DV Lottery Educational Requirement

[bliv 0]

Got selected to apply via the DV Lottery.

 

I do not exactly understand the educational requirements.

 

• I have completed successfully primary and secondary school (6 + 5) until I was 16 years old
• then 2 extra years in what we call a 'junior college' (to prepare you for the exam) -  which I completed (have certificate of completion) but not was awarded a certificate
• and then a 3 (4 according to WES) year Bachelor's Degree.

 

I have read if you didn't spend those 2 years you can not qualify for the visa, even if you have a degree. Is this true?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Just now, bliv said:

Got selected to apply via the DV Lottery.

 

I do not exactly understand the educational requirements.

 

• I have completed successfully primary and secondary school (6 + 5) until I was 16 years old
• then 2 extra years in what we call a 'junior college' (to prepare you for the exam) -  which I completed (have certificate of completion) but not was awarded a certificate
• and then a 3 (4 according to WES) year Bachelor's Degree.

 

I have read if you didn't spend those 2 years you can not qualify for the visa, even if you have a degree. Is this true?

It used to be “true” according to a literal reading of the requirement, which was simply completion of high school. The wording got changed a year or two back to read “at least” a high school education and we have seen successful reports of people who have not finished a traditional high school education but do have a degree being approved. What is your actual highest official high school qualification? 

and is your WES evaluation an official one or just the indication you get from the website? (With a 3 year degree I’d suggest an official evaluation to show its equivalent to a US bachelors, as not all of them are.)

 

What consulate will you be interviewing at?

[bliv 0]

6 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

It used to be “true” according to a literal reading of the requirement, which was simply completion of high school. The wording got changed a year or two back to read “at least” a high school education and we have seen successful reports of people who have not finished a traditional high school education but do have a degree being approved. What is your actual highest official high school qualification? 

and is your WES evaluation an official one or just the indication you get from the website? (With a 3 year degree I’d suggest an official evaluation to show its equivalent to a US bachelors, as not all of them are.)

 

What consulate will you be interviewing at?

 

It's an official one, as I had to do it for a Canadian PR application. Consulate is Naples I believe but I'm from Malta. I haven't applied though yet, just passed the DV Lottery.

 

If by 'High School' you mean Secondary school, it's completed successfully (certificate awarded), but my highest level of education is a BSc.

Edited May 17, 2018 by bliv

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

44 minutes ago, bliv said:

 

It's an official one, as I had to do it for a Canadian PR application. Consulate is Naples I believe but I'm from Malta. I haven't applied though yet, just passed the DV Lottery.

 

If by 'High School' you mean Secondary school, it's completed successfully (certificate awarded), but my highest level of education is a BSc.

Is the secondary school the 11 years you mentioned or the 13 though? The former won’t qualify by itself but the latter will. Irrespective, you should be ok with a BSc. 

 

May I ask where you got your degree? It can sometimes be slightly trickier interviewing in a different country that may not be familiar with your education system. 

[bliv 0]

26 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Is the secondary school the 11 years you mentioned or the 13 though? The former won’t qualify by itself but the latter will. Irrespective, you should be ok with a BSc. 

 

May I ask where you got your degree? It can sometimes be slightly trickier interviewing in a different country that may not be familiar with your education system. 

 

It seems that American 'High School' is equivalent to our Secondary School, which is British based, so I guess I do qualify as I completed it successfully. Junior College are those years (between 16-18) which you attend to get your A Levels, which get you entrance to university.

 

I am Maltese however the University I attended is a UK university.

Edited May 17, 2018 by bliv

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

11 minutes ago, bliv said:

 

It seems that American 'High School' is equivalent to our Secondary School, which is British based, so I guess I do qualify as I completed it successfully. Junior College are those years (between 16-18) which you attend to get your A Levels, which get you entrance to university.

 

I am Maltese however the University I attended is a UK university.

