G

I think you would be considered a “US person “

I’m a green card holder myself and have never encountered any issues.
 
You need a new flight school / university. The guy you spoke to either 1) doesn't know what he's doing, or 2) he is just a weasel. In any case, you deserve better.
 
You need to go through the TSA AFSP to get the training approved. The school needs to be approved by the TSA. The process for the school is minimal, the local TSA office sends a supervisor over to go through a checklist with the CFI to confirm that he exists.

SEVIS applies to J1 and F1 students and as a LPR you do not need to attend a school that can issue the SEVIS paperwork. You can train with 'Bob the CFI' as long as Bob went through the meet&greet with the TSA at some point.
 
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You do not need a SEVIS, all you need is the TSA approval which should be no problem. As stated in previous post, find a new school. If they don’t know how to deal with an LPR, lord know how they handle flight instruction. There plenty of 141 schools that will gladly take your money. Make sure they are worth your money.
 
Johnvan said:
I think you would be considered a “US person “

I’m a green card holder myself and have never encountered any issues.
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Same here, never had an issue

What I do find funny is a lot of institutions wouldn’t recognize a green card if it fell and hit them on the head. Banks included.
 
I would not abandon the school quite yet because some low level college administrator thinks you need a visa. Talk to someone who knows what they are doing. Most universities that have international students have an in-house or contracted attorney who deals with cases that go beyond what the button pusher in the admin office can deal with.
 
weilke said:
I would not abandon the school quite yet because some low level college administrator thinks you need a visa.
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Nahom Beyero said:
The chief flight instructor said that the school isn't "Sevis" approved and that they can't give flight training to International students.
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Unfortunately, the guy who said this is the chief flight instructor.
 
weilke said:
I would not abandon the school quite yet because some low level college administrator thinks you need a visa. Talk to someone who knows what they are doing. Most universities that have international students have an in-house or contracted attorney who deals with cases that go beyond what the button pusher in the admin office can deal with.
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I can tell you first hand the level of incompetence from the SEVIS schools is quite crazy. And big name schools have completely screwed over their F1 students numerous times.
 
WDD said:
Unfortunately, the guy who said this is the chief flight instructor.
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Agree with @weilke. Find the administrator or university lawyer who deals with foreign students. They can likely straighten this out in a jiffy.
 
TommyG said:
I can tell you first hand the level of incompetence from the SEVIS schools is quite crazy. And big name schools have completely screwed over their F1 students numerous times.
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Exactly how many or what percentage of these schools do you have first hand knowledge?
 
Clip4 said:
Exactly how many or what percentage of these schools do you have first hand knowledge?
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Many, but when you work at one of the biggest international airports, and students come in from all over the world to attend anything from Columbia to BS No Name colleges I can say quite many of them. When the SEVIS is messed up or wrong or cancelled and no one answers a phone on a Friday after 4 PM the student gets sent back to his home country because the government isn't going to make the student sit in the airport until Monday morning until the SEVIS coordinator to decides to answer the phone.
 
Nahom Beyero said:
Good idea, but wouldn't that roughen my relationship with the Chief flight instructor (like me contacting the office of legal affaires...). I haven't started training yet and I'm afraid that being at odds with him at this early stage might really hurt my training. What do you think?
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I can think of two possible ways to soften this. The best likely depends on the size of the school.

If smaller, like Embry Riddle, then perhaps recontact the chief flight instructor and say you’ve done some research and you believe that for a green card holder, such as yourself, there is an exception. And that you want to confirm this with the university office before troubling him any further. At the same time go ahead and contact that office.

If larger, you could probably just contact that official and the registrar. By the time this really becomes an issue for the chief flight instructor at a larger place, this will probably have faded into the past.
 
The Chief Instructor of a 141 is not the final authority. It’s merely a position of a part 141 certificate to oversee the curriculum. This position has others he must answer to.

With that said, go ahead and do as others have suggested and go further up. If the Chief Instructor suffers butthurt, so be it. If he decides to try to use this against you, again, he has people above him he must answer to.
 
TommyG said:
Many, but when you work at one of the biggest international airports, and students come in from all over the world to attend anything from Columbia to BS No Name colleges I can say quite many of them. When the SEVIS is messed up or wrong or cancelled and no one answers a phone on a Friday after 4 PM the student gets sent back to his home country because the government isn't going to make the student sit in the airport until Monday morning until the SEVIS coordinator to decides to answer the phone.
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Your first hand knowledge of the schools is zero based on your post.
 
Nahom Beyero said:
Good idea, but wouldn't that roughen my relationship with the Chief flight instructor (like me contacting the office of legal affaires...). I haven't started training yet and I'm afraid that being at odds with him at this early stage might really hurt my training. What do you think?
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Talk to the registrars office and whoever does the legal stuff. The loss of revenue is the only thing that causes college administrators to move. Someone below the chief instructor looked at this and saw 'OMG, OMG I have a non-citizen without a SEVIS number' and things snowballed from there.
Having been on a SEVIS visa, an H1b and a greencard, and having done my flight training using TSA approvals under those various immigration statuses, I am not convinced that everyone in every position at a university or large employer has a full understanding of how the different bits and pieces fit together.
 
It's not an "exception." SEVIS is for non-immigrant students. A permanent resident is by definition not a non-immigrant (in fact, if he claims such status it iis grounds for terminating his green card).

The rules for TSA vetting are in 49 CFR 1551 and 1552. There's no requirement for SEVIS approval The rule applies to all "flight schools" which include Part 141, part 61, and just a random flight instructor:

Flight school means any pilot school, flight training center, air carrier flight training facility, or flight instructor certificated under 14 CFR part 61, 121, 135, 141, or 142; or any other person or entity that provides instruction under 49 U.S.C. Subtitle VII, Part A, in the operation of any aircraft or aircraft simulator.
 
I was on green card when I trained for PPL, there is a ASFP process. If the school or the chief doesn’t know it, find another school.
 
Clip4 said:
Your first hand knowledge of the schools is zero based on your post.
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Oh OK, I have my experience, guess you have you have your experience to be so defensive of schools.
 
Hey, I really appreciate that, could you really tell me where exactly (if there is one) it mentions that there is no requirement for SEVIS approval?
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Unless something is spelled out in law or regulation as required, it is not required. SEVIS is required for J1 and F1 students.
 
weilke said:
You need to go through the TSA AFSP to get the training approved. The school needs to be approved by the TSA. The process for the school is minimal, the local TSA office sends a supervisor over to go through a checklist with the CFI to confirm that he exists.

SEVIS applies to J1 and F1 students and as a LPR you do not need to attend a school that can issue the SEVIS paperwork. You can train with 'Bob the CFI' as long as Bob went through the meet&greet with the TSA at some point.
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When I did it they didn't send anyone out. I just went down to the FSDO and I showed my pilot and CFI certificate. They clicked some box and I'm a foreign flight training provider. That was awhile ago, not sure if it expires in some way.

-robert
 
RobertGary1 said:
When I did it they didn't send anyone out. I just went down to the FSDO and I showed my pilot and CFI certificate. They clicked some box and I'm a foreign flight training provider. That was awhile ago, not sure if it expires in some way.

-robert
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That was maybe 15 years ago. That program changed around a bit. May well be that they moved the in-person to the fsdo. Same concept, it's to reduce the odds of someone using an inactive flight instructor as a means to get training approved. They also get the CFIs email and set up an account for the CFI to 'approve' training requests.
 
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