Why is that such a big surprise?
For the last 20+ years European students have trained in the US for European licenses.
Most of the Major EU Airlines train their cadets in the USA.
AFAIK there is one FAA designated pilot examiner in NW Europe that pretty much created a monopoly for himself by complaining to the FAA about every other DPE arhat travelled to Europe to do checkrides.
- No N-reg required for training
- FAA ( Part 61) certified instructor of which there are 100’s in Europe
- FAA designated Examiner.
- online IACRA
Done.......
( Technically has to be a dual rated instructor to solo the student and to authorize cross countries. )