Converting to Malaysian CPL

[cjagreen]

Howdy Folks,

I've been trying to figure out what it takes to convert a New Zealand CPL to a Malaysian CPL (CPL/IR) if you are a Malaysian citizen.

Done a bit of research and its a little bit open to interpretation but the impression I get is that if you have an ICAO CPL, once you get back to Malaysia you have to do a further 35 hours multi and 6 theory exams at an approved college. That is followed by a flight test.

Is there anyone who has done this or knows a bit about it?

Also heard a rumour that Malaysia is going JAA next year, is there any truth to this?

Cheers

[tian yu]

Yups, there is no way to escape the 35 hours of ME flying. I believe you have to do your night rating of a minimum of 10 hours on a SE as well . . .

As for the theory, I believe its about 14 papers from the JAA exams. The DCA of Malaysia implemented this year in January. Try to drop an email to the DCA and post the latest requirements if you could. I emailed them early this year and this is the info I got.

Hope it helps! :)

[nyamukterbang]

35hours is for pilot with total hours of less than 500
if you have more than 500 its a different story i think

[cjagreen]

Cheers guys, will try and get in touch with the DCA. They arent they easiest people to get a hold of

[thornycactus]

I've been trying to figure out what it takes to convert a New Zealand CPL to a Malaysian CPL (CPL/IR) if you are a Malaysian citizen. Done a bit of research and its a little bit open to interpretation but the impression I get is that if you have an ICAO CPL, once you get back to Malaysia you have to do a further 35 hours multi and 6 theory exams at an approved college. That is followed by a flight test. Is there anyone who has done this or knows a bit about it?

Every now and then, many people like you wanted to find out the conversion requirements. :(

Cheers guys, will try and get in touch with the DCA. They arent they easiest people to get a hold of

There are lots of Malaysians who are already foreign licence holder. Queries pertaining to licensing conversion has been posted over and over again.

Kindly help to find out,
1. for those who have >500hours, what is the conversion requirement?
2. for those who have <500hours, what is the conversion requirement?

Update the members with latest news! :ok:

[nakmoz]

hey cjagreen

how long have u been NZ? which flying school are u in ?
as far as im concerned, all the requirements you said are all true

[roxar]

here u go..
http://www.dca.gov.my/Division/Flight_Operation/notices/Requirements%20For%20Licence%20Conversion.pdf

:ok:

[ShawnThian]

As for the theory, I believe its about 14 papers from the JAA exams. The DCA of Malaysia implemented this year in January. Try to drop an email to the DCA and post the latest requirements if you could. I emailed them early this year and this is the info I got.

Can I know the email for malaysia dca? I tried to email the director with the email address found at dca page but there is no reply. And another question, do i need to have night flying hours first before going back to malaysia for my conversion? Please kindly reply me ASAP. Thanks! :)

[flying.monkeyz]

The problem with DCAM is that they are consistently inconsistent. It depends on who you know. If you're well connected with some thick cables, your foreign CPL can be converted one for one. If you're a nobody, you'll need to:


write to DCA to beg for their blessing to convert your licence
at least meet the SPM requirement or equivalent (your university degrees and foreign CPL are not good enough to prove that you meet their high school requirement),
minimum 500 total hours,
write all ground school exams (JAA except Air Law, which is still DCA),
do additional 35 hours in a multi-engine aircraft,
Malaysian Class 1 medical,
flight test,
English proficiency test,
etc etc etc...


Good luck.

[ShawnThian]

ok Thanks! but do I need night flying before converting my license? I mean while I'm still doing the training. I know that we will need to fly 35 hours in MER.

"meeting the CPL/IR breakdown of 100 hours PIC of which up to
maximum of 30 hours may be as pilot acting as PIC under supervision
(P1 US), 20 hours (PIC) on cross country navigation, 10 hours night
flying of which 5 hours must be as PIC, and other requirements as
deemed necessary."
Does this mean that we have to meet all this requirement when we are done in our flight training before going back to M'sia and convert our license? Thanks!

[reflector]

you need to meet those requirements before you submit your papers for conversion. so the conversion training also counts.

