Recently had an American gent come to do some flying on a private hire. The application for a Certificate of Validation was the most painful part. ...something that used to be handled in less than 24 hours by the regional licensing people in days of yore and can now take up to 9 months.
Having been assured by someone in CLARC that it would all be done by the day he arrived, we checked a few days prior to his arrival to be told that the person handling it (who had had the paperwork for several weeks) was on sick leave therefore it would not be completed in time after all, tough ****. A phone call to the right person higher up the food chain, who basically had to start the procedure from scratch, had it done in less than an hour but it shouldn't be that way.
As for the ELP it is annoying that the FAA have chosen not to put ICAO English requirements on there but this was done in a few minutes. $150 for this is extortion!
Dick the main barrier to people from overseas coming on flying holidays is the woeful performance of CLARC and the restrictive rules on who overseas can verify documents. This should all be left to the flying schools, as is done in other countries, without anyone in Canberra getting involved and stuffing it up.
As for the ASIC...that's another rigmarole due to again the restrictions on who can verify documents, and the fact that unless you have time to apply for an Australian driving licence or someone here who has known them for more than 12 months and can provide a verifiable reference it is actually impossible to do.