I was going to convert my Aus ATPL to British ATPL, man, they would only give me a PPL to start with, then exams to cpl plus flight test, then the full ATPL syllabus, I also had to send my original logbook to them to verify my application, well I wasn't about to send my logbooks, its the only record I have, the amount of crap I had to go through to convert was too cost prohibitive. Trouble is, when a UK ATPL comes here, they do one Air legislation exam and a medical then are issued a licence.
It seems the UK are the biggest ******s when it comes to aviation, my mate does his FAA medicals in Aus, no problem. Im not familiar with the JAA stuff, but its amazing how you guys can pay for it all. Good Luck