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If they decide to stay in the US after YC, then they have to deal with the nightmare of immigration and get themselves proper work permits.
For those who need a tourist visa to even enter the US, I have no idea.
I hope you will get some good answers. Just a short note: Please do not include HTML-tags in your posts. Thanks!
Sorry for that. Don't know where those html-tags came from.
Does YC consider funding an idea for a startup with non-US resident founders?
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.
Now, contact the US embassy in your country. Get all your paperwork together, set an appointment, pay the fees, and wait. Depending on the country you are coming from can be the difference between success and failure. Each country has quotas and some are filled immediately (Mexico, for example) and some go unmet (Switzerland, because no one ever leaves switzerland)
So do all the paperwork, fill in the envelope and mail it, and wait. That's all you really can do.
Technically on a business tourist visa (forgotten what it is called, but if you are from the right country you just tick a box on your way in) I think you are allowed to attend meetings and tradeshows. From an IT perspective I am pretty sure you are able to do analysis if the aim is then go back to your home country and do development. But I cannot see how a startup can go there and actively start a business (although I guess you could argue it is similar to sitting around a pool on holiday checking a blackberry - big argument, but there is a case there - it isn't like you are an employee of anyone there).
Entering the US is always a bit painful, but I think when you come from a country that they don't have a major overstayer problem with then you are probably OK.
I'd be interested in how people from countries that don't qualify for visa waiver get on.
Okay, first things first. Apply for a greencard. I know it's a long process, it's expensive, and it's very invasive but do this first. People assume they don't qualify and don't even bother asking. But the US still has the highest immigration of all countries, only the UK is a distant 2nd. So obviously, people are getting in everyday. Now, contact the US embassy in your country. Get all your paperwork together, set a…