First of all thanks for all your advice so far!
Peter, I had a quick look at your link and it appears to me as a very helpful source of information, thanks for that. I'll spent more time with it within the next days and do some more research!
The FAA ---> JAA way seems in fact interesting however it sounds indeed time consuming and full of nice little problems showing up along the way... Spent a lot of time lately to convert my JAA licence/ratings to their Australian equivalents and I'm really sick of this
However I don't want to rule it out, if that's the way to go paperwork shall not stop me, peter/M-ONGO how long took the whole procedure for you?
And how much time would you guys estimate for a JAA IR without the FAA detour?
The subject is 23 years old, presently flying in Australia I believe but a native to Germany, so his time is probably his own anyway.
However the subject is currently working 2 jobs while finishing his engineering degree and as it is with us young boys we want everything and we want it right now! But seriously it appears that my non-aviation workload decreases a bit in the next couple of month so this would be a good chance to get the IR started.
I would suggest you wait until the EASA NPA on IMC flying is finally resolved. The chances are that there will be a revised examination that replaces the existing exams and makes things much more achievable. I am not sure what the time scale is.
It is tempting but the latter is the reason why I don't intend to wait for it...