Converting a foreign pilot licence into an Indian one is governed by DGCA CAR Section 7, Series ‘G’, Part I. Most of it is paperwork you can assemble at any time. One clause is a deadline, and it is the one candidates read too late: your rating must be current, meaning at least 10 hours as Pilot-in-Command in the 24 months before the date of application.
The checklist
| Requirement | What the CAR states | When to handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Currency | Rating “current” for the type — at least 10 hours as Pilot-in-Command in the preceding 24 months | Track from the day you stop flying |
| Written examinations | Conducted by DGCA’s Central Examination Organisation | As early as possible — longest lead time |
| Skill test | Competency demonstrated to a DGCA-approved examiner in India | After the papers, in India |
| Medical fitness | Per Schedule II, Aircraft Rules 1937 | Early — a disqualifying finding is cheaper to learn now |
| Licence validity | Foreign licence and supporting documents within their laid-down validity period | Check before applying |
| Documents | As required under Schedule II, Aircraft Rules 1937 | Assemble in advance |
Source: DGCA CAR Section 7, Series ‘G’, Part I, Issue II, Revision 4, dated 9 September 2019 (effective 1 July 2019).
Which licences this covers
The CAR names pilot licences for microlights, gliders, balloons, light sport aircraft and gyroplanes, plus the Private Pilot Licence, Commercial Pilot Licence and Airline Transport Pilot Licence — each for aeroplanes or helicopters. In practice the common case is a CPL earned abroad, on an FAA or EASA licence, being converted for commercial use in India.
Why currency is the clause that bites
Everything else on the checklist waits for you. Currency does not.
The sequence that goes wrong is ordinary: finish training abroad, return to India, spend months on paperwork, exams and scheduling — and somewhere in that gap the 24-month window closes on your last 10 hours of Pilot-in-Command time. Re-establishing currency then means flying again, usually abroad, usually at the price you were trying to stop paying.
Two practical consequences:
- Know your date. Work out when your PIC hours fall outside 24 months, and treat that as the deadline the whole conversion runs against.
- Do the papers first, not last. They are Indian papers sat in India, a cleared CPL or ATPL paper is valid five years, and they are the step most likely to add months. Clearing them before or during your time abroad takes the longest pole out of the timeline.
What conversion does not waive
- It does not waive the DGCA written examinations. Hours abroad are not a substitute.
- It does not waive the skill test with a DGCA-approved examiner in India.
- It does not waive Indian medical requirements under Schedule II.
- It does not revive an expired foreign licence — documents must be within validity.
Order of operations
- Establish your currency date from your logbook. Everything else is scheduled against it.
- Get a computer number if you do not hold one — see the computer number guide. It gates every paper.
- Sit the written papers. Earliest possible, valid five years once cleared.
- Complete the Indian medical under Schedule II.
- Assemble documents per Schedule II and confirm the foreign licence is within validity.
- Book the skill test with a DGCA-approved examiner.