Hi Peter thanks you for doing this. On an H1B here. I have a job offer where the company's lawyers have confirmed that it would be safe to start once they send the H1B transfer and receive the FedEx receipt that it got to the USCIS. What are your thoughts?
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
#82I have my DACA expiring next year in late 2019. Since it has been cancelled and can't be renewed, do I pretty much have no option but to leave the U.S. next year?
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#83Question for the admins (dang and sctb). This seems like an attorney trolling for work a few times per year. https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts Note other AMA's which are typically different: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%22AMA%20%22&sort=byPopularity... Is this allowed because the poster 'does work for YC' meaning if another attorney did the same thing on a regular basis it would get flagged?
No, no! Peter has been kind enough to lend his time (again and again) to the Hacker News community at our request. We appreciate you looking out for good behavior around here and I can tell you that this is extra-good.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#84Hi Peter, I used up 6 years of my h1b on Dec 2nd 2018 and it has already been renewed again for the next 3 years until October 2021. Let’s say I leave the US for 2 years and come back before October 2021 to a US employer willing to renew my H1B. Will I retain my current H1B or do I need to go through the lottery system again? I also have an approved I 140 with priority date of March 2017. I have received conflicting…
You've received conflicting feedback because the answer isn't clear unfortunately. The concern is this: that if 6 years have elapsed since you were initially granted H-1B status and you are outside the U.S. for at least one year, USCIS will consider you subject to the lottery if you are sponsored again for H-1B classification. That being said, recently we had a couple of cases where these facts applied and USCIS still approved the new H-1B petitions without requiring the employers to go through the lottery.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#85I have my DACA expiring next year in late 2019. Since it has been cancelled and can't be renewed, do I pretty much have no option but to leave the U.S. next year?
It can be renewed. There's information about this on the USCIS web site.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#86Hi Peter! How suited do you think the TN visa is for joining early stage startups? I feel like being in that space can involve switching companies more often than usual because of the failure risk. Is it risky to apply for a TN visa each time? Say you change jobs at most once a year.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#87Hi Peter. I have a uwaterloo math degree (pure math & stats double major). 3 years of exp as an eng.
I heard about recent increased scrutiny for Tn and H1b for software engineering + math degree (comp systems analyst job designation).
Will I have a higher chance of RFE / Denial if I go down this path?
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#88Hi Peter thanks you for doing this. On an H1B here. I have a job offer where the company's lawyers have confirmed that it would be safe to start once they send the H1B transfer and receive the FedEx receipt that it got to the USCIS. What are your thoughts?
Legally, that's correct and if it's a strong H-1B petition, then it probably makes sense since the alternative is probably to lose the job offer because of the delayed processing. But confirm with the lawyers that they think that it's a strong H-1B petition.
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#89I am a PhD student (on F1-visa), who's more or less been offered a decent Post-doctoral fellowship in UK immediately after gradschool. What are the implications of this if I want to return to the US for either an industry or academic position? I know that I'd be giving up the OPT option if I accept the fellowship.
I was a Brit doing PhD in USA and did exactly this (except I was on J1 for grad school), and then returned to USA for an industry position on H1B and subsequently green card and it was all fine (latter stages with help of Peter and his colleagues as it happens).
Re: I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#90Hi Peter, I used up 6 years of my h1b on Dec 2nd 2018 and it has already been renewed again for the next 3 years until October 2021. Let’s say I leave the US for 2 years and come back before October 2021 to a US employer willing to renew my H1B. Will I retain my current H1B or do I need to go through the lottery system again? I also have an approved I 140 with priority date of March 2017. I have received conflicting…
You've received conflicting feedback because the answer isn't clear unfortunately. The concern is this: that if 6 years have elapsed since you were initially granted H-1B status and you are outside the U.S. for at least one year, USCIS will consider you subject to the lottery if you are sponsored again for H-1B classification. That being said, recently we had a couple of cases where these facts applied and USCIS stil…
I appreciate the quick response Peter, thanks !