# Success stories from those who have successfully been granted E3 without a degree



## 12bucklemyshoe (Jun 11, 2013)

Hi everyone,

My husband is a self-taught computer programmer with no university qualifications. He was recently contacted by a recruitment company in Chicago (through his Linkedin profile) and has subsequently been interviewed for and offered a software developer position with a company in Chicago. They have applied for and had the LCA approved. 

The position description clearly states that a Bachelor's degree is a normal requirement for the position and he will be paid well above the average salary for that position.

I have read and understood all of the rules regarding the need to prove 12+ years of experience in lieu of a Bachelor's degree as a mandatory requirement for the E3 visa. My husband does not have 12+ years of paid employment, although he has been programming computers since the early 90's. He is obviously qualified for the position otherwise the company would not have offered it to him. The technical lead at the company in Chicago is willing to write a letter of support indicating that my husband was the only one who successfully passed their technical test and that the code he wrote shows without doubt that he has the necessary skill set. We are also in the process of collecting other letters of recommendation supporting my husband's work experience.

From everything I have read, the hardest part of this process for most people is finding a job and employer to sponsor them. For us, that was the easy part, we didn't even need to seek it out. But I'm having trouble finding any evidence of people who have successfully been granted a visa based on their work experience alone. The recruitment company were the ones who told us about the E3 visa. My husband told them straight up that he didn't have a degree, the said, no worries you are clearly exceptionally good at what you do.

I'd just like to hear from anyone who has been successful with their visa application based purely on work experience, so we can work out whether we even bother going for the visa, despite already having the job offer.

Much appreciated guys.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

How long is the US employer willing to hold the position?


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## 12bucklemyshoe (Jun 11, 2013)

whoops


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## 12bucklemyshoe (Jun 11, 2013)

Hi. still new to this whole forum thing.

Can I ask why you ask how long the employer will hold the job for?

I'm not really too sure about that, it's not been discussed. They know that the visa process will potentially take a while, especially as we gathered evidence of my husband's experience. But I also know that they would like to get him over there as soon as possible.

Thanks


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Your husband may want to discuss this as US employers generally expect employees to start asap and are not necessarily familiar with details/time frames of employment based visas.


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