Originally Posted by
CEFO
After going through the process of a greencard and the time it takes, i highly doubt the "shortage" has got to that point. The USCIS only has a set number of H1B visas they can give out each year and the employing company has to prove why they cant find an american to do the job. Hopefully this isn't someones misenterpretation of a foreigner already with a greencard or work visa getting a job and then someone with an axe to grind gets upset because it is seen as "taking jobs away from americans". There are plenty of american expat flying in my home country and other airlines around the world and it isn't looked at as such (of course there are some exceptions).
An H1B visa doesn't cut it. You can only receive training in an aircraft of +12,500lbs in the US as long as you're a US citizen or a green card holder, period.
Forget about H1B or any other "sponsor visa", it does not apply to airline training, this is one if the many policies put in place after 9/11.
Unless you show up with a green card, you can't even attend new hire training on a 121 carrier.
Can an airline sponsor an applicant for a GREEN CARD? Technically Yes, but it's really complicated due to many factors, expensive and many months of processing, finger printing, medical examinations, rounds of vaccines, etc, AND it can still be denied by the government, it's not an automatic deal.
Now, if the government opens up a window for "guest workers" then that's a different story. But I doubt it will happen anytime soon...