Immigration to Europe, preferably Nordic, without a Bachelor's degree?

November 17, 2013 1:19 PM

Best way for a moderately successful Canadian tech entrepreneur without a degree to emigrate to Europe?

Hey Folks,

I'm a Canadian tech entrepreneur looking to emigrate to Europe, preferably Nordic Europe. I've been researching residency requirements recently - they all seem to imply that a university degree is necessary.

I have half of a bachelor's degree completed, but I dropped out to launch my business. The business currently employes a dozen Canadian engineers and doesn't require me to be present. I can show revenue, income, etc.

Any suggestisons? Is the best bet to go back to school for the (otherwise useless) diploma?

Cheers

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Potential answer number 1: Start a business in Ireland

Potential answer number 2: Get hired by a company willing to buy you out in your nation of choice.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 1:39 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

How old are you? Norway (and probably other countries) has working holiday visas for Canadians under 36. That would get you started, at least. Maybe you could make yourself indispensable to somebody in that time frame - sounds like if you renew it, you can stay there on a working holiday visa for up to 2 years.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 1:46 PM on November 17, 2013

I came to the UK in 2004 on a Working Holiday visa. That got me two years here, I landed a job within a few weeks of arriving at a small tech company, and they had no qualms about sponsoring me for renewal in 2006 and 2010. All done with an incomplete bachelor's degree.

I'm now on a indefinite leave-to-remain visa, and could apply for UK citizenship (and could go elsewhere in the EU at that stage).

Would recommend looking into working holiday visas (if you qualify) as a good place to start.
posted by sektah at 2:14 PM on November 17, 2013

A college drop out is probably a better candidate for a tech job in London now than some of the people who are coming from Germany or from Oxbridge. You could get to the UK for £50,000 on an entrepreneur visa and get 32 months to spend it. Alternatively, you could come with a working holiday visa and hope to change it over once you get here. I think the best thing may be to reach out to recruiters here and test the waters of getting a work permit right off the bat.
posted by parmanparman at 2:53 PM on November 17, 2013

I have a good acquaintance who went to Norway (from the UK) with an excellent degree and a strong CV. After two years she has returned as Norwegian companies are currently reluctant to hiring people with no knowledge of Norwegian. They are also awash in recent (local) graduates.

I cannot speak to the situation in Denmark as I left a few years ago, but back then a good American friend got a job in doing tech stuff for a finance company and he didn't have much of a degree. However, I could see the recent upsurge of local graduates as creating a situation much like the one in Norway.

If I were you, I'd tread carefully, do a lot of research and also decide which Scandinavian country you'd prefer. They are oddly different.
posted by kariebookish at 3:38 PM on November 17, 2013