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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

#161
My EB-2 PERM was approved last week. My employer is giving me the choice between concurrent filing of the I-140 (with PP) and I-485, or filing the I-140 with PP and then filing the I-485 upon approval.

Is there any reason not to file concurrently? I'm surprised my employer is giving me the choice because I can't think of a good reason to file separately given that I have no upcoming travel plans.

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

#162
post #111

Hey Peter! I’m considering a move to the US with my current employer in the near/far future. What’s the best way to do so if I want to keep the option of getting permanent residency open? I’m Australian so I’m qualified for an E-3 visa, but as I understand it, it’s only for non immigration intent so applying for any sort of permanent residency would be grounds for it to be revoked. (for context, company is a 1000+ he…

My experience on the credentials: You need a trusted 3rd party to certify that your degree is equivalent. Your lawyer should be able to find the right certifier. e.g. https://www.naces.org

To be clear, the standard for obtaining an equivalency isn't hard to reach whether based on just experience or a combination of education and experience.

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

#163
Hi peter! I'm currently working for an US based startup remotely from south america. Without a formal university degree, but somehow 3-4 years of experience on the field. Is it possible for them to help me get a working visa? I want to ask them in a good way if they could help somehow but I can't seem to get any info I could leverage.

Not wanting a greencard whatsoever, just a temporary working visa, something that lets me travel tbh. I've travelled (pre covid) previously with a J1 visa, and have a couple of friends who usually do H2B but for ski retail industry, and I don't know if any of those would fit my situation right now.

Also, Embassy down here is closed so I can't do my tourism visa (B1/B2) for travelling, and I'd love to get down there this summer.

Is there any way I could get a visa for travelling ? I'd really appreciate a reply.

Thanks!

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

#164

Hi Peter, I'm the CEO of my startup. It's based out of Canada. We're doing about $8K per month from our clients in the US (for the last 1.5 years). I would like to move to the USA. Is the best option an E-1 visa (Treaty Traders Visa). E-2 Visa wouldn't work because I over $100K at risk in the US. Would you recommend I search out for legal council and have them take care of the paperwork or is it straight forward enou…

I definitely would recommend consulting with an attorney to determine the best path and then depending on the path, you may or may not need an attorney to execute. It's hard to tell based on your description but the likely options are the E-2 (or E-1 if the company is involved in trade between the U.S. and Canada), the O-1, and the L-1.

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

#165
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for modifying your question. Still, because this is very fact-specific, I would recommend that you discuss with me or another attorney.

Oh apologies! Can I ask for a small request in that case, can I send you an email with more details about the question and if you happend to be so kind, could you take a look and let me know if you could possibly help me? I'd appreciate it terribly! Thanks so much for doing this important public service.

Of course. That's fine.

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

#166

Hi Peter! How can one start a business while on H1B and later is there any option to convert to a new visa?

It's doable but complicated because of course you can't work for another company unless you are work authorized to do so. This a very fact-specific analysis so you will need to speak with someone but a significant part of the analysis is where the company is in its evolution, just an idea, incorporated, funded, clients, product, etc.?

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

#169

To all the founders (and others who might become founders) hoping to move to the US — please don’t let the Trump administration’s rhetoric on immigration dissuade you from relocating. We need your talent. Your companies help spur economic growth.

Agreed! And I think the IEPP will make a huge difference.

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

#170
Hi Peter, thanks for dropping by!

Quick question: what if my start-up focus on psychedelic research [1]? Will I run into problem with immigration? (Considering that substances like psilocybin is still schedule one)

Or what if my start-up is not about psychedelics but I have written & published books/papers on psychedelic? What about just blog posts?

[1] say similar to ATAI (founded in 2018) that went ipo yesterday

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