What if I am not a US citizen but have permanent resident status ?
If you reside legally in the United States but do not hold a citizenship, you can still take flying lessons. It will just require from you a bit of time, money and possibly some frustration. It is called the Alien Flight Student Program and is operated by the Transportation Security Administration, commonly called TSA. You will have to file an application requiring a decent amount of information, go thru a background check, get your picture taken and get fingerprinted. Oh yeah…spend some money too, about $130. The process takes anywhere from a month to 2 months. For every new training you plan on taking, you will need to fill out another request and be officially authorized by the government’s agency to participate in the course.