Possibly the most disappointing thing about this career is the fact that you couldn't just go to Europe and work without doing the entire licence again. You have to ask what is the point of having an ICAO licence/medical if you have to do the entire thing again when you move abroad. Are you qualified or not? Are you fit or not? Complete rubbish.
Air Law no problem, local regs need to be known but the airplane and the air are identical. Difference in climate etc is covered by the company.
Middle East requires a GCAA medical from memory. The word is GCAA and the EASA one at Gatwick are not exactly a walk in the park.
JAA (now EASA) had provision to shorten the process for those with Command time above 40 tonne. This isn't the case anymore. Basically a 320/737 pilot with 10,000 hours is the same as a GFPT pilot over there. (Happy to be corrected).
When I started out, the internet was in its infancy so there wasn't a prune etc to bounce these ideas and knowledge around. Thus I ended up doing my training in Aus thinking going to EU wouldn't be as big an issue as it actually is.
If I had my time over (and I wanted to be a pilot which I wouldn't but that's another story) I'd have done it in Europe then come to Australia done a medical air law and gone into GA for the experience then pissed off back to Europe when I wanted to.
Any Kiwis know if converting to Kiwi licence for Aus pilots is a rubber stamp job?
Good luck with it, and go do your licence in Europe btw.