The actual degree to which this trope applies in real life varies depending on a number of factors including your specific profession/its regulating bodies, where you're immigrating to, how racist they are against where you're immigrating from, how much [[ObstructiveBureaucrat obstructive bureaucracy]] is involved, and what year it is. However, we can certainly say that there are cases where this trope is [[TruthInTelevision extremely true]], and others where it extremely isn't.

It's often believed, especially by Americans who have never been outside their country, that white-collar professionals in poorer countries immigrate to the West because they live in abject squalor in their home countries. The main reason for this belief is that overall salaries are much lower in poorer countries; a doctor in some places may earn less than a cab driver in the United States (comparing via currency conversion). However, this fails to consider that the cost of living (food, utilities, etc.) is also much lower in those countries. In many such places, people live quite comfortably on earnings which would make one homeless in the USA. (Some cities in poorer countries are very expensive for expatriates, but expats have specific needs that locals have less so - high security above all.)

Most white-collar immigrants either have a Western education and are able to enter the job force without issue, are escaping something other than poverty such as discrimination, political instability, war, etc., or their primary goal is something other than lucrative employment (e.g. better education for their children). On the other hand, immigrants may be unaware that their credentials aren't transferable, or they were lied to by a dishonest immigration consultant that they wouldn't have any trouble getting work ([[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-immigration-consultant-licence-revoked-1.5202470 Example]]). Oftentimes, however, this trope's presence in fiction is just the result of lack of research on the writers' part, especially when universities from Eastern and Central Europe (and to a lesser extent South Asia) are involved. Most graduates from such countries have little trouble nostrificating their diplomas, especially if they come from renowned universities and their profession is in high demand (e.g. doctors).