How long an EASA instrument rating is valid

Instrument rating validity, the revalidation window, and what happens when an IR lapses under EASA Part FCL.

The short answer

An EASA instrument rating is valid for 12 months. You revalidate it with a proficiency check in the 3 months before it expires, and the new validity runs from the old expiry date, so checking early costs nothing.

If it lapses

You need refresher training as determined by a training organisation and a proficiency check. If it has not been revalidated or renewed for the preceding seven years, you also have to pass the IR theoretical knowledge examinations and the skill test again.

Staying sharp in between

EASA does not set a rolling approach count like the FAA does, but the check comes around every year. Flying some instrument approaches between checks, in the aircraft or a simulator, makes it a formality.

Where caeloo fits

Add the rating to the caeloo wallet and it shows the revalidation window and reminds you in time to book the examiner.