ATC in other countries

[WoH]

So...with 30 looming and a sloooooooooooowing application process, I've started looking at ATC opportunities internationally.

I would love to move to Canada or Australia, but you have to have citizenship. A catch 22 because in order to become a resident and eventually obtain citizenship you generally have to already have secured a job. Can't get a job without citizenship, can't get citizenship without a job.

So does anyone know of any other countries that have comparable careers in ATC but don't require you to be a citizen? And who also have patience with someone who is not bilingual?

We can make this thread more interesting if people want to share if they would ever move out of the US to pursue ATC or our military folks experiences overseas.

[Shane702]

Marry a Canadian!

[WoH]

hehe...good thinking...already married

[Barty]

Have you already applied here? If you're not yet 30, there is still a pretty good chance that you can make it. Heck, I was 30 when I applied, and only had 7.5 months from my time of application to my 31st birthday. I know things have slowed down quite a bit, but you should still have some time assuming it doesn't take them 12+ months from application to PEPC.

[Peteistheman82]

I would totally move overseas to do ATC. The cool thing is that I'm pretty sure that English is the main requirement for ATC. I really can't imagine say in Italy that everyone speaks Italian... Mainly because of so many international flights. Who knows if you even need to be bilingual. I was really thinking about just getting all my certifications done and Working here in the U.S. for 5 years or so and then seeing what options are out there.

[ATCJefe]

I looked into ATC in Australia after deployment and before I got out of the military. The pay wasn't quite on par with the FAA, but it wasn't bad either. You're right though. Citizenship is required, but you need a job to become a citizen. I asked the agency about how I could circumnavigate the situation and they never really gave me a straight answer.

I haven't seriously considered ATC anywhere else, but I'm relatively sure that in any developed country you are going to need to be a citizen of the host nation due to security concerns and whatnot. (I may be wrong on this, it's just my personal guess without doing any real research) However, English is the official language of ATC according to international law. Other languages are regularly spoken over the frequency in nations with different official languages but pilots are SUPPOSED TO understand phraseology out of the 7110.

[dli1314]

You can do ATC in other countries if you are certified, ICAO posts vacancies....

[hship]

does anyone know about job opportunities in curacao, netherlands antilles? it's a part of the abc islands, aruba, bonne aire, and curacao. i am moving there in a couple of weeks after i take my at-sat because my husband got a job there (12 month contract) and i figure i'm going to be waiting a real long time before i ever set foot in okc. i would love to network while i'm there if it might turn into something. i'm completely clueless, but i do know there is an airport and someone has to be providing seperation for those planes, so why can't i right? anyone know anything?

[Peteistheman82]

Originally Posted by dli1314

You can do ATC in other countries if you are certified, ICAO posts vacancies....

So let me get this straight... as long as that country will allow you to work there, all you need is to be a fully certified air traffic controller in the U.S.??

If this is true... Thats awesome! and I'm gonna look into it.

[Rosstafari]

Originally Posted by Peteistheman82

So let me get this straight... as long as that country will allow you to work there, all you need is to be a fully certified air traffic controller in the U.S.??

Not exactly. Few, if any countries, will let you transfer over as simple as that. I think he meant to say that in some cases, U.S. contractors are operating in other nations and there are sometimes openings there.

Robinson, who also handles the AT-SATs, is one of them. They operate several of the smaller contract towers in the U.S., including at my home airport, GTU. A controller I met there was about to head out for an assignment in a Robinson tower in Dubai. Other contractors operate in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. The pay tends to be pretty good, but it's not through the FAA.

[ATCJefe]

I know KBR does some contract towers in Kuwait and Iraq. I worked at a tower in Kuwait when i was deployed and it seemed like a pretty chill job. mostly helo traffic (which I don't care for) but the pay is good and mostly tax free. You either need to know someone at KBR to get the hook up or have a CTO for those positions, though.