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Ask HN: Senior dev, no degree – which countries may accept me?

by devb0x on 12/7/13, 7:37 PM with 45 comments

• by jrockway on 12/7/13, 9:18 PM

  I believe Hong Kong has a point system that counts work experience and degrees equally:

  http://www.immd.gov.hk/en/services/hk-visas/quality-migrant-...

  If you're under 40 and have 10 years of experience, there's your 80 points. (You also get 10 points for English. What a deal.)

• by dashdot on 12/8/13, 12:58 AM

  In Switzerland, we have the dual education system [1]. This means highschool students usually choose a profession while they're still in school and go for an apprenticeship after graduation. An apprenticeship in ICT-professions takes 4 years and when finished successfully they receive the "Federal Certificate of Competence".

  There is a program called "Informa" [2] which validates the knowledge of experienced craftsmen and gives them a chance to receive the same kind of degree like apprentice graduates. Which also makes them eligible to further education paths, like higher professional schools (to get a diploma if you like).

  If you want to move to Switzerland, you don't have to worry about the language. Many IT-companies here are multi cultural and speak both German and English. We have a high quality of life here, the goverment is friendly and our laws favours employees.

  I work for a small but successful company in Zurich. We'll move to a bigger office in January 2014 and need skilled developers to fill it :) We mainly create web applications and other cloud solutions, but also windows apps and banking software. We primarily use C#. Oh... and we don't care about certificates and degrees. We need skill, not paper.

  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me - dashdot at dashdot dot ch.

  [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_education_system [2] http://www.informa.modellf.ch/index.html

• by byoung2 on 12/7/13, 8:07 PM

  It would be helpful to know where you currently have citizenship. That may limit your options more than the lack of degree.

• by drakaal on 12/7/13, 10:22 PM

  It is not the degree, it is the specialization. If I were you I would take 2-3 months and learn everything there is to know about a very specialized subset of tech.

  When I was at Microsoft I hired a guy out of Russia who was self taught, but knew pretty much everything there was to know about Forward Error Correction in Mpeg Transport Streams. So we go him a work visa.

  From the work Visa after a time you can convert to a Green Card.

  Talk with a recruiter, find something they will need lots of that they can't find in the US. Learn everything there is to know, and get sponsored.

• by pontifexa on 12/7/13, 9:59 PM

  Canada has a points system. You'll miss out on a lot of points for not having any higher education, but you can recoup some of that if your spouse matches the template:

  http://www.workpermit.com/canada/points_calculator.htm

• by ryanSrich on 12/7/13, 11:26 PM

  I'm confused about why this is still a common question. I haven't seen a job posting in ages that doesn't say "CS degree or equivelent experience".

  Of course if you want to do research at Google you'll need a PHD. However 99% of dev positions don't require even a BS.

• by ysekand on 12/7/13, 8:16 PM

  You should look into the following:

  http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/06/technology...

• by bjeanes on 12/9/13, 1:59 AM

  Speaking as someone on a work visa in the US, I can tell you that their requirement is generally 12 years of experience in the field, with each year of higher education (in that field) counting for 3 years. So a 4-year degree works, as does 2 years towards a degree and 6 years professional experience.

  With a decade or more of experience, you might just qualify for something like an H1-B and apply for permanent residency while there.

  Of course, perhaps you are already in the US and wanting to leave for elsewhere...

• by jzzskijj on 12/8/13, 12:18 PM

  Japan accepted me with 10 years of working experience and no degree (studies 98% done, no intention to finish). The company that was hiring me applied for my engineer's working visa. I got immediately the three year working visa. I didn't have JLPT (Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) certificate either.

  Apartment, moving (suitcase + backbag), traveling & the rest was handled by me. When pulling from the right strings and being very determined gets you far.

• by Nursie on 12/8/13, 1:40 AM

  It's worth inveatigating australia. You may not get as many points without a degree, but you may make the cut. I believe to get rated as a software dev you need either a degree amd four years experience, or no degree plus 7.

  It is not a simple or quick process to get PR in aus though, took me 18 months.

• by mcv on 12/8/13, 2:36 AM

  I've never considered that having a degree might be an issue for immigration. As far as I know, to work in Netherland to need you need either an income above a certain threshold, or the hiring company needs to prove they can't find someone with your skills locally.

• by droope on 12/8/13, 11:41 AM

  NZ will accept you if you find a job and/or can prove your experience:

  http://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/new-zealand-visa/work-visa/...

• by richo on 12/8/13, 2:42 AM

  In the US 3 years of work experience is good for 1 year of "uni". So 12 years industry experience is a 4 year bachelors degree for immigration purposes.

• by jeanlucas on 12/7/13, 9:34 PM

  With no doubt, Brazil.

• by devb0x on 12/8/13, 4:56 AM

  Germany in particular caused this question and I am seriously needing to make the move. My English is perfect. Thanks for all the answers

• by dobbsbob on 12/7/13, 10:28 PM

  work remotely anywhere you want. live in a country with low cost of living and use online portfolio to get work

• by devb0x on 12/8/13, 6:55 AM

  apologies on the word immigrate. I would like to emigrate to another country.

• by zebra on 12/7/13, 10:07 PM

  You are maybe from Bulgaria or Romania, right?

• by _3u10 on 12/7/13, 9:08 PM

  It really depends on where you are, I'm Canadian and in the same boat.

  If I had a degree I could get a TN1 VISA, in 6 months I'll have enough work exp to qualify anyway (12 years). I could get an H1B but it seems like too much hassle.

  The UK will apparently accept me, I have to say there's a world of difference between UK and US immigration, anytime I've dealt with US immigration I felt like wanting to do anything another than vacation in the US was criminal. In the UK however they seemed A OK as long as I had a return flight, they were even friendly.

  Although it didn't pan out as I was extremely jet lagged, sleep deprived and bombed the interview I'd highly recommend talking to Facebook, their people were super accommodating and really went the extra mile to get talent on board. They basically figured out all my VISA options worldwide for me.