It’s pretty common for countries to include a written or oral exam/test as part of qualifying for naturalization, but qualifying to take the exam is complex and often takes a long time and a lot of effort. Are there any countries where you can get a non-tourist visa by taking a written or oral exam? A lot of countries have a “point system” where you can qualify for an immigrant visa based on prior education and experience, but you actually have to have that experience and education documented and evaluated by the embassy. You can’t just go down to the Ruritanian Embassy and take the Ruritantian Culture and Language Adjustment Battery, score above 80%, and get your visa the next week after a brief background check.
Are there any countries where you can? For the purpose of this question, having to take multiple tests (e.g. a written language test, an oral language test, and a cultural knowledge test) can count as a single exam. If you have to qualify under a “point system” or other similar protocol to qualify to take the exam, it doesn’t count unless the “point system” is more or less trivial (e.g. you get 1 point for finishing high school or an equivalency, 1 point for not being a registered sex offender, and 1 point for having worked at least one year in your life, and you need 2 points to qualify).
I can understand why knowledge of Ruritania would a prerequisite for citizenship. But for a student or work visa, all you’d need is the class or the job. It’s temporary so you don’t need to prove that you know the local politics.
No, I’m talking about where you don’t have a job or a class lined up. Or maybe you do, but there isn’t an easy way to get a work visa that way because the quota for that is full. But you do know enough about Ruritania that one could suppose that if you were allowed in to the country, you could take a local class or get a local job without a great deal of difficulty. That’s really the whole point of the question - if you don’t have a job lined up, if you don’t already have an admission letter from a school - can you take a test to prove that you have what it takes?
I suppose I would accept a situation where you can get a student visa more or less automatically if you are accepted to a certain school in the country, and you can get admitted to the school more or less by passing an entrance exam, without having to show anything else, like prior academic work. But the question really is whether any country has an “exam route” to entering the country that more or less everyone can try for, without having obtained specific paperwork, etc.
The Cayman Islands may require an English language exam from citizens of countries where English is not a primary language. Either the International English Language Test (IELTS) or the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), must be taken in the applicant’s home country.
Otherwise gaining an employment visa is relatively straightforward. Submit routine paperwork, medical exam results, and a police clearance. But applications for work visas are linked to a specific job and employer. The employer must certify to the lack of qualified Caymanian applicants.
It seems bizarre to me that someone is looking to go to school in an unknown foreign land, let alone pondering about what countries there are that would condition a student visa on an exam. … and expecting others to know v. you needing to do research.
Please note that there’s a world of difference between a situation where someone’s seeking a non-immigrant visa for education purposes and an immigrant visa. (I can’t fathom that the latter is even up for debate based on info provided, as though you’d be willing to become not just a resident but a citizen of some unknown country so long as they pass out long-term visas by exam.)
Is there a reason why you aren’t making up a list of places where you want to go to school (presume that wasn’t an element just tossed in there) and/or possibly, given the way you worded your follow up and what situation you “would accept”, and then looking at their long-term visa requirements? Please note that whether for schooling purposes or other where you aren’t seeking a work visa, you’ll need to establish that you have money in the bank to support yourself. (If you intend to pass yourself off as a business person who isn’t seeking a work visa but wants long-term non-immigrant status, you’d need to provide proof of the business venture/investment in that country.)
I’m not actually planning to move. I am just curious as to whether there are any countries that do this. I’ve read a bit about immigration and there’s a lot of information out there about 1) Qualifying for a visa by various criteria and 2) Passing citizenship exams. It seemed that there might be a country out there that didn’t do it quite like that - where the exam (or the first exam of a series) could get you in the door. And when I said “would accept”, I meant that I would accept it as an answer to the question, not that I would accept it as a place to move to!
