I have been entertaining the thought of jumping ship of the US to work in Europe for a while and I think now is that time. I know the A&P does not transfer into any of the EASA ratings but through this forum I have found out there is work out there on N-registered general aircraft.
So it is possible for me to work in Europe with a family and kids? Logistically how could I possibly do this? I appreciate any advice. I do have family in Germany (I am second generation born in US) and France.
I have GA, composite and sheetmetal/structures experience.
Best Regards,
Josh
Immigration and legal permission to work in Europe is not a simple issue for Americans, no more so than it is in the US for citizens of EU countries. I suspect this could be your biggest issue. It may be of interest that in some European countries (Italy being one) you can get citizenship based on fairly remote family connections, e.g. grandparents born in that country and the US doesn’t generally care in relation to your US citizenship. Also FYI Germany does not as a general rule allow dual citizenship, with some exceptions granted individually. I don’t know anything about France except the French have driver’s license reciprocity with some US states – which is actually pretty useful if you’re moving to France 
Others here may know more about whether an FAA A&P IA could realistically expect to get hired by a European company which would then successfully sponsor you for an individual work permit within an EU country. Another possibility would be to find work with an American or multinational company who needs your skill set in Europe, for instance for contract aircraft maintenance. A third possibility is US government jobs in Europe, which if you happen to be ex-military may be of particular interest.
My A&P/IA could work 24/7 as a freelancer on N-reg planes here in the UK, and doing prebuys, etc.
He is a very thorough and very careful guy who will never sign off anything without either having done the work or very carefully inspected the aircraft. He is also non-combative which is an essential but not entirely widespread political skill given that a lot of the time you are working in a hangar owned by an EASA maintenance facility.
An A&P qualification also carries the experience credit towards an EASA66. I believe you still have to sit the EASA exams; these are best done by brain-dead people because the material has so many mistakes that somebody who knows the answers will give the wrong ones
Unless you speak fluent German or French, moving to the UK might be a better option
There is a lot of A&Ps around but very few IAs.
Several European countries grant residence permits to freelancers registering a business. This is the way I got my residence in Czech Republic. If I remember correctly, it can also be done in Italy, Denmark, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, possibly elsewhere, but every country has its own procedures and its own minimum capital requirements. Here is a recent example how to do it in Spain.
Thank you all for your posts.
Well through a lot of research and talking with the German Consulate, I can very well hold a dual citizenship with Germany through decent. Long story but I can thank my Grandfather for not becoming an american citizen.
This brings more concerns. What is the pay scale over in Europe or Germany? I have found a some jobs that require FAA A&P through contractors.
If any of you have some advice that can help me find a job or some contacts, I would greatly appreciate it.
GA pay is not great here.
An engineer working for a GA company gets something like 25k. This is the reason for the often low competence in GA maintenance. The man working in a BMW garage gets a lot more.
This rises to 40k if working at say London Gatwick on airliners on a day shift (not a lot of work there because they mostly fly during the day) and 60k if working on a night shift (4 days on and 4 days off – not a nice life).
If you work freelance then you can make more but you are limited by the number of hours in a day.
I am often asked by American avionics people about setting up an avionics business in Europe, and how lucrative it should be when comparing the prices for say a G500 (a 1.5x price difference, easily). I normally tell them that the number of such juicy jobs is not large and most avionics shop work is low level stuff like installing transponders and (right now) 8.33 radios in shagged out planes full of long-dead wiring, where the customer has got 5 quotes and went for the lowest. Nevertheless there should be a good opportunity because the scene here is sooo dire.
However a lone FAA A&P with no other approvals can’t do avionics AFAIK, and most business is EASA-reg business which is fraught with problems for a freelance installer. They often work under somebody else’s hangar approval, or do jobs where the client is happy to have it done off the books. The other day I got a piece of avionics repaired and it came with an EASA-1 form from a well known company down the road from the one which did the work 
