I am a Canadian airline pilot who I is trying to move to the States (yes I know, why would I give up ”free” healthcare blah blah blah, I have my reasons) I have my FAA and TCCA ATPL with all the ratings and the first class medical. The only thing I don’t have is a company who is willing to sponsor for the H1-B visa. Does anybody know of a company who at least has an option to hire someone they are sponsoring? Anything would be great and airplane type/operations part doesn’t matter.

I think it would probably easier to find someone to marry and gain citizenship to gain employment than to find an air carrier that sponsors for an H-1b visa.

But that’s just my uneducated uninformed American opinion.

We do have a pilot on our seniority list that married a Canadian spouse and commutes home to Canada every week. Though I’m not exactly sure how that worked during the pandemic.

I seriously doubt any American airline will sponsor an H-1 visa. Heck, I worked for a Canadian company with an American subsidiary and they were reluctant to sponsor their own employees’ H-1 visas.

A US pilot who wants a points based immigration into Canada, at least pre COVID, would be much more likely to be able to immigrate than the other way around.

There are too many qualified pilots that are already US persons (citizens or permanent residents) for an airline to even consider an H1-B process. I believe there is a single exception to this that has allowed some Australian trained pilots to work in the US under the E3 visa. E3 visas only apply to Australians. Skywest apparently has done well with this.

You're going to need to find an American spouse or some other way of getting the legal right to work.

Woodreau wrote:

We do have a pilot on our seniority list that married a Canadian spouse and commutes home to Canada every week. Though I’m not exactly sure how that worked during the pandemic.

Air crew are exempt, as are most folks who commute across the border for work purposes.

Flyboy9305 wrote:

I am a Canadian airline pilot who I is trying to move to the States (yes I know, why would I give up ”free” healthcare blah blah blah, I have my reasons) I have my FAA and TCCA ATPL with all the ratings and the first class medical. The only thing I don’t have is a company who is willing to sponsor for the H1-B visa. Does anybody know of a company who at least has an option to hire someone they are sponsoring? Anything would be great and airplane type/operations part doesn’t matter.

Honestly, I bet a corporate operation would be your best bet, but I'd guess it to be a long shot.

Woodreau wrote:

I think it would probably easier to find someone to marry and gain citizenship to gain employment than to find an air carrier that sponsors for an H-1b visa.

Green card lottery is another very viable alternative. Odds should be pretty good as i cant imagine lots of canadians apply for that.

N47 wrote:

Woodreau wrote:

I think it would probably easier to find someone to marry and gain citizenship to gain employment than to find an air carrier that sponsors for an H-1b visa.

Green card lottery is another very viable alternative. Odds should be pretty good as i cant imagine lots of canadians apply for that.

Canadians are not eligible, since more than 50000 people have immigrated from Canada in the past five years.

FlapOperator wrote:

Flyboy9305 wrote:

I am a Canadian airline pilot who I is trying to move to the States (yes I know, why would I give up ”free” healthcare blah blah blah, I have my reasons) I have my FAA and TCCA ATPL with all the ratings and the first class medical. The only thing I don’t have is a company who is willing to sponsor for the H1-B visa. Does anybody know of a company who at least has an option to hire someone they are sponsoring? Anything would be great and airplane type/operations part doesn’t matter.

Honestly, I bet a corporate operation would be your best bet, but I'd guess it to be a long shot.

This is the route I’ve been focusing on. Either corporate or medevac or similar. I figure the smaller operators are the ones most in need of somebody with experience. I just haven’t yet found anybody who is willing to sponsor. I figured tossing the request out into a forum might get at least a lead. Word of mouth might be the best way to get something like this done.

Flyboy9305 wrote:

FlapOperator wrote:

Flyboy9305 wrote:

I am a Canadian airline pilot who I is trying to move to the States (yes I know, why would I give up ”free” healthcare blah blah blah, I have my reasons) I have my FAA and TCCA ATPL with all the ratings and the first class medical. The only thing I don’t have is a company who is willing to sponsor for the H1-B visa. Does anybody know of a company who at least has an option to hire someone they are sponsoring? Anything would be great and airplane type/operations part doesn’t matter.

Honestly, I bet a corporate operation would be your best bet, but I'd guess it to be a long shot.

This is the route I’ve been focusing on. Either corporate or medevac or similar. I figure the smaller operators are the ones most in need of somebody with experience. I just haven’t yet found anybody who is willing to sponsor. I figured tossing the request out into a forum might get at least a lead. Word of mouth might be the best way to get something like this done.

In order to get an H1-B, or similar skilled worker visa, the company needs to demonstrate that there are no American persons (basically citizens or permanent residents) who can do the work to a similar standard. For a regular pilot, that just isn't going to happen in the US. Remember that corporate can have 250 hour commercials flying for them, even in the left seat. If you were a test pilot for Viking or Bombardier and maybe designing a training or safety program for someone who owns their products, maybe that would get you a visa, but there is just too much pilot supply in the US to get a visa otherwise (E3 Australians excepted).

If you're looking at regional airlines; contact skywest. They sponsor a bunch of Aussies.

Woodreau wrote:

I think it would probably easier to find someone to marry and gain citizenship to gain employment than to find an air carrier that sponsors for an H-1b visa.

But that’s just my uneducated uninformed American opinion.

We do have a pilot on our seniority list that married a Canadian spouse and commutes home to Canada every week. Though I’m not exactly sure how that worked during the pandemic.

Have to be married for a minimum of two years for any petition to be taken seriously. And after that it's 12-18 months of paperwork depending on how things go. Another option is the fiancee visa, but fewer are granted.