What guidance would you give to a Canadian applying to YC who doesn't plan to stay in SF after demo day? Is it possible to work in SF for the duration of the program employed by the startup, or is it best framed as a holiday? Can one pay oneself, or pay for expenses, in that time?
I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
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Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#82I never had a formal university education, what are my real chances of being accepted for a work visa.
I think that I'm pretty good but and have a pretty interesting CV probably not "extraordinary".
What are the chances of me working in the USA? Does it really nullify my chances?
I have been working since I was 17 in jobs related and then very specific to programming, I'm 28 now.
I also have a uruguayan and spanish/european nationality, which would be better for an application?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#83So what does extraordinary ability mean? Are we talking PhD level ability here, or Turning award level ability, or somewhere in between?
I can answer because I had an O1 visa, and from what I've understood the equivalent green card has roughly the same requirements. If I wanted to apply for a green card while on my O1 visa, I could have went to the same process (I chose to move back to Europe instead). Interestingly going from an O1 visa to the equivalent green cards doesn't require a corporate sponsorship. Basically if you have something like a Nobel…
(for example with a Ph.D. you qualify for IEEE membership, and they will deliver a good-looking membership certificate)
Unless something has changed very recently, you do not have to have a Ph.D. to be an IEEE member.
Source: long-time IEEE member without a Ph.D.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#84So what does extraordinary ability mean? Are we talking PhD level ability here, or Turning award level ability, or somewhere in between?
The bar for 01 (called Evidentiary Criteria) is much much lower. I know of several people who went the O1 route and basically the process was this: - A job offer with a "high" salary (basically it seemed anything over 100k would do the trick) - Judged a hackathon - "News" coverage of the hackathon Then a big check to the immigration attorney who wrap it up in a bunch of legalese and send it off to the immigration off…
This is awesome info.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
> 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. Where does that money go? Fees associated with the application or general attorney fees? Is it poss…
I agree, it's a lot of money and we do have clients who handle their applications successfully on their own but these are generally clients in fields where there's lots of pre-existing evidence that does not need to be explained such as artists or athletes or widely published /cited scientists. Where the evidence needs to be explained or supported by expert opinion letters, an attorney probably should be involved. The EB1A filing fees are $580 for regular processing and $1805 for premium processing.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#86would a couple patents and a successful startup experience as CTO, (but not founder) qualify for an O1?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#87Hi Peter,
What is the approximate time that it takes for an H4 spouse to get EAD after H1B's EB1 GC process is kicked off ?
Thanks
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#88Hi Peter, I'm a Canadian citizen with a four year computer science degree. I've gotten a TN work permit twice, with two different companies over the past three years. If I started a company with an American citizen and they opened it up, could they then hire me as a Computer System Analyst? Is there a minimum salary they'd have to pay me (e.g. could I get a TN and still only get paid $10/hour)? Is this a common way f…
(recalling verbatim from a friend): TN-1s are not available for "owners" of a business. Technically, ownership is defined as > X% of a business (X is some number I can't recall like 30 or 40). Recently, some Canadian founders have had their TN-1 revoked at the border at the discretion of the officer because they were founders, even though they didn't have sufficient % of shares to be owners as per the definition.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#89I never had a formal university education, what are my real chances of being accepted for a work visa. I think that I'm pretty good but and have a pretty interesting CV probably not "extraordinary". What are the chances of me working in the USA? Does it really nullify my chances? I have been working since I was 17 in jobs related and then very specific to programming, I'm 28 now. I also have a uruguayan and spanish/e…
This is a much longer conversation but the short answer is that lack of formal education is not a bar to getting a US work visa. It's possible that you might have the equivalent based on your work experience for H1B purposes or even qualify for an O-1 visa.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#90Hi Peter, I have two simple questions: I am on H1-b and I have my I-140 approved (eb-2). - I want to switch my job and before taking up a new job in USA I want a break. Is it possible to take break of 2,3 months w/o being un-employed? If not, is there a way to achieve this? - Once I move to a new firm, what process I can follow so that my GC application continue in normal pace?
This would be better discussed privately because it is asking for legal advice on a complex and nuanced matter without my having all the facts.
So you suggest emailing you?