from the FAA but for clarity's sake I'll summarize everything for you.

Next you'll need to get a Letter of Verification from the FAA (Form AFS-760). Again there's a link on the FAA website. Print it off, fill it out and mail it in to Oklahoma. When you do this you have to specify which FAA Office in the US that you'll be dealing with. When they get the letter they'll contact TC to verify your Canadian licences. Once that's done they'll send you a letter stating that TC verified your licences. From this point on you have 6 months to finish everything. They'll also forward this letter to the office that you specified when you mailed the letter. This process can take up to 90 days but usually not that long. Once you've got that you can set up an appointment with the office you're going to deal with (They're called FSDOs down there). Once you have that appointment you'll have to find a place to write the conversion exam. It's a 25 question exam. Pretty simple but it's a good idea to have a look at some study material. I recommend Gleim. I used it and it was very helpful. It was about $50 if I remember correctly. After you've written and passed the exam you go to the FSDO office and they sign you off. About a month later you'll get your card in the mail.

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guida ... 61-135.pdf

[Chaxterium]

Having said all of the above, I'm not sure if your stars will change much going down south. I'm not sure they're doing much better than we are. Especially with the new 1500 hour rule for Airline FO's coming into effect.

[Nark]

How much time do you have??

It can be very rosey if you want to fly a jet but get paid less than someone flying a 172.

[princessflying]

I just got my class 4 instructor rating done , will that be valid or is it just the CPL multi IR that will be converted ?

[Chaxterium]

Just the CPL MIFR. I don't think the Instructor rating can be converted.

[hawker driver]

With the new hiring requirements in the US staring to kick in if you have the 1500 h and an ATP you will have it made.

If you are under 1500 hours you will be in the middle of a glut of pilot trying to get every hour they can to qualify for the regionals.

Good luck

[chipmunk]

You also need the right to work in the USA as well.

[throttle100]

Just had a quick question. Do they convert your multi-engine rating without any flight check and just add it on to the FAA license?

[Chaxterium]

Just had a quick question. Do they convert your multi-engine rating without any flight check and just add it on to the FAA license?

Yep. It's nice that way.

[Cap'n Tripps]

I went through just this process a little while ago. Once you understand it, it's reasonably straightforward. You can also change the FSDO if you choose as well. You just have to let Oklahoma City know and they will forward the appropriate documents to the new FSDO.

One thing to remember though, you can only do the conversion once. IE, if you convert your Canadian CPL to FAA CPL, you cannot then convert your Canadian ATPL to US ATP without going through the normal US requirements. You can't covert it, because you already have an FAA license. For this reason, you may want to wait until you have your Canadian ATPL done.

It's worth noting though, you may already meet the requirements for an FAA ATP license with your Canadian CPL. Check first!

It's also worth noting, if you have aircraft type ratings, they will transfer those to your US license. They will also endorse (if you ask nicely) a float rating, but only at the PPL level. They won't endorse a Flight Instructor rating.

Good luck!

[Chaxterium]

It's worth noting though, you may already meet the requirements for an FAA ATP license with your Canadian CPL. Check first!

Yep! That is absolutely true! Even if you don't yet have 250 hours PIC you may still qualify. The FAA has different ways of counting PIC time and allowing it to be applied to their ATP. As an example if you're an FO on a Twin Otter and you are duly trained as such (and you can prove it), you can count the hours where you were the sole manipulator of the controls as PIC time. It's crazy!

Here's a link to a memorandum from a while ago outlining when PIC time can be logged under the FAA regs.

http://tinyurl.com/ax2e7uk

And if you get the FAA ATP it's extremely simple to convert it to a Canadian ATPL. You don't even have to write the conversion exam if you've already written the SARON an SAMRA. And perhaps the biggest benefit is that it allows you to bypass the TC rule that states FO time only counts at 50% towards the ATPL.

Cheers,
Chax

[Flybabe]

You also need the right to work in the USA as well.

^ Important

[cj555]

This is some great info, especially the part about only being able to convert to FAA once.

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this one, but I'll ask anyways:

Is it possible for a Canadian citizen to apply for a US work visa in order to go down there and work as a pilot? I'm pretty sure that the US puts alot of restriction on foreign pilots coming in, so I'm guessing it would be next to impossible?


princessflying, I'm assuming you have dual citizenship or a greencard?

[chipmunk]

Is it possible for a Canadian citizen to apply for a US work visa in order to go down there and work as a pilot? I'm pretty sure that the US puts alot of restriction on foreign pilots coming in, so I'm guessing it would be next to impossible?

Pretty much impossible.

I went to UND, and the few dozen of us Canadians got together and tried to figure out any possible ways to allow us to stay in the US and work (other than the "marry an American" bit that our academic advisors always told us!) We couldn't come up with anything. A few guys did marry Americans and some are still flying in the US, and I know of one other guy that actually got hired with the offer of visa sponsorship (at Piedmont I think - this was about 10 years ago, and he got the job via one of the many of the company meet & greets that UND put on.) The deal was the company had a set period of time to submit sponsorship paperwork, and once they started doing that, it turned out to be such a long and involved process they decided not to go through with it and that was it for him. I believe you can work as an instructor but only if you were currently a student at the school (or a recent grad) in order for this to work, and it was only for a set period of time.

[cj555]

Is it possible for a Canadian citizen to apply for a US work visa in order to go down there and work as a pilot? I'm pretty sure that the US puts alot of restriction on foreign pilots coming in, so I'm guessing it would be next to impossible?

Pretty much impossible.

I went to UND, and the few dozen of us Canadians got together and tried to figure out any possible ways to allow us to stay in the US and work (other than the "marry an American" bit that our academic advisors always told us!) We couldn't come up with anything. A few guys did marry Americans and some are still flying in the US, and I know of one other guy that actually got hired with the offer of visa sponsorship (at Piedmont I think - this was about 10 years ago, and he got the job via one of the many of the company meet & greets that UND put on.) The deal was the company had a set period of time to submit sponsorship paperwork, and once they started doing that, it turned out to be such a long and involved process they decided not to go through with it and that was it for him. I believe you can work as an instructor but only if you were currently a student at the school (or a recent grad) in order for this to work, and it was only for a set period of time.

Hi Chipmunk,
Ya that was what I was expecting. It makes sense, there is a serious over supply of Pilots in the US coming out of the hundreds of pilot mills across the country. Look at the uproar in Canada about foreign pilots coming in from Europe etc. To the US, Canadians are foreign pilots…there is no way they would allow that. Guess we can’t have our cake and eat it to! To the few Canadians with dual citizenship or a green card, they should consider themselves very lucky to have the right to work and live in the US should they choose to.

[thorongil]

I went to a commuter airline interview (PSA I think) in 2004 - as a US citizen and resident - and I was surprised to discover 3 Canadians in the group of 10 or 12 applicants. This would indicate that there is a lot of Canadian pilots working in the US. Unless it was a total fluke.

[cj555]

I was surprised to discover 3 Canadians in the group of 10 or 12 applicants.

Did you ask them about their specific situation, and how they ended up there? I'm guessing they had some avenue available to them to get a US citizenship or Green Card that isn't available to just anyone in Canada (ie one parent has US Citizenship or Canadian parents but born in the US etc etc).

[Nark]

Everyone of 'us' american pilots I run into all were born in Canada. I'm the longest resident Ive come across.

Good luck.