Brazilian Civil Engineering Degree: Valid in the US?

[Austin+Paula 0]

Hey everyone,

My fiancee & I are going through the K1 process right now. She just obtained her B.S. in Civil Engineering from a Brazilian University. It's a well respected school, she spent one year of her education in the US (which is how we met), and she interned at American Civil Engineering firms while there. The other day, her father mentioned that her degree may not be completely valid in the US because it's from a Brazilian University. He suggested that she pursue a Master's Degree in the US before seeking work.

My question is, will there be legal validity issues with her degree? If not, will Civil Engineering firms still be interested in hiring her with a Bachelors Degree? Or should she absolutely pursue her Master's?

All input is appreciated. Thank you.

[arken 4,197]

Is it valid to be hired by someone? Yes. However it's all up to the engineering firms to decide whether they wanna hire someone with a degree not from US.

I would definitely suggest to go for Masters degree in US. A graduate degree from US university would increase her chances of getting hired much higher. Not only that later on when she wants to take PE exam, her masters degree will add some credits since the University of Brazil might not be ABET accredited.

[aaron2020 11,651]

There is no legal issue with her degree. No one's degree is ever of any legal consequences.

It's up to the employer as to whether they would consider her degree in hiring her. One employer may give it no consideration while another may give it some weight.

Take dad's advice on this one. A US masters from a recognized university is way better to an employer than a foreign degree which would be troublesome for them to evaluate against other candidates from known US engineering schools.

[Boiler 45,715]

Sounds like she has good contacts and avoid the normal issues.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

A good deal of civil engineering positions would require her to pass the professional engineering exam. http://ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/ It is a big one for civil engineers not so much for other engineering disciplines.

[Expat1 971]

New graduates can't take a PE exam

I had several engineers working for me with overseas degrees, and we had offices in other countries that we sent work to and received back from them. I do not believe that it will be a problem but in Civil she will need to take the FE/EIT exam right away and the PE exam after she gains the required work experience, usually 4-5 years.

Good luck