Work rights in Aus | TheaterFire

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ltcterry@reddit

What citizenship do you have now? NZ is quite different in this regard than say US.

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OP mentions in their post history that they have a Student Visa which unfortunately for them also rules out NZ citizenship. If they were, then they'd just have been issued a section 444 special category visa instead and while it's not permanent, it is freely granted to Kiwis on each entry and only terminates when exiting Australia. The SCV does automatically grant PR status, study and working rights.

It is possible to also seek a permanent visa as a NZ citizen, but historically you'd only do that as a step on the way to citizenship. These days you can go straight to citizenship from an SCV as long as you've resided in Australia for four years.

Australians get a slightly better deal going the other way, as we can enter NZ without a visa and are automatically Permanent Residents on arrival.

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frenchiephish@reddit

While flight instruction is certainly a possible pathway PR via an employer sponsorship the reality is that it's not very probable. There are some specific challenges there, including the availability of people with working rights who are competing for the same positions.

You would be best approaching a visa agent to discuss your pathways as the specifics (even down to the number of placements for skilled workers) change regularly. You need to be talking to someone who lives and breathes Australian immigration (which most people here would not).

The other challenge for airlines here is that while the majors do officially consider first officers at the 700-1000 hour mark, they often want to see ATPL minimums with at least one (if not more) of the exams completed.

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

Hi everyone,

I'm currently exploring the path of becoming a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) at a flight school in Australia and I had a few questions for those who might have experience with this route.
I'm going to be completing a degree from an Australian university that takes me from 0 experience to a frozen ATPL along with important certs like MECIR.
I was researching on regional airlines once I get about 700 hours flying and it seems most of them require citizenship or PR to even apply.
What do the long-term possibilities look like? Specifically:

Is it realistically possible to obtain Permanent Residency (PR) in Australia after working as a CFI at a flight school? (Preferably employer sponsored. However I've heard they rarely sponsor international students)

Does instructing actually help strengthen a visa/PR application in the aviation industry, or is it generally not considered a strong pathway?

Thanks to anyone with any advice to share.

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