About 40 to 45 WORKING DAYS (almost 9 weeks!)
Yes mine took 43 working days. I needed to renew my JAA licence as it had less than six months to run and I needed a foreign validation. I telephoned Licensing & Training Standards at Gatwick mid-September and they said it will take about 20 working days (rather than the usual 10) due to the transition to EASA.
The advice on the CAA website was subsequently changed to 20 days and eventually 25 days.
It has recently changed to:
"Please be aware that we are currently experiencing high volumes of applications due to the transition to EASA.
In order for us to process these applications as quickly and efficiently as possible please refrain from calling us to chase your application.
Your patience is greatly appreciated"
In other words we don't know how long it will take but please leave us alone!
Of course the slow down in processing has itself caused more problems as pilots face the risk of not being able to work and try to chase the situation. Some of this extra work could have been avoided if the CAA website had been updated earlier to reflect the true waiting time.
Given that the UK has decided to be an "early adopter" of the EASA Licence it would have been useful if the CAA had got all its systems in place and working before launch.