When you get back from the US you may need to do the whole PPL all over again if you let the SEP lapse.
Peter wrote:
That’s amazing!
I think so!
What about the EASA medical?
I have heard you only need one, FAA or EASA.
On a UK issued JAA/EASA IR, after 7 years of non-revalidation you have to re-sit the IR exams, AFAIK.
Personally, for me, I won’t be flying in 7 years time so I’d be willing to accept this.
Aviathor wrote:
When you get back from the US you may need to do the whole PPL all over again if you let the SEP lapse.
I don’t intend to fly when back in the UK, time for a change, but for others reading this it will be a consideration.
Peter wrote:
What about the EASA medical?
Since § 14 CFR 61.75 says (my bold):
(4) Holds a medical certificate issued under part 67 of this chapter or a medical license issued by the country that issued the person’s foreign pilot license
a US medical is sufficient to satisfy the requirements. I think there is no way to argue otherwise, if not they would have had to write “and” instead of “or”.
ColletteS wrote:
Hmmm, this is what I have heard. I guess my worry is whether this is based on interpretation, or solid fact. I would hate to have to argue my interpretation against some FAA officials ‘facts’.
Sorry, I can’t find an official reference for this. If you want to be sure, you should ask someone at the FAA, and then you have it in writing.
It follows from the general principle of US law, that everything that’s not prohibited is, by default, allowed. Just the opposite from Europe 
What we are talking about here is your SEP class rating validity. Since they state that the licence must not be suspended, revoked, or expired, and they never talk about the ratings, then you can assume that the currency requirements for your ratings are those of the FARs and not those of the foreign licence. I also feel it is logical that the US cannot know about all the different currency requirements of all ICAO countries when they do a ramp check on you, so they really don’t care as long as you are FAA current.
EASA PPL is good for life, but SEP not. I agree with no need to keep EASA currency, but keeping your SEP rating is not about currency. And currency requirements (to carry PAX) are the same in Europe and US…
Yes, surely, you still need to do the flight with an instructor (can even be a CRI if you get an FE to sign the license afterwards) every two years, for the license to be valid for any purpose at all. EASA merely removed the 5 year life of the JAA piece of paper (£50 had to be paid every 5 years, and 53.789% of PPL holders forgot ).
It follows from the general principle of US law, that everything that’s not prohibited is, by default, allowed. Just the opposite from Europe
Actually that must be true in every civilised country, otherwise life would be impossible 
It appears to me that the best purpose for an EASA pilot license may be as a moribund but still legal basis for an FAA 61.75 pilot certificate
With 61.75 in hand If you don’t fly for 20 years you can do an hour minimum with an FAA instructor, an hour minimum of ground instruction, plus a hand written logbook entry and be legally good to go in a N-registered plane. No contact with EASA or FAA representatives required.
Peter wrote:
Yes, surely, you still need to do the flight with an instructor (can even be a CRI if you get an FE to sign the license afterwards) every two years, for the license to be valid for any purpose at all.
Actually what I am trying to say is the opposite. SEP is just one rating of many that you can put onto a PPL, like a sailplane rating or a TMG rating, or just a MEP, or an A380 type rating. If these ratings are valid or not doesn’t affect the validity of the PPL, and it doesn’t affect the FAA validation either. All the rest is governed by the FARs.
FAR 61.75 merely requires that the underlying licence is valid i.e. not suspended, revoked, expired etc. It does not require the associated ratings to be valid. There is no need for that as they require you meet rating validity of the FAA ratings and medical similarly as was discussed.
I’ve had that confirmed with discussion at my local FSDO that I was not mis-understanding the requirements.
You can even fly G reg in the UK under the privileges of your FAA certificate when your EASA SEP is expired, although international flight would not be covered.
I have been flying happily under that arrangement for the last 7 years. The only hassle was getting all the UK stuff valid for the change from JAA to EASA which I did while back in the UK for a few months.
To summarise, a valid 61.75 certificate requires:
That’s it.
