Hi
I use to work in the very department you emailed at the CAA. The 7 years you are talking about is if you do the JAR ATPL's and only obtain a JAR CPL and IR within the 3 years of the exam validity. They are then 'banked' for 7 years validity from the date of expiry of your most recent IR (this can be an ICAO IR, and in your case your B747/IR rating would suffice) for the future upgrade to the full JAR ATPL.
Simply put you have 3 years from the last exam to obtain either a JAR CPL and IR, or in your case most like directly the JAR ATPL with an observed skill test on a multi-pilot type. As this hasn't been done, you'll probably need a miracle to avoid doing these tests again I'm very sorry to say. Unless you had an extremely good reason that you were not able to do it within that time frame, I can't see them giving an extension. Unless you were medically unfit for the whole 3 years, they'd expect you to get it done, especially after all the effort you must have put in to get the theory exams passed in the first place.
Last edited by VJW; 25th June 2012 at 22:49.