In this video, let’s talk about another common question.
Can I get a pilot job in Australia as a foreigner?
Hey how is it going.
My name is Jane.
I am a flying instructor, charter pilot and skydiving jump pilot in Australia.
You may be thinking of becoming a pilot and doing the commercial pilot licence
flight training in Australia, or in the middle of training already or you
have just completed the CPL, you will have this question at some point, can I
get a job in Australia as a foreigner.
This is not a simple Yes or No answer.
Let’s talk about the work rights in Australia.
If you want to get a work visa as a pilot, it is quite difficult.
It is not as easy as a lot of people think.
Personally, I couldn’t get Permanent residency myself even though I already
have over 1500 hours flight experience because there is technically no clear or
straight forward pathway to PR as a pilot.
There are a few options for work visas – Temporary skill shortage
visa, subclass 482; temporary graduate visa, subclass 485; and skilled
work regional visa, subclass 491.
When you are considering to apply for work visa in Australia, you need
to check if your occupation is in one of the skilled occupation lists.
They are Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, Short-term Skilled Occupation
List and Regional Occupation List.
In simple term, if your occupation is not on the list, there is no chance
for you to get any work visa, this will apply to many other countries as well.
As for being a pilot, this occupation is on the Regional occupation list.
In this video, I will just give you an overview of each visa.
Since I am not a professional in immigration or visas, I
won't discuss any specific.
There are links about each visa down in the description for more information.
First, for temporary skill shortage visa, subclass 482, you can try for the
medium term stream which will last up to 4 years, provided that the company
or employer sponsor you for this visa.
You have to have at least 2 years work experience, so if you are a
fresh CPL pilot, you don’t meet the requirement of this visa.
If you do have more than 2 years work experience, you still need to find a
company who is willing to sponsor you.
This is very difficult because the employer need to go through
a lot of paperwork to prove that they can’t hire someone locally.
Just that, it is already a long and hideous process for the employers.
It could be expensive for them as well, if they choose an immigration
agency to organise the visa.
Also, there is a chance that you need to provide a skill assessment by CASA,
one of the requirement is 5 years work experience, this is even tougher.
Also, your main work location has to be in regional Australia.
It is best to consult with immigration agent if you are
considering this work visa.
Second, for temporary graduate visa, subclass 485, there are two options
- graduate work stream and post study work stream, but for a fresh CPL pilot, you can
only try for post study work stream, which will last up to 2 years if you completed a
bachelor degree in Aviation in Australia.
Nowadays, there are diploma of aviation available that you can choose, but this
qualification doesn't meet the study requirement of the post-study work stream.
Basically, to be eligible for this visa, you have to hold a qualification
at degree level or above, and your study is at least 2 years in Australia.
Once you applied and submitted all the required documents, you will have full
work rights in Australia, so you can find a job and work for at least 2 years.
Third, for skilled work regional visa, subclass 491, you can only
go for this if you have a skills assessment, which means for pilot, at
least 5 years experience, and you are nominated to apply by a state, like
NT, WA or NSW, to apply for this visa.
Each state in Australia has their own list of occupations, if your job is not on
the state list, you won't get nominated.
For example, in the NT migration occupation list, pilot is on their
list, so you might get a chance for nomination if you also meet all other
requirements for the particular state.
These are the three visa options for a foreigner to work in Australia as a pilot.
For 482 and 491, these are for experience pilots.
If you are currently doing a degree or have completed one within
6 months, you can go for 485.
So, go back to the original question, can you get a pilot
job in Australia as a foreigner?
Yes you can.
But is that easy?
HELL NO!!
Is that impossible?
Also no.
Personally, I had visa 485, temporary graduate visa after my
bachelor degree in Aviation at UNSW.
I got a job as a flight instructor when I was on visa 485.
I worked in Sydney and Perth for that 2 years.
However, by the end of the 2-year, I wasn't able to extend or find
any other visa option to stay and work as a pilot full time.
I had to study again and change my occupation to an accountant.
I applied permanent residency as an accountant, not a pilot.
Please don't think that just because pilot is a professional job, you can easily
apply a work visa in Australia, it is not.
For other countries, like Canada, it could be the case, but for Australia,
work visas are only for occupations that are needed due to shortage.
For job prospect, you can definitely try for any pilot jobs in the general
aviation, like charter pilot, jump pilot, flight instructor, etc.
As for airline job in Australia, like Qantas or Virgin Australia, they
only hire experience pilots who are Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Some airline may consider fresh CPL if you completed your CPL with an
university which has a partnership program with certain airlines.
So, if you want to work as an airline pilot as a foreigner in Australia, I am
sorry to say the chance is really really low.
If you do work as a pilot on a work visa in general aviation, you can expect
your journey to permanent residency will be rough and very time consuming.
It is possible, I know a few friends who did it.
You have to stick with a company for a long time and be lucky enough for the
company or state government to sponsor you to apply for Permanent residency.
I hope this video helps in some way to clear things up
about work visas for pilot.
If you do plan to study in Australia, I will put some links of my other
videos in the pinned comment section.
Thank you for watching.
I will see you next time.