There is a big difference between a validation of an ICAO license and the issuance of a JAA license.

The validation lets you use the current ICAO license for a very specific purpose. Usually to fly one airlines aircraft and often those aircraft must be registered in the State giving the validation. You can get a letter to fly other registrations if they are on your airlines AOC.

The issuance of a JAA license is an entirely new license. There are many ways to get it and it does depend greatly on your experience. It's not easy, it doesn't have to be expensive, but it does give you much greater flexibility. All that said, without a work permit you are stuck so research that as well.

So, the way I did it was to get a validation of my FAA tickets to fly for a specific airline. Then I took 14 exams covering everything I forgot in college 23 years ago. When those were completed, and the IAA notified, I did a normal six month check at the airline with a few more items thrown in. At the end I had my very own JAA ATPL.

Cost: 14 exams at 104 euro a piece. 3 months access to Bristol Ground School's online test database for 75 euros. About 100 euros for misc. supplies and books.

Was it worth it? Definitely. Was it easy? No.

Keep in mind that if you are going to be happy and prosper in Europe you need to be able to "fit in" in whatever culture you end up in. The attitude expressed in some of the postings here leads me to believe some people would not be happy or welcome in Europe.

If you get the chance to go, do it. You will learn a lot about yourself, other people and cultures, and especially some of the fallacies as well as the truths about how we view each other.

Jim