The info being given here is correct!
I just went through the ICAO CPL(H) to EASA conversion process in the UK with licences from NZ, Austraila and the US, and well over 10,000 hrs PIC helicopter.
Here what you have to do, there's no way round it!
There are some paperwork hoops you have to jump through, but the main elements of the conversion are:
* Undertake an EASA approved Theoretical Knowledge course at an EASA Approved Training Organisation, which includes 2 individual weeks of consolidation at the school facility
* Take and pass all 13 x Theoretical Knowledge Examinations, 14 for ATPL
FYI, there are restrictions on the number of times you can take each individual exam; fail any exam 4 times and you start the whole process all over again. No credit given for the TKEs you've already taken and passed and back to school you must go, so think seriously about in what order you want to take the exams, and make sure you know your stuff for each exam. I used CAPT as my training school and managed to avoid any retakes (many thanks Phil/Paco!)
Of all the "new" (read irrelevant) stuff I learned in the hundreds of hours of home study undertaken to ensure the exams were passed timely for the above reasons, I have since put just one solitary thing to occasional good use. The rest can, and already has been dumped!
* 1st class EASA medical (for the UK it can only be taken at CAA House, Gatwick)
* Flight training as required for the skill test
FYI again, you must be recommended to EASA for the skill test by the Head of Training of the flight school, and EASA must approve that recommendation before you can take the skill test, which might be a sticking point if you try to limit the training as required to just 2.1 hrs to save money!
* Take and pass the skill test.
Good luck if you are going to convert to EASA, you'll need it if you don't put in hundreds of hours of mind numbing unecessary work, and expense naturally! Study course fees, test prep questions (hightly rcommended,) hotel bills, food expenses, multiple commercial flights and/or rental car costs, TK exam fees, flight training (~ 5 hrs is acceptble to EASA,) skill test examiner fees, and licence issuance fees of course!
