[jashmatthews]

Was that for a BlueCard? I know a ton of people working here under the BlueCard scheme but I don't personally know anyone who's been approved without a university degree.

I'd never bothered to officially graduate, but I did it before immigrating here in case I have to move to a BlueCard post Brexit.

[deniedeee]

No, it was for a regular work visa. The person handling my case explicitly asked if I was applying for a BlueCard and I said no (because it does require a degree).

At this point I'm blaming it on the situation being too different from what the immigration workers are used to, but it gave me a lot of headaches (and wasted time/money for me and the company).

[jashmatthews]

AFAIK, the BlueCard theoretically allows you to substitute 5 years work experience for the degree requirement according to the EU level stuff but Germany still hasn't passed the legislation to explicitly allow it.

It's still odd they denied your work visa, though. I had a friend who got a work visa for a management position at a coworking space.

[Mandatum]

Have been approved for a BlueCard (but ultimately didn't take it) without a degree. Quite a few hoops, but it's possible.

[deniedeee]

I'm from Argentina. Are you a non-EU citizen? Some country with better relationships?

[Mandatum]

New Zealand which has a pretty good relationship with most of the EU since we're part of the Commonwealth. We're synonymous with Australians who seem to be everywhere in the EU, and English is our primary (and often only) language usually.