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I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

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Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#61

Post by proberts »

tosseraccount wrote: post #50

Critics have charged that H visa guest worker programs are subsidies to the already rich holders of enough capital to influence inside the beltway politics. They say that the program is designed to keep wages down and facilitates outsourcing. Are the current laws also a subsidy to the legal industry who get to charge for an overly complicated process?

I think that that's a fair criticism of every benefit that the government offers that requires legal assistance to obtain, whether an immigration benefit or not.

Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#62

Post by kenneth »

n00b101 wrote: post #52
SeoxyS wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3-time O-1 recipient here. Denied for EB-1 once + on appeal. The O-1, I feel, is pretty dependent on our personal situation, and which side of the bed the reviewer woke up on when they look at your application. But, it can be done. Good luck!

Why 3-time? How long is O-1 valid before it expires?

3 years term per approval. But you have to apply again every time you change jobs. I started with one company, then was founder of a startup, re-applied there, and moved it to another company.

Re-applying is easier once you've been approved once.

Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#64

Post by jensv »

Can you recommend some immigration resources for self-service? I am a Canadian who is seeking better work opportunities State side, with a Bachelors in Computer Science and 3 years of experience. I wonder if flying down with the intent of networking and finding companies to meet is a good and realistic way of meeting employers and lining up interviews.

Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#65

Post by proberts »

franze wrote: post #60

Meta question: Do the US immigration laws make sense?

Some do and some don't, but this is a very long conversation and probably not possible at this time. At a minimum I feel that there should some type of entrepreneurial visa and there isn't, even though the E-2 can sometimes function like one.

Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#66

Post by proberts »

franze wrote: post #60

Meta question: Do the US immigration laws make sense?

Some do and some don't but this is a very long conversation and probably not possible at this time although at a minimum I feel that there should some type of entrepreneurial visa and there isn't even though the E-2 can sometimes function like one.

Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#68

Post by haydenlee »

What's the current status of the OPT extension? I'm a co-founder of a startup that I started during my 12 months of OPT and its about time to apply for the extension, however I recently realized there'd been some changes to it.

Should I apply now for the extension or do I have to wait until further policies are put in place?

Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#69

Post by DiThi »

atirip wrote: post #25
ojbyrne wrote: post #4

I am curious about the approach YC takes for foreign founders who are accepted into YC. How do they come to the US for the initial incubation period? What happens after demo day?

+1 Additionally: i understand EU citizens can be in the US visa free for 3 months. What that exactly means? 3 months per year or 3 months per one visit? If the latter then how often? Lets assume one gets accepted and decides to utilize that visa free offer - what should be said at the border if one is asked.

IANAL but it seems it's 3 months per visit, which accounts for time spent in Mexico, Canada and nearby islands (so that doesn't count as starting another visit). http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-p...

Re: I am Peter Roberts, an immigration lawyer who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#70

Post by a-zA-Z0-9 »

Hi Peter,

I'm a Canadian and I had an H-1B several years ago. I used about 2.5 years of it and left US in summer 2011 before using up the full 3 years.

Am I eligible to come back on H-1B without lottery by claiming the remainder time? I read something about this online saying that I can come back on H-1B before 6 years past the date I left US?

Thanks!

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