Ahh, I missed the "without degree" part of the question. It looks like it's strongly recommended, certainly the Australian Germany Embassy page suggests you ne

Ahh, I missed the "without degree" part of the question. It looks like it's strongly recommended, certainly the Australian Germany Embassy page suggests you need a degree: http://www.australien.diplo.de/Vertretung/australien/en/03/Visa/D-Visa/Sonstige/BlueCard.html http://www.australien.diplo.de/Vertretung/australien/en/03/V... But it looks like there are also exemptions for "bottleneck" industries that urgently require specialists, and Software Development and Programming are currently listed. (Some of the commercial sites suggest 5 years of commercial experience will also qualify.) You'll note that IT also gets a discount on the minimum required salary to qualify. Try the Make It In Germany website, which is an official government site and links out to some of the exemption documents: http://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en http://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en Oh, and also note that Canadians (like Australians & Americans) get a favored status. Note at the bottom of that first link that Canadians can apply for a Blue Card after arriving in Germany. So maybe you could try applying for the Working Holiday visa (easier to get), and once you're over there look into converting your visa to the Blue Card.