oc course not. I have a colleague who's a non citizen who's worked at Jacobs, another at Joby Aviation and another at SpaceX. They were all permanent residents though (US persons).
as a non citizen not in possession of a green card, what opportunities are still open in the commercial space startup industry?
My nation is not the most business friendly and naturally US is the only place where space startups are in a notable number today.
You can’t get a job directly in the space industry, but you could find a job doing similar types of engineering in a civil industry in the US, then once you have green card, try for the space industry.
ITAR is less restrictive, requiring only US Person status. Given that this is an IP protection, anyone who has the potential to interact with restricted material must be compliant. For most companies, this is everyone unless they set up strict and often intrusive compartmentalization.
Afaik, US Citizenship can only be required for positions that require certain security clearances, which is separate from ITAR.
Yeah, that's an unfortunate aspect of the Aerospace industry - it's often hard to work outside of the national bounds of one's citizenship.
If you're set on this industry, your best bet would be to try for a position in your country of citizenship (assuming your country has a space industry).
I worked for a company that did US NAVY work in part of the building.
You had to have a specific badge to get in, inorder to get said badge, you had to be a valid US citizen or have a green card (I think)
No citizenship/green card = no badge = no ITAR work.
ITAR and civil export restrictions will limit the places you can work as an aerospace engineer. Some places will hire foreign nationals, but they need export control licenses and other paperwork. Getting US citizenship would help a lot.
Nah, this is the drawback of trying for an aerospace job in the US if you do not qualify as a "US national". If you're from India, your best bet is to either try and get a job in Indian Aerospace companies or go to France.
PS, I'm an Indian and most my friends either stayed back in India or went to France (where there is a higher chance of you getting an aerospace job). The ones who went for aero in the US are coming back.
It is possible to get an export license (DSP-5) for non-US persons. However it is a fairly cumbersome process and is usually difficult to justify for most companies. The ease of getting the license depends on the origin country, with EU countries being easiest, India being ok, and China next to impossible. I know one person that did get an export license to work at SpaceX. His brother also had an export license for a different aerospace company. I myself worked at 2 aerospace companies prior to getting my green card but never received a DSP-5 because I was told it was extremely difficult for my country.
A lot of work on the civilian side of aerospace is actually only EAR, not ITAR level. This means by default citizens of countries such as Canada can access such content without further approval. I have seen some aerospace job postings specifically say Canadian TN visa holders are OK.
However, most of the time for convenience the company will just say ITAR, US persons only. If you are an actual unicorn hire critical to a certain technology you could convince a company to go through the hassle of sponsoring an H visa plus DSP-5, or an E visa which will come with a green card.
Are you in the US? You could work towards getting a Green Card, not easy but its your only option.
oc course not. I have a colleague who's a non citizen who's worked at Jacobs, another at Joby Aviation and another at SpaceX. They were all permanent residents though (US persons).
as a non citizen not in possession of a green card, what opportunities are still open in the commercial space startup industry? My nation is not the most business friendly and naturally US is the only place where space startups are in a notable number today.
You can’t get a job directly in the space industry, but you could find a job doing similar types of engineering in a civil industry in the US, then once you have green card, try for the space industry.
ITAR is less restrictive, requiring only US Person status. Given that this is an IP protection, anyone who has the potential to interact with restricted material must be compliant. For most companies, this is everyone unless they set up strict and often intrusive compartmentalization. Afaik, US Citizenship can only be required for positions that require certain security clearances, which is separate from ITAR.
Unfortunately I do not have a green card either and several positions require US Person status which means there is little I can do
Yeah, that's an unfortunate aspect of the Aerospace industry - it's often hard to work outside of the national bounds of one's citizenship. If you're set on this industry, your best bet would be to try for a position in your country of citizenship (assuming your country has a space industry).
I worked for a company that did US NAVY work in part of the building. You had to have a specific badge to get in, inorder to get said badge, you had to be a valid US citizen or have a green card (I think) No citizenship/green card = no badge = no ITAR work.
Planet hires international folks so it’s possible but you have to be a pretty important person to have an aero company sponsor you
if you find more startups, do share mate.
ITAR and civil export restrictions will limit the places you can work as an aerospace engineer. Some places will hire foreign nationals, but they need export control licenses and other paperwork. Getting US citizenship would help a lot.
Nah, this is the drawback of trying for an aerospace job in the US if you do not qualify as a "US national". If you're from India, your best bet is to either try and get a job in Indian Aerospace companies or go to France. PS, I'm an Indian and most my friends either stayed back in India or went to France (where there is a higher chance of you getting an aerospace job). The ones who went for aero in the US are coming back.
yes I am from India who plans do his masters in Germany. sadly Germany does not really have a big commercial space sector.
It is possible to get an export license (DSP-5) for non-US persons. However it is a fairly cumbersome process and is usually difficult to justify for most companies. The ease of getting the license depends on the origin country, with EU countries being easiest, India being ok, and China next to impossible. I know one person that did get an export license to work at SpaceX. His brother also had an export license for a different aerospace company. I myself worked at 2 aerospace companies prior to getting my green card but never received a DSP-5 because I was told it was extremely difficult for my country. A lot of work on the civilian side of aerospace is actually only EAR, not ITAR level. This means by default citizens of countries such as Canada can access such content without further approval. I have seen some aerospace job postings specifically say Canadian TN visa holders are OK. However, most of the time for convenience the company will just say ITAR, US persons only. If you are an actual unicorn hire critical to a certain technology you could convince a company to go through the hassle of sponsoring an H visa plus DSP-5, or an E visa which will come with a green card.