Thu May 23, 2019 4:03 pm
#1695545
I applied for an update to my FAA licence via the CAA stand at the LAA rally last September.
Having required me to obtain multiple photocopies of documents courtesy of the Aviator hotel, documents they themselves had issued, and notwithstanding the original documents presented to them personally, they took £45 from me to process the application.
Having heard nothing over four months later, and following approximately 12 emails to them via three different personal email addresses, I was finally advised that the FAA would not accept my application because of a fundamental difference in the licence numbers on my original cardboard FAA licence, and my current UK licence. I had been under the naive impression that the whole point of the update was in order to reconcile differing licence numbers, but apparently only small differences, not big ones, count.
The CAA advised that to proceed further I would need to “chase” the FAA to request a licence verification from them, but seemingly to do this I need to pop over to an FSDO office in the States.
After receiving such a request from the FAA, the CAA said they would then need a further £112 from me to process the application, and if I decided to cancel the application instead, then unfortunately a £112 cancellation fee would also apply, meaning I had paid £157 for precisely nothing.
Thus far they have been waiting to hear what I wish to do for several months. I will neither be continuing with the application, nor cancelling it for obvious reasons. I shall just sit here fat dumb and happy and hope the whole horrible business all goes away.