<p>Hello everybody,
A friend of mine told me that:
''It is possible for anyone in the world to pursue any kind of education in the US. But international students are not sponsored for a job (work permit) by any aerospace companies in the US because of security issues. If you can find yourself an American wife then you can become an astronaut too!''
Is it true or not?</p>
<p>Thank you in advance</p>
<p>Not 100% true, not 100% false. As a foreign national, you would have a hard time getting a job in a defense-related position at a company. It won’t hurt you for working on the commercial side of things though.</p>
<p>Hi. I agree with bonehe3ad. Okay this situation of being a foreign national, and wishing to be a student in a U.S. Aerospace University/School is 100% possible. I might be ignorant on this subject but from the top of my head I would assume “BIG U.S. Aerospace Companies” hire mostly U.S Graduates(though not always) who can easily get a security clearance. Meaning they prefer U.S. citizens(though not always). I am not sure if this has changed but, as I remember Federal Law prohibits granting a security clearance to non-citizens. This means even if you are a permanent resident you wouldn’t qualify for a security clearance. </p>
<p>The problem with this is that people outside the U.S. want to go to a Local University in their country. But this is Problem #1 there are almost no Aerospace programs outside the U.S. that a Major U.S. Aerospace company would take into account ( Major U.S. Aerospace companies don’t see any University outside the U.S. as prestigious, heck even when they come from Europe which has a good number of large Aerospace companies. This is a culture that has grown from the required Security Clarence. They say “Why bother?”). </p>
<p>Solution #1? GO as a International Student to a recognized Aerospace-Program offering University in the U.S. Then after you finish the bachelors degree you will want to find work in that industry. Theirs another problem. The problem will be once you graduate. You will want a job in your field but most large U.S. Aerospace companies provide U.S. Air Defense, which inherently require Security Clearance for the high-paying/certain jobs in their company. </p>
<p>Solution? I see no other way than to become a U.S. Citizen. Yes I know becoming a U.S. citizen is very hard but if you want to work on projects were you want the most amount of money for your input it’s required. To be brief In large Aerospace companies you get paid the most on defense projects not large civil/commercial projects.</p>
<p>Don’t get your hopes down though. Keep reading.</p>
<p>Their is however another side of this story. You can literally work for any U.S. Aerospace company with at-least a workers visa(which then you can apply for a permanent residence and heck then U.S. CITIZENSHIP!). With a U.S. education in aerospace im sure you would get a job in any U.S. Aerospace company. But the capacity and pay would be limited in the large ones that specialize in defense. </p>
<p>I believe their are some that don’t do any defense type work, so those should be a shoe-in. But yes you could work for Boeing, even if your not a citizen or permanent resident you would just need a sponsored worker visa. Boeing would probably have you working on civilian aircraft projects or something were security clearance was not an issue. Remember their are also European Aerospace companies in this planet if your dream-goal is to be in the Aerospace industry.</p>
<p>I hope someone can give you more information than me.
(Sorry for the grammar/spelling)</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>Thank you very much that was very interesting</p>
<p>From what I have heard from a French engineer, Boeing tells at career fairs that it does not hire internationals, also Boeing rejects most of international applications for internships and its online application system blocks everybody applying for a job without green card. So I am not sure if in the industry you can get working visa sponsored so easily. For sure if your research has been published in major journals there will be a university to sponsor your visa to work in academia but there are too many good American engineers for industry to do the same. </p>
<p>If you are an EU citizen like me there are countless opportunities here to work in the aerospace industry that include Airbus, EADS, Eurocopter and Rolls Royce. All of those companies have European engineers working on similar projects as their colleagues at Boeing or Lockheed.</p>
<p>I am an Indian citizen with masters degree in rocket propulsion. Any chance of getting into Astrium? Here there is no employment in my field for last couple of years.</p>