Diversity Visa questions

[Inphered]

Hello everyone.

I'm chasing some clarification on the diversity visa requirements and am hoping that I might find the answers here.

My partner and I have decided that we would love the chance to immigrate to the US in the near future and based on what we have read the diversity visa is going to be our best bet for permanent residency in the US.

My partner is a qualified drafts person and has been working in her field for 8 years. I myself am a qualified commercial pilot, have been working for 5 years in the industry about to finish my Graduate diploma in Aviation management and will be undertaking my masters in Av management upon graduation.

I'm slightly confused as to the education and employment requirement for the DV.

From the US embassy website for Australia it states; (I can't post the link yet)

To be eligible to enter, the applicant must have completed a minimum of twelve years education including four years of high school which must be the equivalent of a U.S. High School diploma (e.g. completion of 6th Form/year 12 in Australia) or qualify under Grade 7 employment standards as set by the U.S. Department of Labor on the O*Net OnLine database. Eligibility for the lottery is determined by the country of birth, and some countries are excluded from participation. Please refer to the annual instructions for more information on eligibility.

My bold and underline. Now, I read this as you have to have either

• Completed high school/year 12 (With certificate to prove)
  or
• Meet the requirements for a qualifying occupation as set out on the O*Net site, Job zone 4 or 5 and an SVP of 7.0 minimum
  

Yet when I read on the USCIS site about diversity visas I get the impression that you require both your High school certificate and a qualifying occupation.

My problem is that my commercial pilots licence falls under Job Zone 3, my partner, whilst the job of Architectural drafter is job zone 4 and SVP 7, only holds a certificate, not a degree. There fore both our current professions do not qualify. My Degree will not qualify as I'd have not worked in an occupation that required the degree for a minimum of 2 years at the point of applying this year.

I hope that with the fact both my partner and I hold high school certificates, and that I'll hold my Aviation Management degree, working on a Masters, that the occupation requirement doesn't apply.

So, can anyone help me out or point me in the right direction in regards to if it is

• 12 years education (high school certifiate/year 12 completion)
• or
• Job Zone 4/5 SVP 7.0<
• or
• Both of the above

To be eligible for a Diversity Visa?

I plan on emailing the USCIS as well, but I figured that there must be a ton of people on here who have gone through the same process that might know.

I'm wanting to gain employment as an Aero medical pilot in the US. The flying and job market is so much greater than in Australia. Both my partner and I want to permanently live in the US and have for some time. I'm an avid outdoors person, love camping, hiking, hunting and fishing. My wife is a definite city girl. A life in the US we've decided is going to be the best for what we want for ourselves and our family once we have kids. Plus the Aviation industry in the US is so expansive, supportive and there is so many more places one can fly to and experience that we can in Australia it alone almost sealed the deal. Definitely will be purchasing our own plane once we move.

The stats from the latest DV shows about 5% of applications from Australia were accepted, not great odds, but hey, we're positive

P.S I did do a search on the expat forums but drew a blank, most likely due to not searching the right info. If this has been answered before please feel free to push me in that direction.

[Davis1]

normal schooling and your employment is not a problem

Pilots in the US far exceed the need so do check the employment situation thoroughly first

[Inphered]

Yeah I've realised that there are a ton of pilots looking for work in the US, same as here. That's why i chose to do the degree, wanted to make sure I'd have another set of skills to use until I secured flying work.

Also know that there are new requirements for experience that are taking affect for pilots soon, need a butt ton more hours for certian jobs, which falls good for me

[twostep]

Commercial pilot can be all sorts of things. Can you go a bit into details - hours, ratings, ... FAA is your very first step - check with the FSDO closest to you. What can you transfer? What do you have to retake? If you get stuck post here.

The medical aviation field is a small one but it is not impossible to get into it. Have you considered a semester at one of the larger aviation related schools such as Auburn or Embry Riddle to build a US network?

[Inphered]

@ twostep:

Yeah I guess in Oz the definition of a commercial pilot is pretty wide, but basically I able to fly any domestic operation as pilot in command so long as it is not a Regular Passenger Transport service, eg running on a schedule. Thats the realm of the ATPL. Kind of like taxi's are to busses and trains, taxis are an "on demand" service and busses/trains are a scheduled service.

I know that I will need to convert my Commercial Licence and my Instrument rating along with my night rating, all 3 requiring a check ride with and FAA inspector and the instrument and commercial also require passing the theory exam. The night rating and multi engine ratings will get covered when I do the instrument check ride. So I'm on top of that, had a few friends who've done it before me. If by some stroke of luck I win the DV applicaitons for this year I won't be going stateside till 2015, i'll have by that stage somewhere close to 2500-3000 hours total time and a whole lot more experience in the industry, hopefully with some aero medical experience too boot.

I'm also planning on getting my FAA ATPL when I get over there along with my doing a CFI course, broaden my horizons. Which I guess ties in with what you were saying of attending Auburn or Embry Riddle for a bit to build a network

[twostep]

Originally Posted by Inphered

@ twostep:

Yeah I guess in Oz the definition of a commercial pilot is pretty wide, but basically I able to fly any domestic operation as pilot in command so long as it is not a Regular Passenger Transport service, eg running on a schedule. Thats the realm of the ATPL. Kind of like taxi's are to busses and trains, taxis are an "on demand" service and busses/trains are a scheduled service.

I know that I will need to convert my Commercial Licence and my Instrument rating along with my night rating, all 3 requiring a check ride with and FAA inspector and the instrument and commercial also require passing the theory exam. The night rating and multi engine ratings will get covered when I do the instrument check ride. So I'm on top of that, had a few friends who've done it before me. If by some stroke of luck I win the DV applicaitons for this year I won't be going stateside till 2015, i'll have by that stage somewhere close to 2500-3000 hours total time and a whole lot more experience in the industry, hopefully with some aero medical experience too boot.

I'm also planning on getting my FAA ATPL when I get over there along with my doing a CFI course, broaden my horizons. Which I guess ties in with what you were saying of attending Auburn or Embry Riddle for a bit to build a network

There is no such thing as a "night rating". You cannot fly at night - you may be able to get a limited license.
ATP is mandatory to get into any commercial flying. CFI is something almost everyone does to have a means of building hours. So you are flying 91 - not for hire passengers?
You did not answer my questions in regards to your ratings.
Google the big schools. Most of them place their graduates. But it is not inexpensive.
At 2500 hours you will be at the very bottom of the totem pole depending on your ratings.

[Inphered]

Twostep, replied to your PM mate

In Australia we have a night rating that allows you to fly VFR, at night in a single or twin privately with passengers, or in either for airwork (eg training) or cargo only on a commercial basis.

At the moment I fly for a private company, solely as a pilot. Yeah it would be close to a part 91 operation, except we are able to operate IFR.

So just to clarify what you said about the ATP. Does that apply for anyone working for hire requires their ATP or only those under a Part 135 organisation? Would a CFI be classed under a Part 121? Part 121 sounds similar to what I am qualified to do here in Australia and I assumed that is where you'd start prior to getting your ATP and working with a Part 135.

In Aus, a CPL can be PIC of an "endorse" aircraft, so long as it is not running on a scheduled service. That's the realm of an ATPL (ATP) pilot. Some jobs, by way of contract requirements or insurance requirements, like aero medical will require ATPL. I take it that it's a similar setup to the US, as our regulations are pretty much a copy paste of the FAA regs.

I guess the long and short of it though, is i'd meet the experience requirement for an FAA ATP after i've converted my CPL and IR so i'd be doing the ATP first thing