Adam that letter is great. That’s the right way to deal with bureaucrats. Too bad it doesn’t always work like in this case.
tmo wrote:
The forms are borderline torture, but the most unplesant is the cerberus-like official at the port of entry. Maybe 10% of the time I feel welcome, mostly it feels like GTFO
It massively depends on where you go through.
I’m usually going to Houston (where I lived for a few years) and the worst I’ve had in Houston is professional politeness, and often they are pretty open and friendly. (The TSA on other hand going out – they proudly advertise how they hire military veterans, I just wish they would give them some training that you don’t treat travelling civilians like they are prisoners of war, barking orders as people put their stuff on the x-ray belt).
Dallas Fort Worth on the other hand – never again. An aggressive rude official who demanded my visa petition because apparently the visa sticker in the passport’s not good enough (fortunately I had it in my hand luggage) then threatened to deport me because “it wasn’t the original” (it was the original, and obviously so because it had the US Embassy’s original ink stamp on it), before backing off and telling me to “carry the original next time”.
Peter wrote:
I’ve got a list of docs for an N-reg here
Just going through that, I noticed the question about being “eligible for employment in the US”. Why does that list state you should mark “yes”? Shouldn’t you mark whatever applies to you?
And then, the real question is: What is the background of this question, what does it change? And how do I know as a non-US citizen if I am eligible?
I think the RL (Restricted Radiotelephone Limited Use) form is the one for us not necessarily eligible for employment in the USofA.
Yes, but looking at Peter’s summary page linked above, it states:
Obtaining your FCC Restricted Radio Operators Permit for operating a radio in an N-Reg aircraft flown outside the USA
…
Step 14 – Click that you are eligible for employment in the U.S. Continue
Eligibility is covered in subsection l (lima) of the statute, 47 USC 303. See corresponding regulations at 47 CFR 13.7, 47 CFR 13.9 etc. The “Limited use” version applies when ineligible for employment in US as tmo states.
What is the practical significance of this difference?
This is mine. Issued 2007 and no expiration date shown:
The FCC permit for the aircraft is obtained for me by the trustee; SAC.
The difference as I see it is one isn’t forced to be creative with their employment status (one could argue they are eligible for employment if given a H1B visa, or some such). From a practical standpoint (ability to legally operate an aircraft radio station on a N-reg plane) there is no difference that I know of. I bought the RL one, it came as a PDF with “Official Copy” across the page and no expiration date. See discussion about PDF vs paper versions we had here a few weeks ago. I can post a picture later if requested.
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 
