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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#1
Hi all,

We did an immigration AMA a few months ago and thought it might be time to do another. I'll be here for a couple hours to answer your questions about U.S. immigration. There are countless potential topics, but here's one I thought we could highlight today which is particularly important given the backlogs and delays in the green card process.

Two ways of getting a green card--the extraordinary ability and national interest waiver routes--are often very good options, and often overlooked because of a misunderstanding about the standards. Clearing up some of the misconceptions could be helpful to those of you in this community who might benefit from these routes to a green card. So if you're interested, ask me particularly about that, but I'll be happy to answer about U.S. immigration in general. As before, I can’t comment or provide legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons because I won’t have access to all the facts.

EDIT: Thank you for participating in this AMA. It was very interesting and enjoyable for me. I hope that it was helpful. I need to sign off now but I’ll be checking in again later today.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#5
Hello Robert! Thanks for doing this (again). I got two questions, but any answer is appreciated!

1st: I’d love to stay in the US as a “digital nomad” for some months. I’d have to work on my own projects and maybe on some client ones while doing this (all of them outside the US). Which kind of VISA would I need?

2nd: Are there any chances to get a work permit if you don’t own a University degree? (Eg. starting my own company in the US?)

Thank you!

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#6
A family member of mine works for DHS as a paralegal, more or less, and their department deals with illegal immigration into the US. They often tell tales of how illegal immigrants will commit heinous acts (rape, murder) or somewhat more pedestrian crimes (heroin possession, for instance).

Anyways, the most striking part about this is that it seems a lot of the judges who handle these cases simply don't care. Because these people are often deported and then come back a week later, not a lot seems to be done. Some of the criminals won't be charged, and it seems a lot of people on the in the system will just turn a blind eye. I'm not sure if it's apathy, or if the system is so inundated that they're just unable to keep up, but have you experienced anything like this?

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#8

How much does the whole process cost? As an international founder, that's my only major concern.

That is of course a major factor. The costs all in, including legal fees and filing fees, vary considerably from attorney to attorney but the average, as far as I can tell, for an I-140 extraordinary ability petition is between $5,000 and $15,000. This is the same range for an I-140 national interest waiver petition.
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