ICAO license

[F/O MUSTARD]

Good afternoon

I would like to know an information

Which countries can I fly with ICAO license issued in Brazil?

Best Regards,

Mustard

[Bealzebub]

Simple, Brazil, or any other country where you are flying an aircraft registered in Brazil. You have a Brazilian licence, not an ICAO licence since in the case of the latter there is no such thing.

This is what you can read on the ICAO website:

ICAO does not issue any licences. Licences issued by ICAO Contracting States on the basis of Standards and Recommended Practices of Annex 1 – Personnel Licensing, are habitually called ICAO licences. This has led many to believe that there is a specific ICAO or international licence. The fact is that there is not one single international licence issued by ICAO or any other organization. States issue their own licences based on national regulations in conformity with Annex 1 specifications and validate licences issued by other Contracting States on the basis of bilateral or multilateral agreements or the fulfilment of nationally legislated requirements.

For more information, please refer to Annex 1, Chapter 1, paragraph 1.2.2.


Use of flight crew licences on foreign-registered aircraft

Any pilot who wishes to fly on an aircraft registered in a State other than the one that has issued the licence, needs to obtain an authorization from the State of Registry. This authorization is generally given by the State of Registry through a validation or a conversion of the foreign licence. In general, the validation process is used for short-term authorization while the conversion process is used for longer-term authorization.

Validation of a foreign licence
When a State validates a foreign licence, it recognizes it as valid for use on aircraft on its own registry. The Convention on International Civil Aviation and its Annex 1 do not contain specific requirements for the validation of licences beyond establishing the principle and the fact that the validity of a validation, cannot be extended beyond the validity of the supporting licence. As a result, conditions under which validation is granted vary from State to State. It depends on the level of privileges required and on the origin of the licence. It is generally easy to obtain a validation for VFR private flights, but more stringent rules may exist for professional licences. The applicant may be required to get additional training and/or to take new exams.

Conversion of a foreign licence

As an alternative to validate a foreign licence, a State may issue a licence that is based on the foreign licence held by the applicant. In doing so, the Licensing Authority accepts the fact that holding a foreign licence is an acceptable way to demonstrate compliance with its own national licensing regulation. The conditions for the conversion are generally similar to that of a validation.

Differences between validation and conversion of licences

The main differences are illustrated in the following table:

Conversion Validation
Issuance The applicant must hold a licence issued by another ICAO Contracting State
The applicant must hold a licence issued by another ICAO Contracting State

A validation is only valid when used in conjunction with the supporting licence

Maintenance of validity The "converted" licence must be maintained valid in accordance with the national requirements

The original licence may lapse without impacting the validity of the "converted" licence
The supporting licence must be maintained valid in accordance with the requirements of the issuing State

The validation may be more restrictive (in term of duration and privileges) than the supporting licence

Extension of privileges Additional ratings can be added to the "converted" licence in accordance with the requirements of the State that has converted the licence
A validation cannot provide more privileges than the supporting licence. If additional ratings are required, they need to be added to the supporting licence before they can be taken into account in the validation


How to obtain a validation or a conversion?

The decision to validate or convert a foreign licence is left to the discretion of each Licensing Authority. ICAO is unfortunately not in a position to provide information on the details of the validation and conversion policy and procedures established by each of its Contracting States. The most reliable source of information is the Licensing Authority of the State in which the licence is to be validated or converted, and at times Consulates and Embassies may be helpful.

For more information on validation of a foreign licence, please refer to Annex 1, Chapter 1, paragraph 1.2.2.

Virtually every significant country on the planet is accredited to the ICAO.