ICAO to EASA / acceptance of third-country certification
 

Hi
According to regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 from th3 03rd of March, I understand that under certain conditions an ICAO licensed pilot can convert his license to an EASA lisence without having to take the 14 theoretical exams but rather only test in Airlaw and English proficiency...
Am I getting this regulation wrong?
From what point will this regulation be valid?
tnx
“Pilot licences for commercial air transport and other commercial activities

For the validation of pilot licences for commercial air transport and other commercial activities, the holders shall comply with the following requirements, as applicable, for the privileges sought:

(a)

complete, as a skill test, the type or class rating revalidation requirements of Annex I (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011, as relevant to the privileges of the licence held;

(b)

demonstrate knowledge of the relevant parts of the operational requirements and Annex I (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011;

(c)

demonstrate language proficiency in accordance with Point FCL.055 of Annex I (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011;

(d)

hold a valid Class 1 medical certificate, issued in accordance with Annex IV (Part-MED) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011;

(e)

in the case of aeroplanes, in addition to the requirements in points (a) to (d), comply with the experience requirements set out in table 1 in the Annex to this Regulation;

(f)

in the case of helicopters, in addition to the requirements in points (a) to (d), comply with the experience requirements set out in table 2 in the Annex to this Regulation.”

The answer is in the Regulation:

Are you confusing "conversion" with "validation"?

Conversion vs validation
 

Thank you for the quick response !

Being practical,
If I’m holding an ICAO COM(A)IR Lisence with a B737NG rating, total time 2600 hour (1550 on type) and would like to work for a European airline -
must I convert my license or can I just validate ?
tnx

It looks like you have quoted the validation process for ICAO licence holders operating in EASA land.

Certainly in the UK this can be done but unfortunately only once, the validation lasts for 12 months. This can be extended once, for the purpose of gaining your EASA licence by proving that you are studying (signed up) to a training school. The CAA will not extend beyond this.

This can can only be used in one EASA country too, so you cannot validate in different countries!

Interestingly our pilot had two different ICAO licences and we tried to validate both licences over a four year period, the CAA would not accept this as they said the person has already been validated, I did explain that this was a different ICAO licence and the regs talk about validating a “Pilots Licence” and not the pilot themselves, they still did not accept this - go figure?!

Fortunately our pilot gained his EASA licence!

Good luck

SS