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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

#391
post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some experience here UK -> L1 -> GC -> Citizen. It's worth considering the L-1 visa route - work in the UK office of a US-based company for 1 year and you become eligible. One disadvantage, you are bound to the L-1 employer in the US unless you can get a H1-B, work visa or family-based visa (yes, I found myself a green card wife of nearly 10 years now). The L-1 process was a lot of paperwork, but the sponsoring compa…

I followed much the same route, but I can't recommend it as a strategy for someone looking for a path to the USA, given you have to work for said employer for a year then hope they will consider sponsoring you. Unless you have hard to find skills, I don't think many employers will offer this option at interview time, given you are still not a fully known quantity until you've actually started working somewhere. Those…

That’s fair. Personally I think it depends on where someone is in their career and how urgent they wish to move.

Whilst not immediate, a lot of the other visas offer a faster or more direct path to entry in the US.

If you are graduating, not necessarily sure what you want to do and you see a potential US move a few years down the road then I think the L1 route is still a very good option. In my case I had worked for a big company for a few years and applied for a new role internally, visa process was painless and I think took around 6-8 weeks total - the L is not subject to caps so once your company is willing to sponsor, things tend to move rather quickly.

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

#392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's right, in the H-1B context, there needs to be an employer-employee relationship between the petitioning company and the sponsored worker and this (in the eyes of USCIS) ultimately means the ability of the petitioning company to fire the sponsored worker and otherwise control his or her employment.

So basically for a person on H1B to startup, can we take below as steps ? Please correct me if i am wrong ! 1. A decide's to startup. 2. A find's 2 US citizens B & C as co-founders. 3. A gives idea to B & C and asks them to build a PRODUCT. 4. A takes 49% ownership, B & C takes 25.5 % ownership. 5. B & C finished building a MVP or SLC PRODUCT. 6. B & C apply for VC Fund. 7. B & C get X fund from Z. 8. B & C incorpora…

> COMPANY sponsors H1B for A and hires A as co-founder.

You cannot be hired as a cofounder you need to be hired as an employee.

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

#393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point and depending on country of nationality, the odds can in fact be pretty good.

I'm an Australian citizen but was born in Pakistan. Do I go in the Australian queue or Pakistani queue for green card lottery?

You go in the Pakistani queue. One of my friend who is an Indian citizen can apply because he was born in Kuwait while folks who were born in India cannot apply.

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

#394

Hi Peter, Indian Citizen here. I have a startup incorporated via Stripe Atlas. If it reaches $1 Million in annual revenue, can I qualify for EB5 green card? Or if I have around $500K in revenue and raise $250K from investors, does that help with EB5?

No OP but for EB5 you need million dollar in assets not revenue and you need to hire 10 people in the US.

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

#395
post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an Australian citizen but was born in Pakistan. Do I go in the Australian queue or Pakistani queue for green card lottery?

You go in the Pakistani queue. One of my friend who is an Indian citizen can apply because he was born in Kuwait while folks who were born in India cannot apply.

How stupid. I am an Australian for all intents and purposes.

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

#396
post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You go in the Pakistani queue. One of my friend who is an Indian citizen can apply because he was born in Kuwait while folks who were born in India cannot apply.

How stupid. I am an Australian for all intents and purposes.

I believe one of the reason for having that rule is to prevent people buying citizenship of some poor country and then use that to apply for the lottery.

Selecting by country of birth prevents those shenanigans.

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

#397
I have one company in India and another in US and I am the CEO of both. Same name and same directors (Indian citizens) but not a subsidiary .The India company is 4 years old and US company 1.5 years.For the US company we have US Bank account , Tax filing etc. I visit US in B1 frequently , what is the best option for me to pursue Green card. Is L1A a good option?

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

#398
post #366
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are wrong. I am in the process of opening a business account remotely.

In the process sounds very nice which bank? (and are you a US citizen or resident?)

I'm a US citizen. Banks are very nice when you know everyone who works there.

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

#399
post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically for a person on H1B to startup, can we take below as steps ? Please correct me if i am wrong ! 1. A decide's to startup. 2. A find's 2 US citizens B & C as co-founders. 3. A gives idea to B & C and asks them to build a PRODUCT. 4. A takes 49% ownership, B & C takes 25.5 % ownership. 5. B & C finished building a MVP or SLC PRODUCT. 6. B & C apply for VC Fund. 7. B & C get X fund from Z. 8. B & C incorpora…

> COMPANY sponsors H1B for A and hires A as co-founder. You cannot be hired as a cofounder you need to be hired as an employee.

"cofounder" is a legally meaningless SV term. There are three ways you can be associated with a company

1. Shareholder (anyone in the world, except few countries with sanctions)

2. On board of directors (varies from case to case)

3. Employee (requires immigration status)

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

#400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is a non-US citizen (Mexico) but has lived in the US for her entire life as a permanent resident. As in, she was born in a Mexican hospital but was taken directly across the border to her home in the United States when she was released to her parents. It's my understanding that if she ever decides to pursue citizenship that it's generally easier to go the permanent resident qualification route vs. the marriag…

As far as I know it is irrelevant. If she is a permanent resident and has lived in the USA for more than 5 years that 's it. I am confused by your question. Are you sure she is a legal permanent resident ?

Yes, she is a green card holder.

My question is only whether the marriage route to citizenship takes more time, effort and money than the route of permanent residency for 5 years.

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