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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

#21

Post by MikeTheRocker »

proberts wrote: post #13
MikeTheRocker wrote: post #8

I'm a Canadian applying for a green card under EB-3. My priority date of January 2020 was current, but in March it retrogressed to January 2017. How likely do you think it is I will become current again in October?

That's really tough to say because that date depends on actual filings as well as projections but my personal feeling is that that number will move pretty rapidly in the coming months although I don't think it will be current in October.

The reason I asked October is because historically that's when things become current again due to the new fiscal year starting

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

#23

Post by proberts »

ping_pong wrote: post #15

What effect will country-wide layoffs and subsequent mass unemployment have on H1B and Green Cards? Will they be basically frozen until the economy recovers?

H-1B petitions are still being processed since there's no labor market test associated with these but PERM-based green card applications could be put on hold because a labor market test is central to this process and layoffs by the sponsoring employer can result in the end of this process.

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

#24

Post by gadders »

tschellenbach wrote: post #14
gadders wrote: post #6

Given the large number of people losing their jobs in the US right now, do you think the US should be importing foreign labor?

Part of the foreign labor is creating jobs, not taking them: https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/press-release/almost-44-p...

Some do, definitely.

But that's not why, say, IBM gets 5,000 H1B visa workers a year. It's 99% wage suppression, 1% rare genius/niche skills not available locally.

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

#25

Post by hluska »

Good morning Peter. I don’t have a question, instead I have a fact and some good wishes.

Your AMAs have taught me (a Canadian founder) one heck of a lot over the time you’ve been doing them. Thanks for taking the time to do them, especially now when much of what we called life has been shut down.

Best of health, stay safe and thanks for being so giving!

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

#26

Post by proberts »

onetimeusename wrote: post #22

A friend of mine just lost the H1B visa lottery. She is considering trying to stay to get a master's. Is that a good option right now? Can someone with an H1B visa change their status to try to claim asylum?

There is an option of getting full-time CPT/work authorization through a master's degree program and many F-1 students pursue this if and when they are not selected in the lottery. Whether to do this is a personal decision because there is substantial cost (tuition) associated with this. Moving from H-1B to asylum is generally very difficult unless there has been a change in conditions in the worker's home country.

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

#27

Post by proberts »

hluska wrote: post #25

Good morning Peter. I don’t have a question, instead I have a fact and some good wishes. Your AMAs have taught me (a Canadian founder) one heck of a lot over the time you’ve been doing them. Thanks for taking the time to do them, especially now when much of what we called life has been shut down. Best of health, stay safe and thanks for being so giving!

Thanks for your kind words. Stay safe and healthy as well.

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

#28

Post by proberts »

throw4w4 wrote: post #7

Hi Peter, some US consulates around the world are currently shut down indefinitely. My appointment for an L1 visa interview had been cancelled today, as a matter of fact. Do you have any estiamte when consulate should reopen? Do you see any chance consulates would conduct online interviews at any point, in countries where there are restrictions in place?

I don't think online interviews will be an option and when US Consulates will reopen is really anyone's guess since it will depend on conditions on the ground in that country (as well as corresponding travel restrictions). My personal feeling is that they won't reopen before May, possibly June or even later.

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

#30

Post by proberts »

gwbas1c wrote: post #9

I'm honestly curious about what happens if someone is supposed to leave the US in the next month or so? (For example, if someone's visa is expiring.) What is someone is in quarantine? What if someone has genuine travel challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Depending on their status, there are options to stay in the U.S. beyond the expiration of their authorized period of stay, whether by filing something with USCIS before their status expires (such as a change to or extension of visitor status) or by requesting "satisfactory departure" with CBP. There is also a chance that USCIS will relax or even waive expiration dates for a period of time but that hasn't happened yet.
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