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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

#391

Post by proberts »

embwbam wrote: post #344
proberts wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You definitely should get fact-specific advice from an immigration attorney. Is she looking to live in the U.S. permanently or just work here when there's work?

Great, thanks! She wants to work as a first priority, but staying in the US longer than 6 months would be convenient.

It's going to be tough for her to get a work visa on her own doing what she does. A far-fetched option would be an O-1 through her own company or an E-2 through her own company; the former would require evidence of extraordinary ability in her field and the latter requires an investment by her of $75-100k USD.

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

#392

Post by keepamovin »

proberts wrote: post #383
keepamovin wrote: post #357

If you’re not a US citizen but you’re traveling in the US and you own a US company and you occasionally do a couple hours of work for customers (emails, , but mostly sales are automatic) do you really need to get immigration work permit paperwork like an E3 or something to legally be doing that or is it OK?

It depends on exactly what you do when here but if it's work, then yes, strictly speaking, you need work authorization. (Years ago, this wasn't true and one could travel to the U.S. as a business visitor to conduct business on a limited basis if employed by an entity abroad.) The problem is that such a work visa (the E-3, for example) requires a company in the U.S. to act as the petitioner/employer.

Thank you sir for your very generous donation of your time!

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

#393

Post by adave »

klipt wrote: post #220
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…

> Even a green card holder can be denied re-entry on the basis that they 'abandoned their residency.' If you're actually living in the US and just taking occasional vacations abroad this is extremely unlikely. Where people get caught out is when they're trying to basically snowbird between two countries while still on a green card. In that case it's better to first serve your 6 years in the US to earn citizenship. Th…

That will mean paying taxes and these snowbirds want to skip that.

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

#394

Post by adave »

proberts wrote: post #106
dustedrob wrote: post #60

What's the usual cost for a company to change someone's status from a TN visa to an EB3/EB2 greencard? How long does it usually take?

There are multiple different EB2 and EB3 green card options so the costs and timelines can vary significantly. The timeline also can be impacted by country of birth. Very broadly, the total cost ranges from $10,000 to $25,000 and the timeline ranges from 1 year (EB1 from a country other than India or China) to 15 years (non-EB1s from India). For those not from India or China in the EB2 or EB3 category, the current pr…

EB2/3 are 80+ years for India last I checked, even more if priority date is after 2019.

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

#395

Post by ashconnor »

Scoundreller wrote: post #371
ashconnor wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's totally possible to go from TN to GC but you won't be able to leave the United States from the point you file your I140/I485 until your Advanced Parole document turns up. You also can't get a new TN should you need one.

> you won't be able to leave the United States from the point you file your I140/I485 until your Advanced Parole document turns up How long does this take usually?

8-18 months according to the USCIS website.

I also forgot to mention that you have to wait 91 days from your last entry before filing the I485 to bypass the single-intention of TN.

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

#396

Post by tjs8rj »

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…

[flagged]

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

#397

Post by ecec »

proberts wrote: post #386
ecec wrote: post #263

Hey Peter, thank you so much for doing this! I'm currently a F-1 student in Michigan doing CS major undergrad. In Jan, I had a DUI case with BOC: 0.09, and I just started with the whole court thing. Since I don't have a result yet, will a bad record lead to an eviction of the country or will it lead to a hard time later if I ever want to apply for green card / H1B in the future?

Almost certainly a single incident such as this will have no impact on your current status, the renewal process, or a green card application. This will depend in part on the maximum penalty for the offense and the penalty actually received. But really, I wouldn't worry although you should consult with an immigration attorney on this or have your defense attorney consult with an immigration attorney.

Thank you so much Peter! This is super helpful, I'm feeling more better & secure now :D

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

#398

Post by ecec »

Bnjoroge wrote: post #358
ecec wrote: post #263

Hey Peter, thank you so much for doing this! I'm currently a F-1 student in Michigan doing CS major undergrad. In Jan, I had a DUI case with BOC: 0.09, and I just started with the whole court thing. Since I don't have a result yet, will a bad record lead to an eviction of the country or will it lead to a hard time later if I ever want to apply for green card / H1B in the future?

side question: has that affected your f-1 status in the U.S?(sorry couldn't be helpeful)

Not yet (from my knowledge since I didn't receive emails about this, and I haven't leave the country yet), but I don't know what will happen next.

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

#399

Post by belfthrow »

proberts wrote: post #260
raulpegan wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the response!! How specific is “same or similar”? Say, going from front end web dev to machine learning. Or going from VLSI to full stack web dev. All very similar in that they’re software development heavy, but do have significant differences in the actual field.

Similar within the field of software engineering or software development or even more broadly than that so I see no issue with the examples above.

Hey Peter. I am on an l1a (visa category eb3) when perm was filed.

Just had my 140 submitted and prio date is not yet current for 485. My company said they will apply for a circumstances based ead due to l1 expiry in June 2024.

Is it possible for me to move company 6 months after the 485 filing with the emergency ead for work auth, due to the l not being transferable?

I know there is a 6 month wait on the 485 to trigger ac21, is it worth me doing priority 140 processing or does this not factor in?

Many thanks.

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

#400

Post by bubblethink »

winter_blue wrote: post #346
bubblethink wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. There will be no increase in caps. AOS relief from Congress is also not likely. The executive can take some minor steps in making AOS a bit better depending on interest, but still unlikely. 2. Not happening. Nothing is getting through Congress anyway.

> AOS relief from Congress is also not likely This isn’t right—it would be more accurate to say AOS relief from the GOP is not likely. Democrats nearly passed an amendment as part of the budget bill in 2021, which would have allowed AOS after a 2 year wait ( exempt from EB caps ). The bill was unfortunately blocked by the Parliamentarian: https://www.npr.org/2021/09/19/1038776731/in-a-blow-to-democ... Democratic Sena…

I mean, sure, it may be GOP right now, but big picture, INA was passed in early 90s, and both parties have had their fair share of power over the last 30 years. If they didn't do anything over 30 years, it's hard to pin it on one party.
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