I have a high school certificate, does that make me eligible?

[Princessava]

I went to a british based school and have done gcse's but the paper i got after i graduated says "high school certificate" and verifies that i attended 12 years of schooling, does that still make me eligible?

 

[SusieQQQ]

I went to a british based school and have done gcse's but the paper i got after i graduated says "high school certificate" and verifies that i attended 12 years of schooling, does that still make me eligible?

GCSEs are usually done in year 11 aren't they? I'd check that if i were you - if your 12 years of schooling includes reception it may not be enough. (I don't know if this or isn't the case, but I would check what they consider acceptable from the UK system.)

Do you maybe also have 2 years' work experience in a qualifying occupation?

 

[Momo1980]

I went to a british based school and have done gcse's but the paper i got after i graduated says "high school certificate" and verifies that i attended 12 years of schooling, does that still make me eligible?

Princessava - you need to cross check if your certificate correlates on an equivalent level to a US high school diploma. To my knowledge schooling is 12 years in most countries which should be fine but better to be safe and cross-check this information.


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[SusieQQQ]

I did a bit of searching and basically you need to check with the embassy in your country. There was one (unspecified) country where they were told 5 GCSEs would be ok to count as US high school equivalency but others that A2 or A-levels are needed.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Oh, I found this too. So you may have a problem, because GCSEs are not enough for college (University) admission. But again, check with the embassy in your country.

9 FAM 42.33 N7.1 Definitions
(CT:VISA-910; 10-23-2007)
The Department’s interpretation of the term “high school education or its
equivalent” means successful completion of a:
(1) Twelve-year course of elementary and secondary study in the
United States; or
(2) Formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable
to completion of 12 years elementary or secondary education in the
United States. Because a United States high school education is
sufficient in itself to qualify a student to apply for college admission,
in order for a foreign education to be equivalent to a United States
education, it should be sufficient to allow a student to apply for
college admission without further education. Vocational degrees
that are not considered a basis for further academic study will not
be considered equivalent to United States high school education.

 

[Britsimon]

I can confirm that GCSEs (which are normally taken at age 16 are not the correct level). The US High school equivalent level in the British system is A level (usually 2 years of additional and optional education). This level is the minimum required level for entry to a British University - and therefore what is needed for US High school equivalent. A British "High school" certificate is not the level they require.

If you have no other education to show, then you can rely on work experience only (for at least 2 years out of the last 5 years), but again it has to be at approved occupation/level as described by the DOL. To check, follow the instructions under work experience on this page. http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/visa_4756.html

Only the primary applicant (the winner) has to meet the requirement and then it is based education OR work experience.