It' s not actually illegal, but...

It's not actually illegal for citizens of foriegn countries to learn to fly in the U.S....

But it might as well be.

Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, various rules, requirements, regulations, and bureaucratic shennanigans have been put into place which make it difficult, and all but impossible, to travel to the United States to learn to fly a plane.  These rules existed in pure chaos for about four years, until they finally settlled more or less into the shape they're in now.  The result is that many flight schools simply do not take foriegn appliclants.

I should know.  I'm the guy to talk to here if that's what you want to do.

If this country had wanted to make it illegal outright, then they simply should have.  Instead, they did this:

• Non-US Citizens are required by 14CFR 1552 to register at a website run by the TSA (yes, that's the same TSA that makes you take off your shoes and belt at the airport) at http://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov/.  Prospective flight students will need to register a user name and password, and name the school where they want to go.
• That school gets an email (if they've registered with that same website as a flight training provider) from the TSA asking if the candidate's application is legitimate and should be accepted.
• The candidate then needs to register his or her fingerprints with a law enforcement agency, which electronically transmits them to the TSA, and must also provide a list of any aliases or alternate names they have used in the past (say, because they got married).
• The candidate then needs to pay a $130 fee for each "training request."  This is required for each new category and class of aircraft in which they seek certification, and for an instrument rating.  Typically, one training request is submitted at a time.
• A waiting period is established while the TSA runs a background check on the candidates' names and fingerprints.  If any information is missing, contradictory, or inconclusive, the application can be bounced back to the candidate, who may have to supply additional information.  Sometimes the process is pretty quick.  Sometimes it's not.  Candidates are advised to start this process 60 days before their planned starting date.
• Eventually, the school recieves either a notice of approval which allows training to begin, or a notice of denial.
• When their training starts, the school needs to (a) notify the TSA, (b) take a picture of the candidate and electronically transmit it to the TSA, and (c) notify the TSA of any changes to the candidates' status as a student.
• If a student wants to change schools (say, because they like the one across the street better), then they need to put in a new training request and pay a new $130 fee and submit to a new background check.
• ALSO, the TSA may, at any time, send a notification that all training is to stop.

To hard-liners out there, this may sound reasonable- after all, terrorists want to fly planes into buildings, right?  Maybe.  But these rules apply to ALL non-US Citizens, including people who have been living legally in the US as "Resident Aliens" for many years.  My school had a student who began the TSA's process, but got sworn in as a U.S. Citizen before they could manage to approve him.  It was a little puzzling about what to do with his file, since it was active, but the rules no longer applied to his case.  He said that becoming a citizen was easier.

But if you want to travel to the USA for the purpose of flight training, there's a whole other process: SEVIS- the "Student & Exchange Visitor Information Sytem," which is part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Because it's an entirely different department of the government, they, of course, have their own process, their own rules, and their own website, which requires new usernames and passwords.

• The school must be "SEVIS-approved" by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and receive a SEVIS code.  That school must name a Primary Designated School Official (PDSO) and may also name other Designated School Officials (DSOs) who must go through a training program and create unique usernames and passwords which must be changed every 90 days.
• This allows them access to a website which can be used to create an I-20, which is a document that sponsors an M-1 (educational) Visa for a candidate's passport.  ICE does not create or control the Visa (the US Department of State does that), but must accompany the Visa and Passport in order to prove that the Visa is valid.
• To create an I-20, the school must collect information about the candidates' name or names, address, employers, family, etc., and provide information about the courses they plan to take, the costs of those courses, and how the candidates plan to pay for the entire thing.
• The candiates need to make an appointment with the State Department at a US Embassy and take their I-20, as well as documentation about everything on it, to this appointment, where the Visa will hopefully be granted.
• Upon entering the country, the I-20 must be activated, validated, and maintained by the PDSO or a DSO of the school, and a new I-20 must be issued, which is exactly like the old one, but it won't be stamped.
• If the student wants to change schools, his or her I-20 has to be cancelled by the school that sponsored it, and a new I-20 must be issued by the new school.  If it turns out they can't do this, the student has to leave the country.
• A students' I-20 can be cancelled, or it can expire, or it can be renedered invalid by the TSA.  It's not impossible for that to happen without anyone noticing until they try to cross a border.

SEVIS, by the way, is the same process that college students need to go through if they want to come to the US to learn nuclear physics. They don't need to go through TSA to do that, though.

If you've got a headache from all this, I do too.  Just take this home and put it under your pillow:

There are 36 countries in the world which are part of the "Visa Waver" program- that is, you don't need a Visa at all  to enter the United States if you're a Citizen of one of these countries.  There are 195 countries in the world, so that works out to about one-in-six.  You can stay in the U.S. for up to 90 days, doing pretty much whatever you want, except having a job you get paid for.

To put this in further perspective, one of the tourist attractions the U.S. has to offer is thanks to our unique perspective on gun laws- Non- U.S. Citizens coming to Wyoming, Colorado, Hawaii, and other states are able to enjoy handling, loading, and firing fully automatic machine guns at ranges catering specifically to them.  Do they need a Visa and a background check?  Nope.

Want to take flying lessons, if you're from Toronto? Red tape out the wazoo.