The juxtaposition of misconceptions of difference and knowledge with positivism and liberal universalism forms a new head tax to exclude the ‘undesirable,’ and to perpetuate oppression in Canada and Sweden. [...] This comparative analysis of non-recognition of foreign credentials and prior work experience of immigrant professionals in Canada and Sweden will be situated in a theoretical framework of the politics of difference. [...] In deciding which groups are the most desirable and admissible, the state sets the parameters for the social, cultural and symbolic boundaries of the nation, as manifested in historically racist Canadian immigration policies. [...] Refugees mainly came from Chile in the 1970s, the Middle East in the 1980s, and the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East in the 1990s (Gustafsson et al., 2004). [...] While professional and regulatory bodies determine the professional standing of the qualifi cation, the assessment of foreign credentials for the purpose of academic study resides fi rmly in the hands of education providers (such as universities and colleges).