# Moving to US, can I change Japanese college experience to American equivalent?



## yokotagirl (Mar 20, 2009)

My husband is a Japanese national, and went to a prestigious college for three years before unforeseen circumstances took hold and he had to drop out (his dad got sick and he couldn't afford his final year). 

Apparently, my father knows people who came to the US (one from China, and another friend from England) and had their college experience converted into what it would equate to an American degree/experience, but had no information as to what the name of such a company was, nor did he had any other information on the subject itself. 

The difference between my father's example and what my husband is going through is simply that he doesn't have a college degree. His acquaintances had a full bachelor's degree before they moved, and him going back to college, unfortunately, isn't an option because we couldn't begin to afford it, and the logistics are simply unrealistic.

Have any of you ever moved to America from another country and went through this process? Any information would be much appreciated, I'm simply looking for a lead at the minimum. All of my searching has turned up nothing, and I really am not sure where to look from here. Thanks!


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

yokotagirl said:


> My husband is a Japanese national....


Is this for a visa?

The H1b requires either a 4-year degree or the equivalent, which is defined as 4 years of experience in a job requiring a degree for every year of college missing. There are other paths that require degrees or their equivalent, but it would be easier if you just said which one you were interested in rather than me having to think them all out.

Their was talk of dropping the "equivalence" part in the last failed immigration bill.

There are no official government standard for doing equivalencies, but the are a number of private companies who are established. In the case of work (i.e. an HR department demands an equivalency) or licensure (e.g. a teacher) or a college for continued education, you are far better asking them who they want to do the equivalency. Sometimes they'll only accept them from certain bodies.


----------



## yokotagirl (Mar 20, 2009)

Well, we're already married, so we're just going to go through and get a spousal visa, I've already done research on that from the US Embassy in Tokyo. But I'm talking about the private companies that do it. We're not doing this for any specific job, we're simply trying to find out where he is so we can decide if he will need to go back to college in the US or if he's gotten the work done with. I don't know a lot on the subject, which is why I'm looking for some leads. Can he even just be done through that equivalency process? I don't know what I'm doing concerning his education, so if anybody has more specific information to add, then that would be great.


----------



## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

yokotagirl said:


> Well, we're already married, so we're just going to go through and get a spousal visa, I've already done research on that from the US Embassy in Tokyo. But I'm talking about the private companies that do it. We're not doing this for any specific job, we're simply trying to find out where he is so we can decide if he will need to go back to college in the US or if he's gotten the work done with. I don't know a lot on the subject, which is why I'm looking for some leads. Can he even just be done through that equivalency process? I don't know what I'm doing concerning his education, so if anybody has more specific information to add, then that would be great.


Well there's no educational requirement for a spousal visa so the embassy really won't care.

How potential employers see it in the US is another matter. The general rule is that if it didn't happen in America, it didn't happen! But there are plenty of exceptions.

On the education front, each college always does their own evaluation. They will take his prior experience into and hand him some credit to start.

But I see little point in getting an evaluation until you need it otherwise you may end up paying twice. 

However, here's a link for one of the common organizations that will give you an evaluation.


----------



## synthia (Apr 18, 2007)

Some universities are more generous than others, but it would really depend on the school. No university is going to give him a US degree based on his courses in Japan. So if you can't afford for him to return to his studies, it doesn't matter what can be transferred.

Most universities and colleges have a maximum number of credits you can transfer from anywhere, even a great US university. So if your husband had dropped out of Harvard after three years, and wanted to enroll in, say, Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania (yes, it's a real university), they might only give him credit for a maximum of two years, and then only in courses that matched courses they offered. Often there is a requirement that almost all of the last two years must be completed at the degree granting university. There are also required courses that he may not have had.


----------

