Yesterday I departed EHLE on a Z FPL. The cloudbase was around 800ft. As soon as I left the traffic circuit I contacted Amsterdam Approach, who replied with "You are identified. VFR climb to 2000ft".
How should this request be handled? Strictly speaking, I was unable to maintain VFR with a cloudbase of 800ft.
I just climbed in IMC to 2000ft, where I got the "IFR starts now, climb FL050, turn left heading 200, etc."
Is there a reason that ATC need me to first climb to 2000ft before they can open IFR? They were able to see me on radar while I was at 800ft...
I was looking for a Youtube video of somebody coughing but couldn't find anything suitable 
My guess to "why 2000ft" is that they are not allowed to support IFR traffic below 2000ft, perhaps due to the MVA (minimum vectoring altitude).
MRVA. And strictly speaking you shouldn't climb in IMC.
What class of airspace was it below 2000ft?
If it is Class G then ATC cannot issue an IFR clearance (or indeed any "clearance") anyway, so unless the country bans IFR in Class G (as Germany does) you can climb in IMC legally provided you have an IR. I also cannot see how ATC can require you to be VFR.
Looking at Jepps, Class A base is 1500ft above EHLE, unless you depart to the east in which case Class E base is 1500ft and you need an IFR clearance to be in E in IMC. But either way you should be OCAS below 1500ft.
Given this "1500" figure I don't know why they required VFR to 2000ft because that is self evidently not possible with a Class A base of 1500ft!
If the airspace below 1500ft is Class G (which is what it looks like) this is an ambiguous situation.
In the USA they have busted some pilots, not for flying IFR in G without a clearance (which is self evidently meaningless) but for not having filed an IFR flight plan.
I flew into EHLE a while ago and departed into fairly ambiguous conditions, and eventually contacted some radar frequency which gave me the enroute IFR clearance.
What class of airspace was it below 2000ft?
It is class G < 1500ft, and class A > 1500ft (Schiphol TMA)
Given this "1500" figure I don't know why they required VFR to 2000ft because that is self evidently not possible with a Class A base of 1500ft!
I haven't thought of it, but you are right Peter. The instruction "VFR climb to 2000ft" puts me in Class A airspace while VFR... Well, at least it's good to know that I will get separation (VFR in class A) as that was my main concern :-)
But... you cannot be VFR in Class A, unless the Class A is a CTR i.e. touches the ground.
The Class A above EHLE is a TMA and there is no way for VFR traffic to exist in there
You should always respond "maintaining VMC" and refer to the fact that you can see your propeller tips... He should have said "maintain VMC" and not "maintain VFR".
Holland like Germany does not issue IFR clearances or provides separation below the MRVA outside of SIDs/STARs, that's why he wanted you to climb.
Yes, but AFAIK, Holland does not generally ban IFR in class G. So, whilst they might not provide you with an IFR clearance below a certain altitude, you should however(in theory) be legal right from the start.
So why does the controller say "maintain VFR"? It doesn't make sense.
None of it makes sense in the bottom 500ft of the Class A, for sure.
By definition you must be IFR there so they are not in a position to require "VMC", and "VFR" is just nonsense.
The lack of official radar service, or IFR support, below a certain level, is universal. I recall descending over the Adriatic, to get below some CBs, on the way to Portoroz, before I capitulated and diverted to Zadar. The Zadar controller required the cancellation of IFR once below 3000ft.
Also the radar return quality may affect it. In the UK, AFAIK, they are not allowed to provide official separation unless they have the primary return (SSR only is not allowed). Also you won't get vectoring OCAS except under the useless "deconfliction service" which sends you all over the sky.
Lelystad is a special case.
In the Dutch AIP IFR operations in class G airspace are allowed but the semicircular system is mandatory for IFR flights in uncontrolled airspace starting at 1000 feet above obstacles, which is 2000 feet. Then the Dutch AIP states that an IFR departure from VFR only fields is not allowed. The AIP has a table specifying the airfields in the Netherlands and what kind of operations are allowed on them. In the case of Lelystad there is something else. The law states that during the day only VFR operations are allowed in the ATZ of Lelystad and during the night only IFR operations are allowed there.
When you depart from Lelystad, you don't have to file a Z flightplan. You can just file an IFR flightplan. The departure during the day will always be a VFR departure. For this you need to be with visibility on the ground and at least 1500 meters of visibility. That said, ATC will pick you up when passing 1500 feet into class A airspace above. The moment you are asked "climb to 2000 feet" you will be entering class A airspace and the IFR pickup starts. Then defending, they will kick you out at 1500 feet as well and cancel IFR.
I have tried to file IFR at 1500 feet from Antwerpen to Rotterdam as a tryout. In Belgium that worked out, even partly in uncontrolled airspace, but in the Netherlands I had to climb to 2000 feet. It is the semicircular system which is mandatory for IFR flight in uncontrolled airspace and the height above obstacles that makes it this way.
