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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

#61

Post by morpheuskafka »

sovietmudkipz wrote: post #25

Tangentially related Q: in the USA there are “illegal” immigrants who have moved into the country. I worry about human rights abuses against these people. What are the methods available for these people to become citizens if they so wish?

There is not currently any specific "pathway to citizenship" designed for people who are currently in the country illegally. They would have to qualify for a green card on the same basis as anyone else, then apply for citizenship after that.

However, they often are not eligible to do so because of their illegal prescence. If one has been in the US illegally, as an adult, for more than 180 days, they have a three-year ban. After one year it becomes a 10-year ban. This applies to both visiting and immigration. They have to return home (or another country) to serve the ban before getting a visa to return.

One notable exception to this rule is marrying a US citizen, but only if the initial entry was legal (i.e. visa overstay, not border jumping). Being a parent of a US citizen also works, but the child has to be 21 first. Being a parent of a US citizen under 21 has no immigration benefits.

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

#62

Post by pasoevi »

proberts wrote: post #45
PointyDog wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was my path, so it's possible. I dropped out after year two of my degree to join a startup and worked for 10 years in industry. I converted 8 years of that experience to 2 years of a bachelor's degree to make the full 4 required, and had a University professor provide a letter of endorsement. I was applying from Europe, and even then it was apparently a fairly expensive process for my sponsor.

Absolutely correct. The requirement is a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree or it's equivalent which can be a foreign degree or a combination of education and experience (or even just experience) evaluated to be the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree. The rule of thumb is that 3 years of professional experience is the equivalent of 1 year of college education.

Thanks for the clear answer! is proving the years of experience usually difficult? e.g. references from 12 years ago can be hard to get (although I have those 11 years ago myself).

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

#64

Post by proberts »

ogsalman wrote: post #56

I want to raise money from private investors (Angels only) no VCs. What is the easiest way to do that? I have a following/audience that I want to raise money from. Can I do this all through SAFEs? Can you please give me what's the best way to go on about this?

Unfortunately, that's outside my area unless you are asking whether a foreign national can raise money for his or her startup.

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

#65

Post by tiredofspam_k »

I'm currently on a H1B visa with a company. Due to family reasons I intend on going back to my home country and spend some time with family, which means I'll have to quit work. Is it possible to come back to the US, assuming I'm able to secure a job with a company? And will this have to be done before the expiration date of the H1B document?

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

#67

Post by pasoevi »

tehsauce wrote: post #48
PointyDog wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I replied elsewhere - but this was my (successful - now an LPR) path. My lawyer told me you need a 4 year degree equivalent, and 4 years of experience can convert to a year. If you have zero university education, that would be 16 years' experience required, based on that lawyer's legal instruction.

8 years of real experience equated to 2 years of university? That is such a shame.

I don't see 8 => 2. I see 3 => 1 from Peter and 4 => 1 in this answer.

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

#68

Post by codingdave »

proberts wrote: post #52
onetimeusename wrote: post #27

Is a J-1 more likely to be approved than an H-1B? What criteria need to be met to get a J-1 visa approved? I know people working ordinary jobs with these fyi.

The J-1 is not supposed to be used to fill regular positions although the J-1 is sometimes abused by companies. The J-1 is supposed to be for training and career development and the J-1 trainee/intern is supposed to have the intent to return to his or her home country or last place of foreign residence. All that being said, it's generally pretty easy to get a J-1 visa.

I work in a tourist town that only stays operational by bringing in thousands of J-1s each summer, and it honestly looks to me more like trafficking more than a legit use of the J-1 program - housing tied to job status with instant evictions if you lose a job, that kind of thing. I've always felt like the whole program feels sketchy with the way it is used here. Is there a good resource for understanding what is actually legal or not in the context of J-1 workers, so I can know for sure when a company in town crosses the line?

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

#69

Post by ke88y »

tehsauce wrote: post #48
PointyDog wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I replied elsewhere - but this was my (successful - now an LPR) path. My lawyer told me you need a 4 year degree equivalent, and 4 years of experience can convert to a year. If you have zero university education, that would be 16 years' experience required, based on that lawyer's legal instruction.

8 years of real experience equated to 2 years of university? That is such a shame.

This is ridiculous in both directions. In one direction, someone can have 12 months of tech industry experience with more knowledge than a Masters degree holder. In the other direction, it's also possible to have 30 years of real experience in the tech industry without being particularly skilled labor (the apocryphal "three months of experience, repeated a hundred times").

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

#70

Post by Herdinger »

Hi I am not really asking for specific advice (since I know our situation is already not working out to nice…), I just want to highlight how absurd the state of affair is and maybe get some input on that.

My wife is a US citizen and we currently both live in Germany and planed to move at the and of this year. We’ve filed a I130 in November last year and got an initial estimate of it being done right now (7 Months not to bad). But looking further into it it takes at least 15 Months to process this stage of immigration, worst case scenario it could’ve been 50 months (4 year!!!)

This wouldn’t all be to bad but to add insult to injury it looks like I’m effectively barred from entering the US during this period and US customs can even bar me for 5 years from entering the country if I try.

I just feel incredibly sad about the fact that the way to go if you have a sweetheart in the US seems to be to illegally marry on a Tourist entry into the country…

The earliest the US would even respond to our inquiries is in 2024, which is frankly ridiculous.

There doesn’t seem to be any workarounds other than transferring on an L1 Visa between companies that are situated in Germany and the US, every other visa is single intend (i.e illegal if you plan to stay and the US gets to decided if you’re trying to do that)

I don’t understand what the US is scared of, taking their social benefits? Especially since 90% of the I130 are approved, there is no reason it takes that long or needs such rigorous vetting.

Peter if you know any better or disagree please let me know :(

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