How long ago was that?
From people close to me, it seems to actually be very hard:
I know of a couple EU citizens, MIT or so educated, interned in our NYC office, but had to come to our London office (vs NYC) to work.
One of my best friends (french, Harvard educated) is on a spousal visa, and can’t even get a driving licence, not least a job (even a lowly one like flight instructor – he’s a CFI) – upgrading to a visa that allows work takes at least months (with no feedback at all)
Someone else I know wanted to “retire to Florida”, but the amount of investment you needed for “golden visa” was definitely not “insignificant business”
I think 5-8 years ago. I believe he spent about 100k on the company; he sent me their last accounts and asked me what I thought of the product line. I told him it was obsolete junk; he said that’s perfect!
I would think there is a difference between you going to the US to work for a company there, and you going to the US because you bought a company there which you own 100% and you are the sole employee. The former would not work in most countries but the latter normally does.
Anyway, this is digressing; not a cost effective solution to an FCC paper which we don’t need anyway 
But it looks like the FCC doesn’t check (with the IRS, etc) which option you selected.
Taking one step back, what are the material differences of the permit in one or the other case?
First of all, are we talking about a “Restricted Radio Operators Permit” in both cases (eligible for employment or not eligible), and the latter case gets the additional mention of “Limited use” on it?
If this is correct, what does “limited use” entail vs. not having that mention?
Tangentially, on the investor green card I think you need to invest at least 500k $ and create some employment for a few years. This amount can be lowered if you invest in special purpose companies which are basically just schemes to create employment whilst burning away your money, if I’ve understood that concept correctly. Definitely a bit steep a price for a piece of paper.
Google found this, which makes it much clearer with the three options for non-residents:
To qualify, you must: be either a legal resident of (or otherwise eligible for employment in) the United States or hold an aircraft pilot certificate valid in the United States or hold an FCC radio station in your own name; and …
If you are a non-resident alien you must hold one of the following three documents to be eligible for an RP:
- a valid United States pilot certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration; or
- a foreign aircraft pilot certificate which is valid in the United States on the basis of reciprocal agreements with foreign governments; or
- a valid radio station license issued by the FCC in your own name. (An RP issued on this basis will authorize you to operate your own station only.)
@Peter Maybe you can update your page to reflect that you should check the box on being eligible for employment according to your status, instead of just stating you should check it.
Qalupalik wrote:
The “Limited use” version applies when ineligible for employment in US as tmo states.
Yes. I think most of us operating N-reg have the “limited use” version, as Peter’s shows. Mine is that too. From an operational viewpoint for Part 92 N-reg operators it’s immaterial. US citizens would of course get the full version as indicated below being eligible for employment.
The only difference between the non-limited and limited versions is the last statement about employment ineligibility on the limited version:
The FCC pilot permit is separate and not attched to an FAA standalone certificate, so you explicitly need a separate piece of paper but how does that work when you fly on a national licence? or piggypack? or if you have a national rt paper?
A similar discussion to “can’t fly instrument on IMCr as FAR asks to have an FAA IR” :)
Wouldn’t you use the radio operator permit of that national licence in that case, not requiring a separate FCC one?
Peter wrote:
You can make yourself eligible for employment in the US just by purchasing some insignificant little business. I know a guy who did that. He was able to work there himself immediately and had the green card in no time at all
The investment amount is rising this month, November 21st 2019 to $1.8 M, or half that amount in certain economically distressed areas. Link. Then you can move to the US and won’t need anything from FCC – they are only required as a result of ICAO treaty or something, for foreign operations.
I have updated my FAA documents link – thank you for spotting that bit.
As a slightly amusing point, I am informed that the visa class my friend used was probably the E2 treaty investor visa which only requires about 100 to 150k USD to be put at risk in a US company employing 2 or more US nationals or LPRs. Takes a couple of months to obtain the papers. Principal applicant restricted to working for the E2 company but the spouse may work for anyone. Not a dual intent visa but it can be used to obtain lawful permanent residence. There’s a hoard of British ex-pats in Florida who’ve gone down this route. Pubs are popular choices. The alternative visa class, EB5, leads to rapid green card acquisition but requires 0.9 to 1.3 M USD to be put at risk for half a year. Popular among the Chinese.
Having spoken to vast numbers of pilots over many years, I am pretty sure that most N-reg owners are not aware that they need one radio license for the aircraft, and a separate radio license for each pilot flying it as PIC…
