YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#1

Post by dwaxe » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 4:59 PM UTC

YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas
blog.ycombinator.com

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#2

Post by mck- » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 5:08 PM UTC

It would be awesome if they set up a remote office here in Vancouver :)

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#3

Post by JamilD » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 5:10 PM UTC

This is great news for both Canadian and international founders.

Is the next step having an additional Canadian office for those that can't get US visas? Canada has a generous startup visa for founders coming from other countries [0].

[0] http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#4

Post by clamprecht » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 5:11 PM UTC

Wow. We often wonder how the Bay Area would be unseated as startup capital of the world. Maybe it'll be the US's immigration problem.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#5

Post by startupdiscuss » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 5:11 PM UTC

Perhaps a startup founder could exploit "ease-of-travel arbitrage" and offer a service: Remote working from several countries that are easy to get to, accept a wide range of passports, and have enormous bandwidth.

Canada is a lot more open than the US at this point in time, but it's not all roses for people even to get to Vancouver.

What if there were a hub in, say Dubai? And a few other spots around the world?

I imagine Ycombinator would be one of many potential clients. Universities whose students have to delay a semester might use it. Other institutions would use it.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#6

Post by CJKinni » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

As someone who went through quite the arduous process to end up working in the US legally, this is great news. Many friends I've had over the years have been unable to access many great resources due to their inability to lawfully work in a different location. I'm happy to see YC making progress towards offering quality opportunities to exceptional individuals in different locations.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#7

Post by alxjsn » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

clamprecht wrote: post #4

Wow. We often wonder how the Bay Area would be unseated as startup capital of the world. Maybe it'll be the US's immigration problem.

Or an earthquake.

Re: YC will hold interviews in Vancouver for founders who can’t get US visas

#8

Post by chollida1 » Thu, Mar 09, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

JamilD wrote: post #3

This is great news for both Canadian and international founders. Is the next step having an additional Canadian office for those that can't get US visas? Canada has a generous startup visa for founders coming from other countries [0]. [0] http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/

The Canadian visa might sound appealing at first blush but won't help for ycombinator founders as far as I know.

To be eligible you need to have funding from a canadian venture fund, see below.

I guess ycombinator could setup a Canadian fund and apply for the funding eligibility, but with the principles being mostly American and living in the US, I'm guessing it would be a very tough sell.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/eli...