Andy wrote:
On Jul 8, 11:45*am, Paul Jessop wrote:
You're clearly eligible for one (as you have an ICAO compliant glider
licence/license/certificate and I assume you have 5h PIC in the last
year
)

There may be a small catch here. It is my understanding that most US
pilot certificates are not ICAO compliant since they do not include
the statement that the pilot is proficient in English. New
certificates include the endorsement.

Ahem - that appears to be wrong - here's what an ICAO FAQ says:

"Glider and free balloon pilots and flight engineers: There is no
language proficiency Standard applicable to these categories of
personnel. However, Annex 1, Chapter 1, paragraph 1.2.9.3 contains a
Recommendation that reads: "Flight engineers, glider and free balloon
pilots should have the ability to speak and understand the language used
for radiotelephony communications."

From:
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/trivia/peltrgFAQ.htm

"Should" isn't "must" unless the state wishes to make it so.

"Background: Effective March 5, 2008, ICAO Annex 1 (Personnel
Licensing) standards require that all private, commercial or ATPs as
well as FEs and flight navigators operating internationally as
required crewmembers of an airplane or helicopter have an airman
certificate with an endorsement of language proficiency. In the case
of persons holding a U.S. airman certificate, the language proficiency
endorsement will state “English Proficient”

As noted in the FAQ I quoted from, the above quoted paragraph isn't
applicable to glider pilots (note it only mentions airplane and
helicopter pilots - so English language proficiency for pilots of
gliders, balloons, airships, powered lift, ornithopters, and anti-gravity
UFOs from Mars doesn't appear to be applicable.)