For any non-american who might, at any point in their future, think about moving to the US for work, a degree is virtually essential.
The standard work based visa requirements include an equivalent to a 4 year US Bachelors degree (eg. 3 years in the UK), or 4 years of relevant experience for every missing year of college, i.e. 16 years!
I advocate staying in school anyway, but this is something to consider.
This is a good point. Government jobs are very arbitrary this way (mainly because government is embedded in the college industry.)
But its a filter often applied when looking at immigrants. Its a shame, really, because someone with a decades experience in software development wanting to move to your country should be welcomed with open arms (and also should be the zero experience farm worker, because frankly, people build an economy when they go somewhere to work.)
The standard work based visa requirements include an equivalent to a 4 year US Bachelors degree (eg. 3 years in the UK), or 4 years of relevant experience for every missing year of college, i.e. 16 years!
I advocate staying in school anyway, but this is something to consider.