Moving to the Middle East to become a pilot?

I'll share my personal story of becoming a US citizen, the legal way, of course:

My father moved our family here to US when I was 8 years old. He was (still is) a doctor, but in the third world country we were in, a doctors life wasn't that great.

A hospital sponsored us here in the USA with a work visa ( I think a J1 ). That was it. There was no other help to get sponsored for citizenship.

Then came a golden opportunity. If he served one year in a "physician deprived area," then he'd become eligible to apply for a green card. We moved to the midwest, lived there one year, and finally, it was time for the green card interview.

Luckily, we got it. My father got the green card, and then in turn the rest of the family got it as well.

Then I myself had to wait five years or until I was 18 to apply for US citizenship (those two conditions happened to me at the same time, since I got the green card at age 13).


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But now, the rules for getting green cards and citizenships have toughened up after 9/11.
 
Cherokee_Cruiser said:
I'll share my personal story of becoming a US citizen, the legal way, of course:

My father moved our family here to US when I was 8 years old. He was (still is) a doctor, but in the third world country we were in, a doctors life wasn't that great.

A hospital sponsored us here in the USA with a work visa ( I think a J1 ). That was it. There was no other help to get sponsored for citizenship.

Then came a golden opportunity. If he served one year in a "physician deprived area," then he'd become eligible to apply for a green card. We moved to the midwest, lived there one year, and finally, it was time for the green card interview.

Luckily, we got it. My father got the green card, and then in turn the rest of the family got it as well.

Then I myself had to wait five years or until I was 18 to apply for US citizenship (those two conditions happened to me at the same time, since I got the green card at age 13).


*************************************

But now, the rules for getting green cards and citizenships have toughened up after 9/11.
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Sounds great man! Glad it all worked out!

Man..im getting ansy..i was reading that ATP testimonials, and i can totally visualize, getting off that airplane for a interview at whatever airline!


Gahh...i have my "Flying Fund" account open, and will start investing more into it.

If i continue my savings, by the time im like 20 (time around i'll be graduating college) i'll have around 40k..which is enough for ATP and then become a MEI.

Man..so excited yet so far away! Need to control myself!:banghead:
 
I don't want to be a big killjoy here, but I like my 24 hour a day Whataburger, pork spare ribs and the ability to live in 'the real thing' as opposed to 'somewhere that's just like 'the real thing''.

I'm not sure if relocating from my home country is worth it just to fly an airplane.
 
Bigey said:
If i continue my savings, by the time im like 20 (time around i'll be graduating college) i'll have around 40k..which is enough for ATP and then become a MEI.
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Except that, given their pace of rate hikes over the last four years, ATP will likely cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of $60k by then.

Hell, with their new 10% fuel surcharge, $40k won't cover the bill now.
 
Until I got employed to fly jets in Australia, I was applying to most of the carriers in the Middle East region... Having more than 3000hrs, 2000hrs turbine and a fair whack being command, I never had a positive response. These carriers want heavy jet time, I have heard a couple of stories about guys with 2000hrs+ getting themselves typed (at their own expense in the US) on say an A320, then managing to get on with Gulf Air/Qatar Airways.

If you are looking for a quick way to build hrs, when you crack 500hrs total, get yourself a B1900 type rating and hassle Falcon Express Cargo based out of Dubai. They pay ok, and you will do 900hrs a year. Not a bad place to spend a year or 2 getting quality turbine time.

Good luck
 
Seems a lot of the questions and points have been answered by Cherokee_Cruiser.

First off, living in the UAE is not like living in America. It is very different. Yes, some of the conveniences that exist in America also exist in the UAE, but that is where it ends. The UAE is effectively a consortium of benevolent dictatorships. Some are more liberal than others. Dubai is the most liberal, while Sharjah is probably the least ( due to their closer ties with the Saudis ). There is no alcohol allowed in Sharjah and women would be well advised to wear long pants/dresses and cover their arms, versus Dubai where you can see some really risque' women on the streets ( yes, some of them are working women ). The UAE is a Musliim country with Shariah law versus an English common law based system. In a traffic accident with a local you would be at fault in most instances just because he is a local.