[ShawnThian]

Thanks! So that's mean we can also fly 10 hours night in Malaysia for our conversion then as it is not a must to have night flight hours before returning back to Malaysia.

[flying.monkeyz]

I don't mean to splash cold water on you, but unless you've already been offered a job, I don't suggest you come back unless your logbooks are filled with lots and lots of hours, or come back with a type rating of some sort. There are sooooooooooo many Malaysian CPL holders that are jobless, and they don't even need to convert!

If I were you I'd take up an Instructor's Course, and do some instructing outside, get your logbook filled up before even think about coming back.

[ShawnThian]

Flying.Monkeyz thanks for the advice. read about that in the news also.

[Captain Stravaigin]

I tried to convert my UK CPL to a MY one two years ago.

I paid the CAA about £70 for a letter attesting to my CPL and went into the DCA. Unfortunately I was a few (about 50 hours) short of the 500h requirement.

I said no problem, and returned a few months later with 500 hours. They then told me that they had lost the original letter from the CAA (I was not sent a copy) and I would have to start the process all over again.

I have so many other extant issues with the DCA that I have virtually given up on the CPL one - but may have another go in a few months time.

On reading the Policy note it seems to strongly indicate that the 35h Multi-Engine training is not relevant if you have 500h in total. I was only applying for Single Engine CPL - and have Zero hours Multi, is this also likely to be a problem ??

[smiling monkey]

I was only applying for Single Engine CPL - and have Zero hours Multi,

What type of job are you expecting to get in Malaysia with just a single engine CPL?

[Garfs]

DCA Makes you do all 14 JAA exams, but at the end of the day only issues you a Malaysian License, not JAA, so basically all the JAA work for no JAA license.

As mentioned above, the DCA always loses letters, their rules change by the day

Generally tho its 35 hours twin and the JAA papers, as mentioned.

Oh you have to do the ICAO English exam again too, coz Malaysia claims the English there is different

[Captain Stravaigin]

Smiling Monkey - just wanted to be able to do Leisure/Intro flights for tourists etc. I am currently a Flight Instructor - but you only need a PPL here in MY for that.

[Chong Kai Teh]

Hello fellow Malaysian Aviators,

I realize this thread is about 5 years old, but what the heck.. Still going to try my luck and see if I can get any response out of it.

I am a Malaysian and I hold a FAA Flight Instructor license with around 1000 hours of total time. I am currently still flying overseas.

I am wondering if anyone has done the conversion from foreign ICAO to DCAM with his/her minimum over 500 hours? If not yourself then, have you guys heard of anyone that has done it?

And is there any General aviation job besides flight instructing in East/West Malaysia that can allow me to build more time to at least get to ATP minimums?

Looking to move my career back to the motherland.

Thanks y'all!

[mercenair]

Your timing might be unfortunate, as was mine.

I hold an ATPL and have about 4,000 hours. Half of that is airline jet time.

I was making inquiries last year about converting my Aussie license to a Malaysian one so that I can go for the occasional jolly in a C172. Just when I was getting close to jumping through the regulatory hoops there was a change (I think September 2018 off the top of my head) whereby Malaysia is no longer converting foreign licenses. I presume if you get hired by a Malaysian airline there are ways around that.

What this means for me is that if I want to occasionally take a 172 for a spin with family or friends I need to go back to effects of controls with an instructor to get my license here from scratch. Obviously, that's not happening.

Good luck!

P.s I think Malaysia also did the same thing with car drivers licenses. I hope someone comes to their senses here soon and these ridiculous changes get overturned.

[thornycactus]

I am a Malaysian and I hold a FAA Flight Instructor license with around 1000 hours of total time. I am currently still flying overseas.

I am wondering if anyone has done the conversion from foreign ICAO to DCAM with his/her minimum over 500 hours? If not yourself then, have you guys heard of anyone that has done it?
Out of the entire PPRuNe forum, I don't think many can answer but I can answer tough question that nobody can answer.

For Malaysian holding any foreign license, it can be converted to CAAM license!

For your case (based on your limited info written here), it is most likely, you must convert it through Malaysia AFTO out of your own pocket. The conversion requires applicant to clear all papers and 25-35 hours in ME.

