Legally you do NOT need a BFR. This has been recently confirmed by the FAA. The currency of the based-on license (ie. your 2-yearly SEP renewal) is sufficient to exercise the privileges of the FAA license
OMG...here we go again:
Regulation 61.56:
(c) Except as provided in paragraphs (d), (e), and (g) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft unless, since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command, that person has—
(1) Accomplished a flight review given in an aircraft for which that pilot is rated by an authorized instructor and
(2) A logbook endorsed from an authorized instructor who gave the review certifying that the person has satisfactorily completed the review
Full reg is here:
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations:
And here is an excerpt from the FAA Inspector's Handbook concerning the issuance of a "restricted based on a foreign license":
8900.1:
I. Advise Applicant of Part 61 and Part 91 Rules and Requirements. Advise the applicant about the rules and requirements contained in 14 CFR part 61, Certification: Pilot, flight instructors, and ground instructors; and in 14 CFR part 91 (flight review requirements, recency of experience requirements, required logbook entries, etc.). As a point of emphasis, make clear to the applicant that a flight review (see § 61.56 ) must be administered by the holder of an FAA flight instructor certificate with the appropriate ratings before he/she may exercise the privileges of his/her U.S. pilot certificate. The proficiency checks administered by a foreign flight instructor do not count as meeting the flight review requirements of § 61.56 .
Full text can be found here:
Flight Standards Information System (FSIMS)
If you call a random FAA office and speak to a random FAA inspector they may not know the correct answer unless they look it up in 8900.1
Not every inspector deals with this on a daily basis.
But the above is the exact quote from their own handbook so I hope that satisfies IO-540 also....
Trust me, I don't sit here for 30 minutes making this stuff up as I go along..
Can y'all just leave the interpretation of US regulations to people that actually work and live and
FLY in the USA....rant over