Life in Dubai is okay as long as you make enough money. There are lots of activities to keep you busy on days off. The golf is excellent 7 months of the year. The Arabian Gulf ( umm, sorry Persian Gulf ) and Arabian Sea have decent fishing and diving. The restaurants and nightlife are good. The schools are decent. Europe is 7 hours away and Asia about 7 to 11 depending where.

The suggestion above for Falcon Express is a very good one. Emirates, Gulf Air, Qatar, Etihad, et al. all require fairly high time pilots and there is still no shortage of them. It's coming, but they still find the higher time guys. All they have to do is open the door to RJ drivers and they would have a flood of applicants.


Typhoonpilot
 
If I wanted to fly in another country, it would be here. http://www.mataxi.com/ They pay pretty descent. And look what they are flying and where they are flying into. The only catch is that, the government and companies are starting to stop hire from outside there country. Many of the students I train were sent by there country over here to train. They are getting government sponsored flight training!:rolleyes: They are all between the ages of 18 and 22 and when they go back to their country they will be hopping right into the right seat of one of those twin otters on floats. I probably could pass for Maldivies.:D
 
Doug Taylor said:
I don't want to be a big killjoy here, but I like my 24 hour a day Whataburger,
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Especially the Gurley Street Whataburger at 0300 on a Friday!

I'm not sure if relocating from my home country is worth it just to fly an airplane.
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OV-10s are calling............:D

On a related note, wouldn't you like to put the busy-as-hell airport terminals, with their TSA crap, lousy hotels, chik-fil-a's, and other crap behind; and fly out of an airport like....say.....Pinal Airpark or Chandler-Memorial field? A place where the runway is dirt/asphalt with faded markings, and the majority of the sounds are recip/radial/turbo props?:D
 
MikeD said:
Especially the Gurley Street Whataburger at 0300 on a Friday!
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"I'll have four...no give us six whataburgers wit' cheese... uh, a whatacatch...uhhh, and uhhh what? wait...Shaddup d00d there's a cop behind us! Oh, what's the total?" (in the background: Hey, hey, is it the east German twins?)


On a related note, wouldn't you like to put the busy-as-hell airport terminals, with their TSA crap, lousy hotels, chik-fil-a's, and other crap behind...
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Yes, where do I sign? As long as I don't have to hear that 'golden bee bee' speech, I'm in! :)
 
In response to the comment, we are broke and in deep "do, do" I beg to differ. In the 1970's oil was about 8% of the GDP of the USA. Now it is less then 3%. Interest rates were 17% and now about 6%. In many countries owning a home is not possible, I decided to become a pilot. In many countries you do not have a choice. Also, every country is in debt, small countries seem to look better, for the fact that they need only to take care of 10 million people. Plus, the USA gives more money to countries every day then any other country in a whole year. When we have earthquakes we do not lose thousands of people b/c we have a goverment that establishes a good frame work for people and society to opperate in. I have been to the middle east, there are huge class differences and racial and religous problems are greater in those countries then here. Go to ATP, go to a regional and then fly for a major. It is the american way.
 
I don't even know where to begin to dissect your "thinking" but I'll just say this. You better hope foreigners keep on lending us money to support our record deficits, both trade and government, or we're in a world of hurt. And if you think interest rates will stay low forever, when they go up, man, you're gonna be feeling some pain.

By the way, how are people going to make that quick move to a major when there are thousands of guys with seniority numbers out on the streets?
 
We need to first stop watching TV for your economic information. This world does not work in one year two year cycles. It will take 20 to even 30 years to see things occur. As for the loaning money, I agree, but we have the highest debt in all the history of america, I agree, but we still have 6% interest for the last 10 or so years. Also my big thing with, debt is if we wanted to control it, Americans could not handle it(changes to spending would require major cut backs). As for the majors, I say that in 10 years when most of us will be looking it will not be the same industry. We need to look at the long run. Or go to Germany where they tax people at 60% and have 25% unemployment.
 
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