Hi Peter, I'm a Canadian on a TN visa (going on second renewal). My partner and I recently got engaged (She is a dual Canadian/USA citizen). We are thinking of staying in the US for the foreseeable future. What's the best way to go about this so that I can get permanent residency? Should I see if my current company is willing to go through the GC process for me or should we go through my partner? Thanks for doing these threads!
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
#152Hi,
My questions are about L-1 visa. My employer is an American LLC, but I work as a freelancer on a projects basis and locate in Belarus. Is it possible to transfer me through L-1 visa? What documents do I need to confirm my previous employer-employee relationship if I acted as an individual entrepreneur during last 2 years?
Does L visa allow my wife to work in the US legally?
Thank you Mr. Roberts in advance
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#153Hey Peter! Thank you tons for your contributions here! I'm an Indian in the US on an H1B visa and working in software. I've also made a product for fun on weekends (which my company knows about and approves of). I was thinking of opening access to it for the world, but as it'll involve substantial costs on (cloud) infrastructure, I'll have to ask people to pay for usage on it. I don't plan to profit from this in any…
I'm no lawyer, but if your intention is to release the project but to cover the costs, it should be possible to set up a 501(c)3 (or partner with one). The organization can charge a fee to cover the costs, and you don't personally need to get paid.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#154Hi Peter, thank you for doing this.
Friend is waiting on employment based GC to arrive. I was wondering if there are any legal limitations of leaving right after the GC arrives. Is there a period for which it is recommended to stay with the company that filed?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
The NVC/immigrant visa process is a disaster unfortunately. Given how long you have been waiting, I definitely would recommend that you or your father contact a local Congressional office to make an inquiry on your behalf.
OK, will do. So I see there could be no guesstimates as to when I might get my GC? Would you please comment on what I ought to know before I hold dual citizenship of US + Canada? Or is that even possible? Thanks again for fielding these questions :)
It's really hard to say because there's such a massive backlog and bottleneck but there's no prohibition against holding both US and Canadian citizenship.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#156Hi Peter, thank you for doing this. Friend is waiting on employment based GC to arrive. I was wondering if there are any legal limitations of leaving right after the GC arrives. Is there a period for which it is recommended to stay with the company that filed?
Really with AC21 allowing those in the green card process to change jobs and "port" their green card applications to a new company, there's just no issue with changing jobs soon after getting a green card.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
OK, will do. So I see there could be no guesstimates as to when I might get my GC? Would you please comment on what I ought to know before I hold dual citizenship of US + Canada? Or is that even possible? Thanks again for fielding these questions :)
It's really hard to say because there's such a massive backlog and bottleneck but there's no prohibition against holding both US and Canadian citizenship.
Thanks so much, Peter.
Honestly appreciate you doing this.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#158Hi Peter, I'm a Canadian on a TN visa (going on second renewal). My partner and I recently got engaged (She is a dual Canadian/USA citizen). We are thinking of staying in the US for the foreseeable future. What's the best way to go about this so that I can get permanent residency? Should I see if my current company is willing to go through the GC process for me or should we go through my partner? Thanks for doing the…
The US-based marriage green card process is really easy and straightforward and the processing time seems to be improving. It's easy enough that you really could handle on your own but because you are in TN status, I would recommend that you at least consult with an attorney before filing.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#159Thanks for doing this AMA! I am a US citizen who would like to start a company with someone in US on H1B. What is the best approach to try and go about this? I know this is a complex topic where details matter. Would really appreciate a general framework for going about this. Thanks!
It's complicated because of the general prohibition against H-1B self-sponsorship/self-employment so I would recommend that you both consult an attorney before establishing the entity.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks. Then this isn't really a US immigration issue since this person will be working remotely/outside the US but more of an employment law/tax law question.
Exactly as mettamage said, so yes, more of an employment/tax law question. Anyone on YC to do a AMA on that? :)
The way I've done this in the past is by registering a company in my home country and billing through that. For the company procuring your services, it's no different than paying for a service like AWS. The company you registered is responsible for paying applicable service taxes for rendered services as well as payroll taxes and other contributions as required by law on behalf of the employee, aka your physical person.
Basically the benefit to the client company is that it lifts the burden of employment/taxation questions from them. The benefit for you is that since you now own a proper company, you have more tools to manage your finances, for example your company could conceivably pay for office expenses, effectively making those purchases pre-tax (as opposed to paying yourself the equivalent amount and being subject to income tax deductions).