On the British system, GCSE/o-levels don’t qualify as equivalent but A-levels do. The benchmark for whether or not the high school certification is acceptable is whether it will gain you university entrance (so there are also cases where applicants have completed high school but not well enough to gain university entrance, and those are rejected - however this is clearly not applicable in your case). And yes a 3-year hons degree from a UK uni should be fine.

[bliv 0]

Ok so I haven't completed my A Levels successfully

 

Would I also need a job reference letter?

 

Thanks for your help!

Edited May 17, 2018 by bliv

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

9 minutes ago, bliv said:

Ok so I haven't completed my A Levels successfully

 

Would I also need a job reference letter?

 

Thanks for your help!

But you should still be ok with the degree because it is a higher education level (hence the importance of “at least”). If you can meet the work experience requirements you may want to use it as a backup but you’d need to properly prove you meet those - it’s not just a letter. I expect you will be fine with your degree though.

[bliv 0]

So I got selected for the DV lottery to apply.

 

Requirements seem a bit hard to understand - need your help!

 

I  have the following credentials:

 

Education:

 

• Primary School, Secondary School - O Levels
• No high school diploma (was not awarded)
• International Diploma in Computer Studies - from UK University
• BSc (Hons) Degree in an IT related field (done in my home country but a UK university - formal education, local campus) <-- Highest Credential

 

Work (last 5 years):

• 2+ years as a software developer/computer programmer - Job Zone - Level 4
• 1+ years as IT Operations (no  relevant US job code but closest is user support technician) - Job Zone Level 3 <-- Current Job

 

 

The requirements (education + work ) are below:

 

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

If you follow the link to FAQs in what you posted you’ll see that the job requirements need to be SVP 7 or above. Usually level 4 would (I think) fall into that but you’ll need to check your specific job yourself. You’d need to document how the work you did met the requirements /matched the job in o*net that you’re using.

but, as I said in the other thread, as long as your BSc is  recognized as the equivalent of a 4-year US college degree you should be fine. 

[Ontarkie 14,236]

~~Related threads merged. Please do not start more then one thread for the same topic.~~

[bliv 0]

12 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

If you follow the link to FAQs in what you posted you’ll see that the job requirements need to be SVP 7 or above. Usually level 4 would (I think) fall into that but you’ll need to check your specific job yourself. You’d need to document how the work you did met the requirements /matched the job in o*net that you’re using.

but, as I said in the other thread, as long as your BSc is  recognized as the equivalent of a 4-year US college degree you should be fine. 

It says however that you have to meet both the requirements. My current job is in Job Zone 3 which is Svp (6 < 7). It is a bit unclear as it says either OR but then underneath it says you must meet both requirements. Although I do meet it if it was ANY job in the last 5 years since I have 2 years experience in a Job Zone 4 (svp 7 < 8) but it is not my current job.

Edited May 18, 2018 by bliv

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

6 hours ago, bliv said:

It says however that you have to meet both the requirements. My current job is in Job Zone 3 which is Svp (6 < 7). It is a bit unclear as it says either OR but then underneath it says you must meet both requirements. Although I do meet it if it was ANY job in the last 5 years since I have 2 years experience in a Job Zone 4 (svp 7 < 8) but it is not my current job.

I don’t see what you think is unclear. You can qualify either through education or work experience. You only bother with the latter (because it can be burdensome to prove)  if you don’t meet the former.

[bliv 0]

3 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

I don’t see what you think is unclear. You can qualify either through education or work experience. You only bother with the latter (because it can be burdensome to prove)  if you don’t meet the former.

Thanks!

 

I was stationed to interview at Naples according to the dvlottery site, but in the DS-260 I can choose my home country from the list. Can I/am I allowed to do so?

Edited May 18, 2018 by bliv

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

You’ll be asssigned to whatever embassy includes the home address you put on the DS260 so yes you can choose Malta if they process immigrant visas there, but you’ll need to put an address there as your current address. Remember you’ll need police certificates from both of those (as well as anywhere else you’ve lived since age 16 for a year or longer).