MD11Engineer touched upon it in post#26. I am trying to look at this issue from a different perspective. Yes, it's quite disgraceful the way EASA tries to protect the European aviation market from foreigners. It's quite clear it has nothing to do with safety at all. On the other hand, US has its own ways of protecting the job market from foreigners stealing their jobs. I am European that used to work in aviation in US. Just because I had an "essential skill" that could not be done by an American, my company could support me with a favorable visa that allowed me the right to stay and work. But it did not come without cost… in administrative, lawyer, traveling expenses we're talking about $5000 dollars… and it had to be renewed every second year. And despite all the money that was paid I was restricted to work for the company I was with at the time. I could go on and talk about the hassle to get a green card to allow me to work unrestricted. At the same time I have many European friends who have imported American girlfriends to Europe where they're now living and working, relatively troublesome less. We could protect ourselves through aviation, immigration or labour laws.