According to this: https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/arbeit/nicht-eu_... there may be a way for you to get in without a degree. I'm not a Swiss immigration lawyer though. A good one can save you a lot of time and headache (and a potential lost opportunity).
Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
21–30 of 32 posts
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#22> I've worked in other European countries without any problems (I'm from one of the ex-Soviet states)
Immigration in Switzerland is much different than in EU-member states.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#23I suspect you overestimate the extent to which your programming experience would translate to formal studies. Unless you're some sort of genius (possible of course), you'd be extremely optimistic to embark on a degree hoping to finish it in a couple of months.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#24From what I know about immigration systems(experience with Czech Republic and USA), having degree is fundamental piece of your visa application. For example in US, the 1 year of university is taken like 3 years of experience, so in order to be qualified like someone who has a bachelor degree, you would have to have 12 years of proven work experience.[1] Based on my experience with immigration systems I've worked with…
Got my H1B this year exactly like you described: 12+ years of experience and some good paper work. No college whatsoever.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#25I suspect you overestimate the extent to which your programming experience would translate to formal studies. Unless you're some sort of genius (possible of course), you'd be extremely optimistic to embark on a degree hoping to finish it in a couple of months.
Oh, stop trying to stifle the confidence of others.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#26Piggybacking on the topic:
Are there any useful (as in useful content), online, non-full time IT/Compute degrees between 0 and $10k? The nice-looking ones from US are closer to $50k than $10k.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#27US universities often will allow you to get credit for AP courses taken in high school, provided you get a 4 or 5 (depending on school) on the exam. Whether ETS allows you to take AP exams without the courses, I can't say. Some schools will give you credit for "life experience".
University of Maryland University College has been around for a long time. They offer remote courses, they offer the "life experience" credit, and so on. I don't know about the "challenge" stuff.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#28US universities often will allow you to get credit for AP courses taken in high school, provided you get a 4 or 5 (depending on school) on the exam. Whether ETS allows you to take AP exams without the courses, I can't say. Some schools will give you credit for "life experience". University of Maryland University College has been around for a long time. They offer remote courses, they offer the "life experience" credi…
You absolutely can take AP courses at will. I did.
Just go to http://international.collegeboard.org/programs/ap-recognitio... . Pick your country, you can then see a list of schools that administer it. Just contact whichever school you want and they should help you.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not entirely correct, and I'm assuming you meant to say "skilled worker visa" not "skilled worker position". In many cases, depending on the Visa you are applying for, work experience can count instead of degrees. I don't have a University Degree, and I can go to the US on a TN Visa (as a Canadian) due to my work experience. I now live in Australia and am on a 457 Visa where my work experience was considered…
I am working in US under TN status and you definitely need a computer science or engineering degree for anything tech related.
I was hired by a fairly large tech company in the US for a software engineering position and we acquired a TN based off sporadic contracting experience and no degree. A good lawyer is all you need.
Re: Ask HN: My work permit was just denied because I don't have a degree. Can I
#30From what I know about immigration systems(experience with Czech Republic and USA), having degree is fundamental piece of your visa application. For example in US, the 1 year of university is taken like 3 years of experience, so in order to be qualified like someone who has a bachelor degree, you would have to have 12 years of proven work experience.[1] Based on my experience with immigration systems I've worked with…
Got my H1B this year exactly like you described: 12+ years of experience and some good paper work. No college whatsoever.
How to prove your working experience if you're an independent consultant/contractor/freelancer (for many years)? Do you need to reach to all your previous clients and ask for some letter?