Friend of mine went for the standard 'interview' when he applied for permission to marry a local girl.
During the interview the lady most concerned about equality of qualifications, on glancing through his papers, looked up in shock and said, "but you don't have a degree!"
Friend duly pointed out that he did have an ATPL, issued in the UK and that, in the UK, this wasn't considered to be at all bad, as professional qualifications go,
Lady then said, "Oh well, here in Singapore we don't regard being a pilot as a profession, it is considered skilled labour"
For totally unconnected reasons the wedding never took place!