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How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

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How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#1

Post by faikr »

Hi, first time posting here.

I've been thinking about applying to YC but the thing is that I am not a US citizen. I know I can travel to the US to do busines (attending meetings and such) done so fo my current employer. But how about starting a company and writing code?

I've read somewhere that YC has funded startups with non US citizen founders so it should be possible somehow. If there are any YC funded startups founded by non US citizens reading this (or anyone else that knows anything about this), how did you do it?

Note that I do not have a green card or visa or anything like that.

Cheers

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#2

Post by vgurgov »

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here.

Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so.

Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the simples rules to remember when crossing border- and there are many others.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#4

Post by eru »

vgurgov wrote: post #2

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here. Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so. Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the…

Really? It's sound like this would make it possible to work every job, by sub-contracting to your `company'.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#5

Post by arnorhs »

vgurgov wrote: post #2

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here. Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so. Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the…

Everyone can register a company? But you still need a special VISA to work. That's remarkable.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#7

Post by duke_sam »

vgurgov wrote: post #2

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here. Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so. Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the…

There is a visa (It's one of the E visas) for people bringing capital into the states but you it's not a trivial amount and you need to prove that you will employ a certain number of Americans.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#8

Post by davidw »

vgurgov wrote: post #2

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here. Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so. Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the…

Tourist visas are 3 months, and are for tourism, not for working for your company.

I do think that it's possible to register a company, but don't know how that works out for non-US people.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#9

Post by StavrosK »

arnorhs wrote: post #5
vgurgov wrote: post #2

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here. Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so. Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the…

Everyone can register a company? But you still need a special VISA to work. That's remarkable.

Do they accept Mastercard?

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#10

Post by jules »

eru wrote: post #4
vgurgov wrote: post #2

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here. Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so. Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the…

Really? It's sound like this would make it possible to work every job, by sub-contracting to your `company'.

No, he's partially right but the `company` needs to be big and needs to employ US citizens I think.
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