“For example, for US immigration purposes, a foreign 3-year Bachelor’s degree is NOT equivalent to a 4-year US Bachelor’s degree. Some visa classes that require a Bachelor’s degree (e.g. H-1B) allow applicants to substitute the missing year of university with 3 years of work experience; other visa classes do not allow for substitutions (like an EB-3 green card for professionals).”
I am not convinced that @“b@r!um” 's statement is accurate. It certainly wasn’t an issue in the H-1B applications with which I am personally familiar. 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(iii) details four alternative forms of qualifications for an H-1B:
© Beneficiary qualifications. To qualify to perform services in a specialty occupation, the alien must meet one of the following criteria:
(1) Hold a United States baccalaureate or higher degree required by the specialty occupation from an accredited college or university;
(2) Hold a foreign degree determined to be equivalent to a United States baccalaureate or higher degree required by the specialty occupation from an accredited college or university;
(3) Hold an unrestricted State license, registration or certification which authorizes him or her to fully practice the specialty occupation and be immediately engaged in that specialty in the state of intended employment; or
(4) Have education, specialized training, and/or progressively responsible experience that is equivalent to completion of a United States baccalaureate or higher degree in the specialty occupation, and have recognition of expertise in the specialty through progressively responsible positions directly related to the specialty.
It then goes on to note:
(D) Equivalence to completion of a college degree. For purposes of paragraph (h)(4)(iii)©(4) of this section, equivalence to completion of a United States baccalaureate or higher degree shall mean achievement of a level of knowledge, competence, and practice in the specialty occupation that has been determined to be equal to that of an individual who has a baccalaureate or higher degree in the specialty and shall be determined by one or more of the following:
…(5) A determination by the Service that the equivalent of the degree required by the specialty occupation has been acquired through a combination of education, specialized training, and/or work experience in areas related to the specialty and that the alien has achieved recognition of expertise in the specialty occupation as a result of such training and experience. For purposes of determining equivalency to a baccalaureate degree in the specialty, three years of specialized training and/or work experience must be demonstrated for each year of college-level training the alien lacks.
So while this states that three years of training is needed for each year of college the alien lacks, it is only “For purposes of paragraph (h)(4)(iii)©(4) of this section” (i.e. non degree holders) not for (h)(4)(iii)©(2) which is the “hold a foreign degree” alternative. So the only question appears to be whether the USCIS determines the foreign degree to be equivalent to a US baccalaureate. That might be a concern for a diploma mill in a third world country. It isn’t likely to be an issue for the degrees we are talking about here from well known Western European universities (and wasn’t in the cases I was involved in, although those were quite a long time ago).