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Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

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Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#11

Post by sinatra »

surfmike wrote: post #5

I've had two cofounder friends (both non-American) who sponsored each others' H1B. Seems like a loophole but it seemed to work :)

Considering H1B visa only allows you to work for the company that sponsored your visa, what you're describing sounds illegal, not just a loophole. I'm not saying they shouldn't do so. And I'm also not saying anything about whether the H1B requirements make any sense. I'm just saying that hopefully they're aware that what they're doing is illegal and may hurt their companies at any moment.

Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#12

Post by Joky »

sinatra wrote: post #11
surfmike wrote: post #5

I've had two cofounder friends (both non-American) who sponsored each others' H1B. Seems like a loophole but it seemed to work :)

Considering H1B visa only allows you to work for the company that sponsored your visa, what you're describing sounds illegal, not just a loophole. I'm not saying they shouldn't do so. And I'm also not saying anything about whether the H1B requirements make any sense. I'm just saying that hopefully they're aware that what they're doing is illegal and may hurt their companies at any moment.

H1B is transferrable any time, even before you start working for the company that sponsored it.

Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#13

Post by Finbarr »

sparkzilla wrote: post #10
Finbarr wrote: post #9

If you have been running your company for a year or more outside of the US, you may have some luck with the L-1 Visa for intra-company transfer[1]. The visa is for managers/executives who are coming to the US to work for a US arm of a foreign company. Seems like it can be used for establishing US based offices as well. [1] http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/l-1-intracompany-transfe...

I was on this visa. You must have been running the business in your home country for at least one year, and you must continue to keep the business running in your home country while you are in the U.S. (The U.S. office is supposed to be a branch). You also need sufficient funds (at least $100K, but $150K is safer). However once you get it, you can renew it for up to seven years, and, unlike the E-2, it has a path to…

Seems ideal for certain circumstances, e.g., with a remote dev team in your home country.

Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#14

Post by graeme »

zkirill wrote: post #3
yurisagalov wrote: post #2

Regardless of whether you're a YC founder or not, in general unless you're Canadian/Mexican and can qualify for a TN, or Australian and can qualify for an E-3, your only viable real option is an O-1 (Alien of Extraordinary ability). It's not an unachievable visa, and there are many founders who use it, but the requirements to demonstrate extraordinary ability are onerous. From USCIS: * Receipt of nationally or intern…

I hear that O-1 review has become less favourable to founders over the last 1-2 years. TN is risky because you may be asked to prove that you are not employing yourself and that you can can be fired at any time by your boss. On top of that, you must be paid market wage or higher and not a "founder's salary". Another visa to consider is the E-2 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-2_visa ) if you have the financial resou…

>I hear that O-1 review has become less favourable to founders over the last 1-2 years.

Is this because it wasn't intended for that purpose and the system is cracking down on founder's using it as such?

I've looked into the O-1 based on the fact that I'm (legitimately) a top expert on a very niche field. If I ever move to the states I think it's my only possibility since I work for myself.

Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#16

Post by haje »

It's an extremely good idea to lawyer up sooner rather than later, because visas are a huge pain in the backside, and getting it wrong can end up causing a lot of cost and stress.

I was lucky; my wife is from the US, and we've been married for longer than 2 years, which is the magical combination that makes it a lot easier - although obviously, that isn't particularly helpful if you aren't / aren't planning to get married to an US citizen.

Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#17

Post by yurisagalov »

graeme wrote: post #14
zkirill wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear that O-1 review has become less favourable to founders over the last 1-2 years. TN is risky because you may be asked to prove that you are not employing yourself and that you can can be fired at any time by your boss. On top of that, you must be paid market wage or higher and not a "founder's salary". Another visa to consider is the E-2 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-2_visa ) if you have the financial resou…

>I hear that O-1 review has become less favourable to founders over the last 1-2 years. Is this because it wasn't intended for that purpose and the system is cracking down on founder's using it as such? I've looked into the O-1 based on the fact that I'm (legitimately) a top expert on a very niche field. If I ever move to the states I think it's my only possibility since I work for myself.

From what immigration lawyers have described to me, USCIS is cracking down and making the requirements for an O-1 (And EB-1, by proxy) more strict.

What they want is "objectively verifiable" evidence in the form of press, recognition, awards, earnings, etc. What they value much less now than they used to is famous people telling them how awesome you are (e.g. getting your famous investor to write you a letter is less valuable now). Their stance on this is that if you're as awesome as you say you are, there should be objective third party validation available.

So in your case, since you are a very top expert in a very niche field, you should be able to produce objective verification from experts in the field, peer reviewed publications (or well regarded publications in the field), and so on.

The good news is that the visa actually is designed for people like you :)

Once again though: Talk to an immigration lawyer, this is not immigration advice, just things as I know them :)

Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#18

Post by hkmurakami »

LukaAl wrote: post #4

If they are from a "treaty country"[1] they could apply for an E-2[2] investor Visa given that at least 50% of the company is owned by entities from the treaty country (easy at that stage) and you could demonstrate a substantial investment in the company (if you are after the prototype stage shouldn't be a problem for a good visa lawyer). On your specific question, from feedback of my lawyer, if they have invested (r…

Fwiw we had spent only about $50k by the time we got our E2 visas for my cofounders.

Re: Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months?

#19

Post by yurisagalov »

surfmike wrote: post #5

I've had two cofounder friends (both non-American) who sponsored each others' H1B. Seems like a loophole but it seemed to work :)

Talk to an immigration lawyer before you try this.

The H-1B visa was clarified to allow for founder sponsorship, assuming you can demonstrate an employer-employee relationship.

To demonstrate an employer-employee relationship you need to be able to show that you can be fired from your company, which is difficult to show if you're the only two founders on the board, and you each own 50% of the company.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but you really want to make sure you talk to a immigraiton lawyer before you try this. And in either case, H-1B visas are very difficult to get at this point :)

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