101–110 of 125 posts
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I wouldn't. Why would you have paperwork to be in the US for 3 months to 'negotiate a contract'. Its a serious crime to lie or misrepresent to a Federal DHS Officer
I'm not suggesting lying, I'm suggesting using a broad definition of "negotiating"
O-1 w/o lawyer is not only impossible, it's the way I recommend to everyone who already achieved smth in homeland country. I received O-1 visa in February 2015 and I did it without lawyer. After I id it, I helped a couple of my friends and they received O-1 as well. Again, without lawyers. All you need is: 1) learn USCIS docs (law itself and directions on the official site) 2) learn as many examples as possible (in m…
"RFE process ("request for evidence" – when USCIS asks you to provide more information) always occurs" this is not true. I got my O-1 visa without any RFE.
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Yeah, the quota is 10k of which about 3-4k a year is used. Extensions don't count against the quota and are renewable indefinitely. Drawback is: non-permanent visa (so banks won't lend to you) & you can't have intent to stay (can't apply for greencard).
I got a mortgage on H1-B so I don't think non-permanency is necessarily a problem. I also know several people who have gone from E3 to green card: http://www.limaechoecho.com/2012/11/e-3-visa-to-green-card.h...
H-1B is dual-intent (i.e. not non-permanent) & better known to banks (3k vs. 120k granted per year).
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 (Australian) had never heard of the E3 visa until just now - Interesting that it defines "Speciality work" as anything that requires a degree in the job description. I don't have one, but have been working professionally in this field for 4 years (I'm 22), and thus would not be eligible. To qualify for experience in lieu of a degree you require 3 years of work for each one year of university, so when I've been work…
It has basically zero cost or effort for the employer: just need to get a Bureau of Labor statement that the offered salary is above market rates for role and location.
It sucks a little for the holder: you've got 10 days to leave the country if your employment ends, and you need to demonstrate every two years that you don't want to remain in the US permanently (yup, that's proving a negative). The renewals seem like they're pretty automatic, but the criteria aren't public and if the decision goes against you, you've again got 10 days to get out.
You don't need a lawyer to get an E3, but once you've got enough cash flow, it might be worth it for renewals and the potential for an appeal if your renewal (technically a new visa issue) is rejected.
Technically it isn't clear what visa foreign YC founders should use to stay in the US during the 3 months. Visa waiver[0] only allows for meetings, attending a conference, attend short-term unpaid training or negotiate a contract. Anything that really is 'working' - such as performing software engineering for a company (even your own) - is arguably outside of the visa waiver. I'm assuming YC doesn't want founders to…
Hope this doesn't sound like a shameless plug, but this topic is really why Unshackled exists and why we are on a mission to enable as many immigrant founded companies in the US as we can. As one of the founding partners of Unshackled (www.unshackled.co) I hope that we've been able to help immigrant founders build towards their dreams. It's still early, but in the past 7 months, we've supported 30 founders, across 13…
Technically it isn't clear what visa foreign YC founders should use to stay in the US during the 3 months. Visa waiver[0] only allows for meetings, attending a conference, attend short-term unpaid training or negotiate a contract. Anything that really is 'working' - such as performing software engineering for a company (even your own) - is arguably outside of the visa waiver. I'm assuming YC doesn't want founders to…
http://benmetcalfe.com/blog/2012/02/what-visa-type-do-you-ne...
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This works if you are three co-founders each with 33%, since any two of you could fire the third. (I am also not a lawyer, but this is how I got my H-1B five years ago.) That said, the fact that the H-1B process is now a lottery - i.e. no matter qualified you are or how good your lawyer is, it's still a roll of the dice - makes it hard to recommend if you actually want any ability to plan for the future. H-1B also pu…
Would brining in a third "co-founder" until you get your H-1B, then firing them work?
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working on your US company, or your foreign company, is not allowed when you visit the US on a visa waiver. You are allowed to represent your foreign company, look for partners/customers, do marketing, visit conferences etc. But not be "productive"
If I write open-source code while on the tourist trip to the US does it count as 'working'? I understand you're not giving advice, just curious
At least that's how it's been explained to me.