Hello gents,
Looking for advice as I am due to finish my CPL in the UK soon, or as soon as my flightschool reopens due to the lockdown.
My current situation is, I hold: PPL, NVFR, ME/IR, Class 1 and ATPL theory exams. All done with the UK CAA as part of EASA. I am also in the middle of a CPL course so therefore my situation is a bit delicate as transferring during a training course could be a huge hassle.
My huge doubts is what to do regarding SOLI transfers. I am a Spanish national and may well leave the UK to settle in a different EASA country. Should I wait until completion of the CPL to transfer my licence? If so, to which authority should I transfer too? I speak Spanish, English, German and I could get by with French. At the moment I believe what matters most is speed of the transfer as if it takes too long I might risk not getting it done in time to be considered an EASA SOLI transfer.
Anyone can share their experience of a UK to EASA SOLI transfer recently?
The deadline was 31st December 2020.
As far as I know, if you want an EASA licence now then you it is not a SOLI, but a conversion that you would need. I would suggest speaking to your CPL training organisation to see if they retain a separate EASA approval and if there is any way to achieve EASA licence issue with whatever state they (may) hold approval with. I don’t know if this is even realistically possible since you already have all the other elements completed in the UK, but it is worth asking I think.
If it is not possible, then you will end up with a UK PART-FCL licence and if you want to obtain an EASA licence from that, then the way things currently stand you would need to convert under ‘third country’ rules (same as FAA to EASA) and would have to complete the exams and a skills test again. Many people including myself are hoping that some agreement will be reached to mitigate this in the near future, but I have no information on that.
Maybe I misunderstood, but I dont think you can start a SOLI now, its too late isnt it?
As of now, you will need an EASA medical, then if ATO retains their EASA approval they can get you “training as required” with zero hours based on what you have then sign you up for EASA re-tests (PPL+CPL in U.K. but MEIR somewhere else)
You may want to wait if something else comes up but does not seem to be any sort of arrangements in the near term….
@Alpha_Floor from a friend I understand Malta is still “expecting his SOLI” untill end of this month (seems exceptional for applicants who did send the request to CAA before Dec31 but their medical records were not sent yet), not sure if there is a room to sneak in but check with UK CAA if they can send things quickly to them…
My understanding is that the CAA will absolutely not initiate the SOLI process now. There are still SOLI’s in progress but these were STARTED before the deadline. It is then up to the receiving(?) authority whether or not they will complete the process, I believe some have said they will as long as it was started in time, whilst others will terminate it.
Has the SOLI transfer deadline not been extended for another 6 months in which the UK is still functioning as if it was in EASA still?
Is your training organisation conducting training under an EASA approval (see list here)?
Yes, they are on the list.
If it is not possible, then you will end up with a UK PART-FCL licence and if you want to obtain an EASA licence from that, then the way things currently stand you would need to convert under ‘third country’ rules (same as FAA to EASA) and would have to complete the exams and a skills test again. Many people including myself are hoping that some agreement will be reached to mitigate this in the near future, but I have no information on that.
Which exams do you mean? The ATPL theory exams?
That would be a huge nightmare. I sat those 14 exams as part of EASA and I would have to sit them all over again?
