Convert licenses due to high fee
 

Hey,
I currently have a JAA CPL and FI-rating from the Swedish CAA and from the 1st of January they will raise ALL fees with 30%! I have to revalidate my CPL in late spring and now I'm seriously considering converting them to another JAA-country with a cheaper fee. It's not only to save some money but also some sort of protest against this crazyness. I'm not even sure that any country is cheaper but would be nice to get a little overview.
I will "call you back" about the exact fees here and in the meantime maybe you can post some alternatives for me.

Kind regards

Your not the first or will be the last to convert from the Swedish CAA. Most if not all of the Swedish pilots I have flown with have converted. Usually the first time they have to pay through the nose for their IR revalidation. All the Brits get their's signed by the TRE and don't pay a penny.

The British CAA for all there faults are pretty good at recognising all other states examiners and AME's usually you only have to pay every 5 years for a license renewal which is about 300 quid. The medical fee's are between you and the AME and they issue you with a new cert if done in the UK.

Thank you, I have heard that the UK has reasonable fees and will take a look at it.
The Swedish CAA are ruining general aviation and I think it's awful.

I tried to call them today but they only had phone-time between 0930 and 1100...
I thought I paid for that service.

I expect you did, but working so hard, I suspect they needed a long holiday, and left the office early.:}

In FAA-land, the general aviation pilots that belong to the AOPA have a very loud voice, and make it heard.

Absolutely, where excessive aviation fees are concerned.
The AOPA has, almost singlehandedly, beaten back so-called user-fees in (or anticipated) FAA funding in recent years, and I fully expect it to continue.
When you have 400,000+ general aviation pilots flooding their congressmans telephones...they listen, very carefully.
Some of those same Congressman are general aviation pilots themselves, so the message gets through, loud and clear.
This does not even include such activities as business aviation, they have the NBAA on their side, beating the same drum...NO excessive fees.

Make no mistake, America has the most general aviation pilots/airplanes in the world, by a very large margin.
When these pilots/businesses talk, legislators hear it very loudly.:ok:

You Americans are in a totally different situation. I think we have about 1200 GA-aircrafts in Sweden, that's probably what you have at one big GA-airport...

And we are Swedes, we don't complain, sadly we just accept the crap.
I've sent an email to the Queen's CAA and waiting for reply.

The Fees
 

Now I've been in contact with the SCAA and have some fresh prices.
To maintain my CPL i have to pay about 245 EURO(15% raise from 1 Jan) per year.
So if I want to have five years it is 1225 EURO. My FI-rating is about 20 EUROs per year. Can you people out there with JAA licenses please post what you are paying for your CPL?
That can give us a good overlook of the fees in different JAA countries.

Prices anyone?

You will find all the charges here:

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/175/srg_fc...prof_09_10.pdf

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/175/srg_fc...prof_09_10.pdf

So for myself while maintaining an ATPL, SEP, 2 turbine type ratings and a FI.

It would be

£132 pounds every 5 years for the license.

FI rating as such you wouldn't pay to have but every three years you would need a flight test at £160 plus aircraft or do a 2 day course or both.

Again for the 2 type ratings and SEP rating I pay nothing to have them revalidated and sit on my license to the CAA



As I said the guys I used to fly with used to get hit time and time again. The medical was also a right hit in the pocket as well. I think the final straw for one FO was he was looking at nearly 2000 euros to get his ATPL after all the ball ache of getting an examiner and paying for it all. When he swapped to the UK I think it cost him £250 and it was done and dusted in 4 weeks.

Larscho,
please keep the thread updated with what you discover regarding flying on a British license. There just has to be a catch, or they'd all be out of a job at the licensing department. Which, coming to think of it, may be just what the legislators are aiming for? Not a single pilot in all of Sweden, and a wonderfully uncomplicated life for them...

My colleague renewed his (FAA) CPL at the FAA main office in Oklahoma City when we were there. Took all of 15 minutes and cost him $2, which was almost as much as the postage for mailing the license to Sweden. And no, they didn't charge for the postage. Now there's a good argument for emigrating, as if the climate isn't enough! :)

Thank you guys!
I will see more into it and update as I progress.
Seems as the prices differ totally, I think it's a shame...

Is the transfer process not dependent on establishing employment or normal residency in the issuing state?

I seem to recall reading a JAR reg on this very point.

Might be so, I'll keep the thread updated.

Transfer State of Licence Issue
For administrative convenience (e.g. revalidation), the licence holder may subsequently transfer a licence issued by the ‘State of Licence Issue’ to another JAA Member State, provided that employment or normal residency is established in that State. That State would thereafter become the ‘State of Licence Issue’ and would assume the responsibility for licence issue referred to above.
An applicant shall hold only one JAR-FCL aeroplane or JAR-FCL helicopter licence and one medical certificate at any time. An applicant may only apply to change the state of licence issue of a JAR-FCL licence provided that employment or normal residency is established in that state.

The above text is an extract from the UK CAA's publication "LASORS 2008", which is available on the web.
Unfortunately, it seems to be bad news for Larscho, unless you have some strong UK connection.

Thanks kenparry, I will probably have to move :)
I will give it a try, worse that happens is to get a "No".

Follow up question:

I have a Swiss JAA-PPL and would like to take the ATPL theoretical exams and then CPL skill test in the UK.

The CPL would then be issued by the UK CAA and the state of license issue is not Switzerland anymore, but the UK, right?

However, I don’t have any intentions to move to and work in the UK. Does it mean that I can’t get a UK-JAA-CPL and I can’t do the above mentioned things?

Is there a way to get a UK-JAA-CPL without moving to the UK? Or is it enough, if I live in the UK for a limited time (e.g. during the flight training)?

I’m sure, there are many pilots outside the UK with UK-JAA-licenses, or am I wrong? How do they handle this issue?

Thanks for your help

Take_0ff