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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

#181

Post by afr0ck »

proberts wrote: post #123
afr0ck wrote: post #105

I am an Algerian citizen who is currently doing PhD studies in computer science in the UK. My area is systems and computer architecture. The job market in the UK in my area is very slim I can't find the type of jobs I would like to do. That's the reason for me why I want to move to the US. What are the possible routes that I can possibly take to immigrate to the US?

Unless you have U.S. citizen relatives, the path to the U.S. usually requires sponsorship by a U.S. company. The good news is that many with PhDs qualify for the O-1 visa, which avoids the whole H-1B lottery mess. You also could do a post-doc in the U.S. (typically on a J-1 visa) and then convert this to a longer term work visa or even green card.

Very insightful! Thanks very very much Peter!

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

#182

Post by Maciek416 »

astromeson wrote: post #175

I am very interested in developing a tech career in the US. I have roughly 5 years of industrial experience and my bachelor degree is in physics. I am currently working as a software engineer in the UK (I'm from Hong Kong) for the past 2 years and am actively considering the following: 1. Getting a Masters degree in US then work in US with STEM OPT and apply for Green Card through employer; or 2. Moving to Canada, be…

I am not an immigration lawyer. Something you should be aware of is that when applying for a green card, your status as a Canadian (whether permanent resident or citizen) or as a Brit (ditto) is completely irrelevant. The green card process sees your application solely through the lens of your birth country. The GC backlog for Chinese-born people is very lengthy. So lengthy that it tests the longevity of a visa or a set of visas -- it's not a marathon you want to still be running 15 to 20 years from now.

For that reason, if your goal is ultimately the US, focus on the US, because you will otherwise be adding _many_ years to the process.

One very notable asterisk to the above: If, while applying for a GC, your spouse is from a no-backlog country (born in Canada, UK, or other no-backlog countries), then your application can essentially adopt that country as the birth country, and you can get through the GC process in a relatively short time (all other things equal).

From your perspective "good timing for a green card application" is ASA-F'ing-P.

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

#183

Post by causi »

winter_blue wrote: post #170

What do you think are the odds of any sort of legal[1][2] immigration reform passing Congress in the near future? [1] Whether that's raising the EB cap (or exempting one from the EB limit & allowing AOS after 2 years of waiting). [2] Delegating legal immigration control partially to the states (e.g. states being able to issue EB IVs or work NIVs beyond federal caps), since something like that might be more palatable…

since something that might be more palatable to some parts of the Republican party,

Quite unlikely. The line would be "California will just let everybody in and send 'em to our state!"

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

#185

Post by Maciek416 »

arcticbull wrote: post #177
Maciek416 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much like the other commenter, I learned to never ever do any of this stuff (ordinary travel or renewals) via land crossings. You can have a major trajectory change to your life on the whims of a border guard who is just having a bad day even if all of your ducks are lined up and perfectly documented by a large multinational. Bend over backwards to avoid land crossings until you can secure yourself a greencard.

It doesn't really matter which crossing, IME, you may always encounter a power-tripping officer, and officers at each kind of entry port have the same power. I've been waved through no questions asked at land crossings, pulled into secondary and interviewed by 6 officers in pairs of 2 at an air crossing - and vice versa. Ultimately, admission is at the discretion of the officers unless you're a citizen. Even a green…

Understood -- the big multinational I was working for employed an immigration law firm that tracked many such crossings, and they practically begged me not to try crossing by land based on their statistics (which suggested a higher probability of trouble in land crossings). I joined that statistic and learned to never take any chances with any part of this.

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

#186

Post by arcticbull »

Maciek416 wrote: post #185
arcticbull wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't really matter which crossing, IME, you may always encounter a power-tripping officer, and officers at each kind of entry port have the same power. I've been waved through no questions asked at land crossings, pulled into secondary and interviewed by 6 officers in pairs of 2 at an air crossing - and vice versa. Ultimately, admission is at the discretion of the officers unless you're a citizen. Even a green…

Understood -- the big multinational I was working for employed an immigration law firm that tracked many such crossings, and they practically begged me not to try crossing by land based on their statistics (which suggested a higher probability of trouble in land crossings). I joined that statistic and learned to never take any chances with any part of this.

Very interesting, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!

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

#187

Post by injb »

0ct4via wrote: post #160
injb wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. I'm asking how it would help you to become an immigrant (the original question).

You could've restated your original question without the condescending first sentence, GP obviously didn't know that, so the derision is wholly unnecessary.

OK I edited and removed the first sentence. Apologies if I sounded condescending.
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