Transferring Careers from Colombia to here

[wildbilman]

Guys,
I am sure that somebody has some experience with this, they always do here! If a girl has studied for a career in Colombia, and let's say she's a lawyer, or a teacher, or a whatever, how transferable are those credentials for use here in the US? Like probably a lot of you I've met some educated girls that have established a career there, and I'm curious to know their options here.
On the other hand, probably like many of you I have met a bunch of girls that are still "studying". Colombia's biggest pastime. Many have X amount of semesters finished in whatever field, but lack anywhere from a year to 2 or 3 years. A common one lately seems to be "psychology". Are a couple of years at the UNI there of value here, especially if the girl doesn't speak English?
For you guys that have married and brought your wife here, was she able to use her past education and apply it to a simimar career here?

Thanks- WB

[catz]

What you need is a credential evaluation service.Talk to the local University and see who's evaluations they accept. You can also try this place: www.naces.org/

catz

[Jeff S]

Most of the professional service careers, like doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, nurses, etc, require the passing of a state exam. Things like dentistry and nursing are not a problem if she has the English skills since the skils are pretty much the same in the US as in LA, but things like architects and lawyers have very different knowledge requirements, so it's unlikely she'd be able to pass the bar exam if she was educated in Colombia. Most of these skills do not have an education requirement at all, though it's rare to find someone who can pass the tests without it.

Business skills, like sales or even most engineering, is directly transferrable and depends more on her interviewing skills and performance, once she gets a job,rather than her credentials. Obviously things like tax accounting, insurance underwriting, etc, require a strong knowledge of US laws, so those needing those skills would be less likely to hire a recent immigrant as opposed to computer programming or piping design or some other generic skill.

I know a woman Dentist from LA who has had to resort to factory worker jobs for years, because she can't seem to acquire the English skills to pass the exam, while I know a Nurse from the PI who zipped right through the test and started working within weeks of arriving.

- Jeff

[Ray]

From my experience, many foreign degrees are often next to worthless here, depending on factors like the field of study, the school attended, etc. A couple of the dental assistants at my dentist office were licensed practicing dentists in their home country before they immigrated here.

A BA in Psychology, even if from a U.S. university, is practically worthless. Without a doctorate degree, I believe that only low-paying jobs are available in the mental health field. A neighbor graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology from a top U.S. university and the best job she could find that used her training was doing medical transcription at night for about nine bucks an hour. She went back to school for her RN degree.

A foreign law degree is probably totally worthless considering that their laws are not our laws.

Probably the best advice for a student in a foreign country who wishes to have a marketable degree here in the U.S. would be to study nursing at a top school. It isn’t for everyone, but RN's are in big demand here and work visas are available. In the Philippines, many practicing physicians are going back to school for a nursing degree because they can come here to the U.S. and earn maybe ten times what they make back home as a doctor. Degreed RN’s can usually obtain visas and become licensed here without too much trouble, but English proficiency is a must!

[Montrealer]

When my first wife Came here from Mexico, she spoke to someone at the University, and they evaluated each class and credit.  Some they gave full, some partial, some no credits at all.  In the end she had to attend University for an extra year.

The same happened when we seperated and she went back to Mexico, the Mexican goverment had to validate her certificates and her diploma.  And although she didn't have to take extra courses upon return, it was a huge pain in the arse to do.

So another words be prepared to do whatever the University says, and she may even want to re-think her major if she has to do a lot of different make up classes.

[Jamie]

I agree with Ray the education system in Colombia is dismal. They literately would have to start over in the States with the burden of learning English well enough to attend a University. I believe if you have a hobby in a particular field you would have more knowledge than a professional practicing in that same field in Colombia. Most of the women here do not study for the practical purpose of working in their field they would rather not work the education is status only.

[Golden]

I can answer the dentist question. You must go to an accredited school in US, Canada, and now 1 school in Mexico before you can practice dentistry in US. You cant take a test then practice to be a dentist in US. All states now require you go to an accredited school, otherwise forget it. The last place to allow you to take a test and then be able to practice dentistry was California, and you took a series of bench tests and if passed you could practice only in California...now that is gone as of couple of years ago. Now, you must take the National Board part 1, which you can if you are a licensed dentist in another country and pass the tofel, and not sure on pre requirements but I would think you get credits, each school determines what they will give credits for...but for sure you have to take the National Board Part 1 to get in (National Board is test required by second year dental students and must pass before moving on to the next year and later they take part 2, foreign dentist who are wanting to get into program are required to take it), and you must compete with others for slots, which are limited.. for informaiton visit the ADA website. not to mention the cost of dental school, which is a lot ..basicly what im saying is, if  your future wife is a dentist..get ready to tell her if she wants to practice here...she has to go back through college all over again, but this time in English (even though the human anatomy is the same there here, as my wife likes to remind me, she gets pissed off at the accredited rule here) ..same applies for Hygenist, you have to go to school to get licensed..now Florida, from what I was told has an exception you can take a Bench test and get certified there and practice as Hygenist.