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

>This is an abhorrent comment. He is already maxed out in terms of clients and time. He doesn’t need more business.

He's so maxed out that he is spending time here answering questions, so charitable of him. I'm sure he won't follow up on any good leads since he has too much business.

Hi, thanks for doing this. I was working for a tech startup under H1B. I was laid off 1.5 months ago with less than 1 week notice. They didn't say anything about covering transportation costs for me to go back to my country. I think they haven't submitted the request for withdrawal either. (I checked on USCIS). - Is it true that they're legally responsible for paying the transportation costs? Can I accept the money without actually going back (due to Covid)? - Are they also responsible for paying my salary if they "forgot" to submit the withdrawal request? Can I sue them later?

I couldn't find a sponsoring company for H1B transfer. I know I'm out of time. But I have plan B so I'm not worrying about overstaying. Thank you!

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your AMA. I work for one of the big tech and I am a European citizen. We just sent my I-485 forms to USCIS(I-140 approved in pp). According to USCIS, it will take anywhere from 13 to 16 months to get it approved. Per portability rules, I understand that I can switch companies to a similar job after 6 months of I485 pending. However, I have a desire to start my own business, what are my options? Would it be best to stay put until I485 is done?

I work in the immigration industry. Not as a lawyer, but I own a business that is used extensively by both large and small immigration firms (ImmiTranslate).

I will say that some of your characterizations are accurate, and others are not. I've not worked with Peter before so I won't comment on him specifically, but your assertions about law vs. clerical work is spot on. I will add my own input as well.

Immigration attorneys in the US are similar to hacking groups, minus the illegality. Good hackers have their own 0day exploits. Good attorneys have their own techniques for obtaining legal status in the US. Dealing with USCIS/ICE/EOIR/State is akin to bureaucratic hacking. Anticipating what the Government agencies want to see and hear in your petition is their exploit. Finding the appropriate supplementary evidence is their payload.

I don't think your assertion of solo attys vs medium sized firms is accurate. In my experience, solo immigration attorneys focus on the easy to win cases (like K-1 visas and AOS). This segment of the market is diminishing because of the fact that it _is_ mostly clerical work.

Likewise, the big firms are simply too big and expensive to want to approach one-off cases. They deal with the FAANGs and Fortune 500 companies.

For those reading this, consider that everyone has exceptionally complex circumstances that surround their immigration status and legal options here in the US. Obviously Peter cannot comment on it and OP has not shared that much information.

My apologies but I just don't have a good sense of the passage of any major immigration legislation. I've been wrong so many times in past, expecting changes/compromises without anything significat happening.