Very interesting thank you.
If the plane lives in the US (60% of flights start and end in the US) then the company doesn’t fall under the 75% US ownership requirement. The 75% US ownership is for aircraft that primarily reside outside of US airspace.
Very interesting. If you have some time I’d be interested in how you did it. Company that is 75% in US citizens‘ hands? Why no possibility to bring it to EU (not even temporarily)? Thank you!
So I eventually went the “foreign” c-corp route as it helps me retain control of the aircraft. That will not work if/when I want to bring back the aircraft in Europe but I figured I’ll bridge that gap when I get there.
Mark_1 wrote:
I used a trust while I was on H1B but had it transferred to me when I got my green card.
That’s the direction I’m leaning towards.
Thank you all for the useful tips.
I was in that situation when I came to the US 10 years ago.
I used a trust while I was on H1B but had it transferred to me when I got my green card.
You could use a friend to be the nominal owner. You save the trust fees, but should they die or get divorced you may find that it’s treated as part of their estate.
A search for e.g.
“n-reg” ownership
digs up older threads.
My understanding, from speaking to countless people on both sides of the debate over many years, is that you have to be a US citizen (passport holder) or a US Green Card holder.
To meet this, most Europeans use a trust, even when they live in the US. The trust can be a company and then needs to be at least 75% owned by individuals who in aggregate meet the criteria in the above paragraph (examples: one or more Americans and nobody else, or three (or more) Americans and one European).
I was told multiple times by bizjet owners (who tend to use the pricey trust options) that they have the “3xUS + himself” setup i.e. the owner owns 25% of the US company and the other 75% is some American lawyers. This gives you the assurance that if one of the lawyers kicks the bucket (a common occurence, especially if eating burgers) they just install a replacement 
The alternative is ownership by a US registered company (corporation) and then various requirements apply to e.g. where the plane spends its time. I am sure Adam is very familiar with this one.
Yes, but:
@AdamFrisch – the corporation has to be US-based, right? @xavierde was asking about a foreign one – so I still think a trust will be cheaper than a dedicated US company
@xavierde – taxation has nothing to do with immigration – I think you usually become a “resident” for tax purposes once you spend more than 182 days in a given country, becoming a “resident” in terms of immigration isn’t so trivial and definitely not automatic (think: [tax] burden vs [immigration] privilege)
Read last permissible paragraph.
I had my aircraft in my corporation as a foreign owner. I was sole owner of corporation. Only req is that you fly 60% within the US, keep a record of it in a disclosed location. Had to fill out a little form on flight hours each year to comply, but no big deal. Easy.
A US company (corporation or association) also requires that 75% of the voting interest is “owned or controlled” by US citizens. So in my understanding, you can do e.g. a partnership where you have all economic rights, and one (or several) US citizens (collectively) own or control voting rights. Which makes it similar to a trust in functioning, in that formally another person has control of your plane. Whether that is cheaper than a trust is another question :)