And is there any General aviation job besides flight instructing in East/West Malaysia that can allow me to build more time to at least get to ATP minimums?
Before answering to your second question about time building in Malaysia. For "ATP minimums", are you referring to FAA ATP minimum?

[Chong Kai Teh]

Thanks for the info! Hopefully there will be light at the end of the tunnel for people like us...

[Chong Kai Teh]

Thanks for answering my question.

However, by taking all the written papers and fly 25-35 hours on ME, that means it is just the same process as the CAAM AIC has stipulated for the foreign licensed Malaysian pilots under 500 hours of total hours. If that's the case, why doesn't the CAAM just state that all at once instead of dividing categories for < 500 and > 500? Pretty confusing yea..

About "ATP minimums," presuming that if I convert my license, I would have to follow the ATP minimums for the CAAM.

[thornycactus]

Thanks for answering my question.
Thank you! I like polite greeting and reply.

However, by taking all the written papers and fly 25-35 hours on ME, that means it is just the same process as the CAAM AIC has stipulated for the foreign licensed Malaysian pilots under 500 hours of total hours. If that's the case, why doesn't the CAAM just state that all at once instead of dividing categories for < 500 and > 500? Pretty confusing yea..
Good question.

I have spoken to T. William (at that time, known as DCAM and before he retired) many years ago about this. Those holding >500 hours, the requirement is not much difference with those <500hours. Only (a few) certain papers are exempted for slightly experienced guys. Till now, nothing has changed even CAAM scrapped UKCAA and JAR testing standard.

Generally, all applicants (as in your case) MUST clear ATPL papers. FYI, those RMAF guys with thousands of hours are made to sit those ATPL papers too! In fact, CAAM "followed" CAAS conversion practise.

Being a Malaysian, you have a good advantage of converting foreign license to CAAM license without being questioned by CAAM.

I hope I have answered your question.

About "ATP minimums," presuming that if I convert my license, I would have to follow the ATP minimums for the CAAM.
There is no ATP minimum particulary for your case. Even if you hold CASA ATPL/FAA ATP, your license converted will be CAAM frozen ATPL.

Once you have your CAAM frozen ATPL, you should have at least minimum 5 years to unfreeze. There is a consequence if you don't unfreeze within 5 years which I am not going to write.

For those converting to full CAAM ATPL ("unfreeze"), is another set of criteria which is not useful and meaningless to you (in your case).

[Chong Kai Teh]

Thanks a bunch! You definitely covered enough details that I was curious about.

That being said, with your insights, I might have to re-strategize my planning and see how I am going to go about the whole conversion process. Having a FAA ATP would be a wise choice before anything.

I appreciate your help, "thornycactus" :)

[danial2810]

I have just received my reply from my enquiry with CAAM about converting my FAA CPL/IR/ME to a Malaysian Frozen ATPL.

For reference I have about 320 TT with 50 Multi. In order for me to convert that I need 35 hours of Multi Engine flying at a local flying school, and I need to sit all the ATPL theory papers. Quoted cost so far from several flying schools is around RM250k to convert.

[The Rage]

Thats daylight robbery, I would wait a few months, once these schools start to run out of new students joining I'm sure they would take you in for cost. In the mean time maybe just do the papers instead of the flying. I don't think anyone would spend 350k to be a pilot now......just keep checking from time to time.

[danial2810]

Thats daylight robbery, I would wait a few months, once these schools start to run out of new students joining I'm sure they would take you in for cost. In the mean time maybe just do the papers instead of the flying. I don't think anyone would spend 350k to be a pilot now......just keep checking from time to time.

Thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately the terms of my letter say I need to sit for the papers through a flight school. I'm hosed either way. Better look towards Singapore instead...

[avoka]

Thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately the terms of my letter say I need to sit for the papers through a flight school. I'm hosed either way. Better look towards Singapore instead...
Is Malaysia ICAO members?
I think I need to check Your country air law on your own without relation on the letter from CAAM
I just transfered the price You have mentioned before. It’s about 60k$. You can get new license for this price
Safe flights