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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

#201

Post by zolombot »

Hi Peter, here is the summary of the situation:

- The person has been a GC holder for a little over 2 years now and has not been out of the US for over 10 years for any significant period of time.

- The person has recently left the previous company that sponsored her GC (big enterprise) after 8 years there in order to join international remote-only startup that is expected to have US presence in about a year.

- The person is not an employee of the startup directly, but rather has a US-based corporation that is providing consulting services to the startup and she is the single share-holder and employee of the corporation. Her position in the startup is in the same field as GC application.

- The person is travelling around the world, while still staying in the US for 6 months per year or more.

- The person is considering purchasing one of the "golden visas" (real estate or business investment similar to EB5) in a foreign country that is different from startup domicile where the person is not planning to reside or stay. This investment program makes her eligible for the foreign passport in 5-10 years even if she is not residing in that country.

The questions is whether you think that either of the last 3 items (providing consulting services to company in foreign country through US-based corporation, travelling, or applying to "golden visa" program in other countries) would affect her GC status or US naturalization application in 2.5 years.

Thank you very much for your help!

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

#202

Post by adventured »

lwansbrough wrote: post #175

Hi there Peter, I'm a Canadian citizen currently residing in Canada. I would like to incorporate a US startup (Delaware C Corp I guess.) I don't have any familial ties to the US, but my business partner is a US citizen. What are my options for incorporation in the US? And what considerations should I be concerning myself with? I would have controlling ownership of the company ideally. Thanks for your time!

Not Peter obviously. You do not have to be a US citizen to start a corporation in the US, or to be the controlling shareholder. You can incorporate the business from outside the country. No need to have pre-existing ties to the US, and you don't even need a US business partner (could be helpful to have someone in the country however). You do not need a US address either, to form the corporation.

If I'm not mistaken, Stripe Atlas does some or all of what you're looking for:

https://stripe.com/atlas

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

#203

Post by tempthrowacd »

Thank you for doing this.

I am from Indian working on H1B. I got my i140 approved in April 2018. I completed 6 years on H1B and extension is in process. Given the situation in US, I would like to go back to India.

If I do this, will I be able to use the i140 at a later point, for example 3 years from now to apply for an h1b extension? Will the i140 itself be valid if I resign from my employer and go back to India?

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

#204

Post by throwaway9867 »

proberts wrote: post #131
throwaway9867 wrote: post #21

I really want to move to the US, it's one of the only things I'm sure I want to do with my life at the moment. But, I have no idea what the best/viable routes to take are. If I was prepared to do (pretty much) anything, What do you think would be the easiest way to immigrate to the US?

My answer will depend in part on where you are from and your background but the short answer is work for a large global company and then after one year seek to transfer to the U.S. on an L-1 visa.

Thank you!

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

#207

Post by tony101 »

Hi Peter. What are your thoughts on the government counting derivatives of employment-based green card applicants against the per-country and overall quotas, thus worsening the current visa backlogs? There are opinion articles that argue the government's interpretation of the law is wrong and could be challenged[1]; I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this issue. Thank you!

[1] https://www.cato.org/blog/proof-government-cheating-legal-im...

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

#210

Post by outworlder »

Hi Peter,

I am currently on a L1B Visa, company wants to sponsor the green card process. As part of the initial process, they asked my manager for a list of skills that I possess, and to me they asked me to fill in how I got those skills and how to verify them (diplomas, letters from employers, etc).

I have picked plenty of those when I had my own company and also on my own, but apparently this is usually not admissible. They want some verification letters from previous employers, on company letterhead. I can get it from one of my previous employers, but it is unlikely to be able to verify all skills. A couple of companies I worked for are not even in business anymore.

What would you suggest would be the best course of action in this case? There is a possibility of getting a H1B Visa too, would that change anything?

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