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

blog.ycombinator.com

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

#171

Post by spitfire »

chollida1 wrote: post #8
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/englis…

Oh please no. Leave the VC reality distortion field south of the border please.

We don't need YC ruining Canada with hopped up "startup" bros. If we even need more VC firms (I don't think we do), let indie VC or something like it come up.

Edit: This isn't meant to mean people shouldn't start companies here. They should. But they should do it firmly grounded in reality, not based in SV VC world which has very little to do with building solid long term businesses.

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

#172

Post by ruleabidinguser »

chuhnk wrote: post #19

What if it's because I oppose the muslim ban and refuse to enter the US? That's a serious question. Actually I feel like the response to that will be, "It's your choice" but hey solidarity man!

I wonder what action you want Ycombinator to take to satisfy your standards of solidarity? Should they leave America? Apparently (I could be wrong) its their view that remote startups are not ideal, so it seems like you suggest they either operate in undesirable circumstances or move.

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

#174

Post by smsm42 »

mschuster91 wrote: post #107
exabrial wrote: post #20

Who is having trouble getting a Visa exactly? Just curious, trying to separate fact from hysteria

> Who is having trouble getting a Visa exactly? Just curious, trying to separate fact from hysteria Anyone, even US citizens, who does not want ICE/CBP snooping on his/her IT equipment, cellphones or social media accounts. Certainly I (born German/Croatian, living in Germany) might be able to land myself a nice shiny job in the US IT industry but no way I'm ever crossing your border as long as such outrageous privacy…

If you are making your choice of employment based on outrage stories in the media, you are making a big mistake. Of course, some of the stories we read are outrageous. But you should also take into account that literally millions of people cross the border of the US every year (US accepts a million a year only as immigrants, and vastly more as visitors), and vast majority of them have no trouble beyond maybe being asked a couple of questions. Minority of them do have problems, and these problems are a shame, and need to be fixed. But denying yourself opportunities out of fear of a tiny probability you may be unlucky to experience those problems is like never living one's home because accidents happen outside.

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

#175

Post by Eridrus »

uiri wrote: post #72
Eridrus wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the medium term, I'm sure YC can find Canadian funding sources if they wanted to do this.

As a Canadian, I'm doubtful that this is the case. There is a reason why almost all Canadian startups seek funding South of the border. In Canada, it is easier to get government grants than it is to secure venture capital.

I feel like YC, with it's long record would have an easier time attracting capital than an individual startup.

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

#176

Post by shmageggy »

ben0x539 wrote: post #124

Submissions of articles from YC/by YC people always have the least descriptive titles. :( Edit: Thanks!

I think it's a signalling thing, like when people sign their emails with a single lowercase initial, i.e. we're too busy and important to spend time on this.

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

#177

Post by smcl »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #108
wfo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps, if funding to research is cut in the US via Trump policies (or even remains small as is currently the case) and China jumps on this opportunity to snatch the world's best talent, the question for brilliant young students will be China, a fascist regime where you are funded, or the US, a slightly less fascist regime where you are not funded and face hate crime, discrimination, and constant threats to your abi…

So why do so many Chinese students chose to come to the US for college? Do they not know that China is better? To call the US a slightly less fascist regime than China is wrong. Go read up on human rights violations in China some time. Other areas of concern include the lack of legal recognition of human rights and the lack of an independent judiciary, rule of law, and due process. Further issues raised in regard to…

Right now it's better in the USA and presumably easier to get funding for various R&D projects at post-grad level.

However your parent post was suggesting that this could extremely easily shift if it's hard for talented African/European/Asian students to get US visas, and China siezes the opportunity - investing heavily in R&D making student immigration easier.

Likely it won't change overnight, but it's not impossible to imagine a world where this scenario plays out - a few more Trump Executive Orders, a savvy couple moves from the CCP and you're not far off.

Another possible reality is that nobody benefits - the USA squeezes its intake of the worlds best and brightest, the EU is too busy puzzling over Brexit and similar distractions among South American, Asian and African nations (sorry I'm not familiar enough with their internal troubles to speculate) scupper their own efforts.

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

#178

Post by muninn_ »

dang wrote: post #114
muninn_ wrote: post #29

Dubai? So are you not interested in attracting women to startups?

Inflammatory drive-bys are trolling. If you have a substantive point, make it thoughtfully; if you don't, please don't post. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13830706 and marked it off-topic.

What else is there to say? It's the Middle East. Can women even start businesses there? What if you're gay? Will they behead the CEO of a Y Combinator-backed startup if he/she is ousted as gay or an atheist? Will the founder have to have a male escort to board meetings?

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

#179

Post by bruceb »

homakov wrote: post #170
bruceb wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at the visa policy for unmarried women under 30 for Dubai. It's not SA yes, but is still restrictive update: It seems the restriction on women traveling who don't have husbands/fathers has been relaxed/ended. Looking more into it. Update 2: On UAE Embassy for US no mention of restrictions But not the case for other countries. For Indian women one provider states: For female applicants and students who are above…

> Look at the visa policy for unmarried women under 30 for Dubai With little googling you can find a reason behind this. Dubai escorts is huge.

That reasoning could be used to justify a lot of things.

(I know you may be stating their reasoning and not I am not saying you are endorsing that)

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

#180

Post by homakov »

yessql wrote: post #149
homakov wrote: post #121

Weird choice of country for this purpose. I wonder who needs visa to the US and doesn't need one to Canada, and I'm pretty sure the number is small.

It's about the possibility of having your visa granted, not whether you need one. Perhaps you have heard about the travel ban in the US?

Now I see, forgot the context and last events
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