WBC,
Once you have done your IR and got your CPL/IR ("frozen" ATPL) then they are valid for 7 years.
I don't think that is correct. An ATPL is valid for
5 years from date of issue. I got mine license issued 3 years before leaving the RAF, and 2 years into being employed in civvie street I had to renew it.
Check carefully on the:
Once you have passed all the exams, they are valid for 3 years, so need to apply for a CPL/IR within that time, otherwise need to do some/all again.
Make sure it isn't 'have license
issued within 3 years', as opposed to '
applied for'.
Be very wary about thinking that you have plenty of time in those 3 years to get it done. You'll get distracted and suddenly find that you are in a stressed out rush! Don't go there - the 'system' can be tardy so do it all at earliest opportunity, really!
Class 1 medical examinations, for 40 year-olds and over, used to be only vaild for 6 months, but someone saw sense and extended it to 12 months (again?). Get yourself a medical to have the license issued, and if you're not fussed, let it lapse (within the restrictions mentioned by BEagle and others) until you're ready to start doing the job apps. Get another up to date medical exam and IR, and you should be 'fresh' to hit the market. Although, you may find an annual Class 1 (and IR?), whilst still in the RAF, to be no burden - your choice.
But start applying for jobs earlier rather than later - you'll be surprised how slow some of the responses can be. As I wrote in an earlier posting on this thread "I had 2 offers for interviews from major far east companies nearly a year after making the applications ....... and I had already been in employment with a UK major for several months!"