Skill is irrelevant here. In this particular case a degree is more or less a matter of provenance. Poster's profile likely fits North Korean devs looking for work, too.

It doesn't matter how skilled I am, no country will let me cross their border without a passport. I can sit around and treat it as a personal slight, but that will do zilch for my situation.

In your case it might be best to focus on finding a local (or semi-local) branch of a multinational business to work for (where you can work in person). That will become that provenance.