Interestingly...
The benefits of a UK IMC rating abroad
We regularly remind pilots that while an IMC rating is a very desirable qualification to hold, it is not valid outside
UK airspace. However, as some eagle-eyed pilots have pointed out after reading issue 1 of 2004, it does confer
one advantage in foreign airspace.
Schedule 8 to the Air Navigation Order 2000 lays down that the holder of a UK issued private pilots licence
without any additional ratings may not fly out of sight of the surface. This, as explained in the last issue, applies
wherever the pilot may be flying. However, if the pilot holds a valid IMC (or Instrument) rating, that restriction does
not apply. This means that in the airspace of a state which does not require PPL holders to remain in sight of the
surface (for example France), the holder of a UK issued PPL which contains a valid IMC rating may indeed fly out
of sight of the surface.
Does this mean it is official, have they got it wrong, or is it still a gray area?