What are things I could do to improve my resume for EB1 category Greencard in the next year or so? I am currently on H1B working as a SWE at a top Silicon valley company (think Google/FB). I have a Master's degree in CS from a top US university and have a couple of years work experience. According to the company attorney, I qualify only for the EB2 category. Unfortunately, the EB2 queue is extremely long since I am from India. I am asking this since you mentioned in your past AMAs that it is possible for strong EB2 candidates to move to EB1.
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
#142F-1 visa, STEM major, graduated, currently on post-completion OPT, employed in the US by a big company. Can I establish an LLC and work (earn money) in addition to my employment?
You should check with your school to confirm but if you are regular OPT, then this should be permissible.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#143As a Canadian citizen who is working in California under a TN visa, I am interested in starting my own Canadian company and working on contracting / consulting work via said company. All the money I make through said company would be paid to me in CAD and stay in my Canadian accounts, which I doubt really matters. I do not see why there would be legal issues with this, but this seems like a good opportunity to ask so…
That could be viewed as self-employment which is prohibited and regarding how you get paid, you should contact a U.S. tax accountant because my understanding is that you still would be subject to the payment of U.S. taxes.
Thanks for your time. That's interesting. I guess this might be a little more nuanced than I thought.
So, despite the fact that the company would be a Canadian entity, I would be considered self-employed. Would a simple workaround be enough to thwart this, such as having a friend own the business, and proceed to hire me as a remote employee?
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
Current priority date for EB-3 India is 2006. For it to clear all the 2007 priority date applications, it will take another 14 years [1]. Since my priority date is today, 12/19/2017, why do you think my wait time is only between 8-10 years? Or, did you mean 810 years? [1] https://www.cato.org/blog/no-one-knows-how-long-legal-immigr...
There is an ebb and flow in the progression of priority dates but yes, the process could take longer than 10 years.
I see. So, will the "ebb and flow", bring down my wait time from 800 years to 300 years?
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#145Can I get an E-2 visa based on revenues from my US company? I've read there is some minimum investment requirement (like at least $100k) for that visa. Can I use revenues/profits from an active US business to meet those basic requirements?
The E-2 requires a substantial investment by citizens or companies of the same nationality as the applicant so it's possible, if the U.S. company is the same nationality as the applicant, that revenues reinvested into the company could qualify as an investment for E-2 purposes.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for doing the AMA.
Can you clarify because I didn't understand.
> if the U.S. company is the same nationality as the applicant.
Let me give you an example.
If I, a UK citizen and currently residing in the UK. I incorporate a company in the US, a Delaware LLC. That company generates $100k and then is on target to be generating additional revenues for re-investment in the company.
Can this $100k and re-investment be used to petition for an E-2 visa?
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#146Do I have to restart the green card process, if I leave my current company within 6 month after they filed I-140.
Not necessarily. Such a departure could trigger an RFE that would evaluate the approvability of your application when filed and now. But don't do anything until you have spoken with an attorney.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#147F-1 visa, STEM major, graduated, currently on post-completion OPT, employed in the US by a big company. Can I establish an LLC and work (earn money) in addition to my employment?
You should check with your school to confirm but if you are regular OPT, then this should be permissible.
Thank you very much Peter!
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#148Thank you for your time. How hard is it to overcome the Labor Certification requirement these days? For example.. if I have remote worker in Europe that worked in our custom built ERP/CMS system for a year... would my company be able to sponsor said employee on US soil, solely on the fact that they have this unique skills of knowing how to operate custom-built CMS?
Yes, a Labor Certification could work under such circumstances.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe this is handled by the concept of the prevailing wage. I'm not suggesting it is well handled but in theory, you do have to earn at the level or higher dictated by the prevailing wage for your position. If I'm not mistaken, there is an effort to push either this number higher or some other general salary requirement to around $100k/yr. I'm sorry I don't have precise information here. Having prevailing wages…
There is no question that USCIS is more inclined to approve H-1B petitions where the offered wage is above the so-called Level 1 wage, which is the lowest acceptable wage in the DOL wage database.
Not sure what USCIS stands for but I think DOL is Department of Labor.
I did a search here: http://www.flcdatacenter.com/OesQuickResults.aspx?code=15-11...
Which is the Level 1 wage of a computer programmer in Silicon Valley. $55,203... my jaw drops.
Clearly companies in the US are using immigrants for cheap labor. This hurts US workers, and the immigrants are being taken advantage of too. Although to someone from a developing country, that salary might look like a dream.
I'm still pro-immigrant, but we've got to get the base salaries in line with average salaries of local talent.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not a lawyer and I am also interested in the answer. As a developer though I often wonder if there is a lack of talented engineers. It seems like companies want engineers for a big discount. The US immigration system, since it ties you to one employer, seems to be almost indentured servitude. If you get fired you lose your Visa. I am not anti-immigration. But I would like to see immigrant salaries the same as or very…
I think talented foreigner employees will always have higher salaries (on average) because 1. it is a true pain in the ass to move countries, and 2. in some countries that's actually a requirement (like the Netherlands, for example).
Not in the US. My experience is that immigrants, for example from India, are grossly underpaid. This would be for the software engineering area, and I've seen this over a two decade span.