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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

#251

Post by ambrood »

ancarda wrote: post #122

I live in the United Kingdom but I've always wanted to move to America. I don't know much about the process as I find it very hard to go through the volume of information online. Do I need to apply for a visa, then find a company in the U.S. to hire me? Is there a good website for finding green card jobs? I'd be grateful for a pointer on doing this or even just an FAQ as a starting point.

While getting a new H1B has become statistically impossible given the statutory limits that Congress refuses to revise, there are other visas like the O1 and J-1 that are still possible.

We have a couple of guys at my company in San Francisco, who came here on a J-1 or an O-1 as opposed to the more traditional route (post-graduate degree student and then an H1).

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

#252

Post by semerda »

disbelief wrote: post #96
proberts wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The short answer is no - although there can be exceptions when the only beneficiary of this work is outside the US.

Just to clarify: in this case it may be okay if you're doing work for a client outside of the US and they are billed by a business entity that is also outside the US? So the deal-breaker is doing work for US companies?

Might not be that easy esp if your o/s entity still has you as a shareholder/owner. And if that country has a taxation treaty with USA like Australia does. Then you need to reveal all your foreign activity.

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

#253

Post by ambrood »

mydpy wrote: post #186

As US citizens, how can we help our international friends trying to get H1-B support? It is really hard to watch friends get denied, and I really wish policy makers would admit more very talented people from highly competitive countries. One of my good friends from China is gay and if he goes back home, he could actually be in danger. I feel helpless and I want to do more.

It is entirely upto Congress to pass a sensible legislation, which they've been refusing to for a better part of last 8 years.

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

#254

Post by mahyarm »

falsedan wrote: post #241
mahyarm wrote: post #12

How does one with a H1B, TN, H1B1, or E3 visa move from their current US employer and start their own company legally while living in the USA?

Set up an LLC & extend yourself a job offer. Make sure you have the capital to pay yourself according to your visa's restrictions, follow the appropriate procedure for visa transfer, & don't outright own the LLC. Alternatively, petition to change visa to H-1B & get your employer to start the greencard application.

By not owning the LLC, does that mean owning %95 or %4? I often seen %5 requirements in ownership of companies making something invalid.

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

#255

Post by semerda »

jeevand wrote: post #3

Can founders of a startup who have majority ownership & with appropriate board having the power to fire them sponsor green card through their startup? Founders are currently on H1b with approved I-140. Thank you

I was in the exact position. H1B founder needed to move to a GC. My 6 year H1B renew runway was ending. Peter did all the legal/immigration work for me. Applied for the GC via extraordinary ability (EB1A) context. I must say this was the smoothest immigration experience ever. And I have gone through 2 x E3s & 3 x H1Bs using other lawyers. I wish I knew about Peter earlier. Highly recommend everyone here to work with Peter!!

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

#256

Post by beautybasics »

adrianbg wrote: post #88
billconan wrote: post #19

What are the options for an h1b who wants to start up? we can't lose our jobs to maintain the h1b status. will yc care that we are not working on the idea fulltime by the time of applying to yc? (will certainly quit the job if accepted to yc.) what are the common attitudes of companies, like google, microsoft, apple, facebook, toward employee moonlighting?

http://unshackled.co/ You can transfer your H1b to them and work on your thing.

Thanks for the info.

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

#257

Post by beachstartup »

bduerst wrote: post #244
beachstartup wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'm deleting this comment because it was a bunch of practical (as in non-legal advice) info about running an LLC that could potentially get someone in trouble if taken as advice.

To anyone reading the comment above, I would be extremely careful with this. While owning an LLC doesn't violate the H1B visa work conditions, working on an LLC does, even if there isn't any reported employment or income to the IRS. Your current H1B employer probably won't care, but if USCIS ever caught wind of it (even years later) you will likely lose your H visa. USCIS recently closed the loophole where F-1 studen…

yeah, yikes. the road to hell is paved with...

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

#258

Post by jfim »

ancarda wrote: post #165
UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you looked into US companies that have UK branches? You get hired by the UK branch, and then ask for a transfer to the US. London's banking/insurance/etc industry might be a good place to start looking at that. Getting transfers to New York City is common as heck.

I never thought of doing that! Good idea, thanks

Keep in mind that you need to have worked for that given company for a certain amount of time for the L-1 visa (I believe at least a year).

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

#260

Post by gozo »

dang wrote: post #248
gozo wrote: post #240

Uhm. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I was slightly disappointed by the result of this. They might want to change the format in the future to promote fewer longer answers. "You might try X Y Z visa" doesn't really use his expertise very much. We also didn't really get an answer to the most obvious questions like if you can actually attend YC legally or if a temporary worker in the US can also run a company. Sti…

Given the whirlwind of questions that came up, Peter wanted to help as many HNers as possible within the time available. Brief replies were the only option. We've already heard back from Peter that the biggest problem was not being able to go deeper, and are going to explore options for how to do that. The takeaways from today are (a) there's clear demand in the community and (b) he would like to do more. That's an e…

My intention was not to "hijack" the top comment, but to post where it was relevant i.e. the thread talking about the event rather than among the questions themselves. I don't think pointing out room for improvement is irrelevant. I didn't expect my questions to be answered, especially since he had already left the thread, but used them as an example how the outcome wasn't optimal.

Edit: I, as you, removed a bunch of my comment. Not sure why I should bother.

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