I only posted that as I thought perhaps you already had an EASA IR, Section 5 in CAP 804 allows you fly abroad on a valid ICAO IR, and maintain your IR credits for the purpose of revalidation or renewal.
I understood your ATPL credits remain valid, while you hold an EASA IR, these are of course two different things, but not unrelated. So perhaps that is of some help to you.
In my case seven years to get my initial EASA ATPL should be sufficient.
Last edited by vh-foobar; 22nd Apr 2016 at 14:17.