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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
71–80 of 318 posts
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#72Whats the best path forward for a h1b solopreneur who wants to gain some traction on the side project before quitting their full time job and going all in on an idea? Keep going and get into an accelerator and apply for an o1? Or are there new paths with the entrepreneurial parole program?
There are other paths but this is a complicated/lengthy/nuanced discussion that requires a call with an immigration attorney.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#73For people running a small business that is remote/can be done anywhere (a small SaaS company for example). What are their options for operating in the US? To give a specific example. An indiehacker runs their own business, and wants to move to the US, potentially with the view of trying to become a citizen at some point. They have plenty of income, don't need a job/so don't really have a visa sponsor etc. What steps…
While physically in the U.S., with very limited exceptions, a foreign national must have some form of U.S. work authorization to engage in revenue-generating activities, even if those activities are remote/virtual or occurring in another country. The default options, depending on the individual's country of citizenship (excluding those from Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Singapore, who have their own work visa…
An interesting exercise for the reader is to look up I-9 authorization, or lack thereof, checks for 1099 workers.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#74Hi Peter, Would love your thoughts on the recent EO on AI and it's possible impact on immigration.
I think the impact will be huge; it gives USCIS officer the green light when reviewing applications where there's a scientific/AI component involved.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#75Do you find that northern-european immigrants end up happy after immigration to the US, given the circumstances which you meet them in? The US is quite a different social environment, while still also being quite similar to northern europe in many ways. Certainly "your field" per se, but if you follow up on clients I figured you might have a better clue than most.
Probably not something Peter can answer.. but I'm from northern europe and yes, I'm happy here and would never want to go back.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#76If you had a magic wand for Congress to do something to support immigration for entrepreneurs, what would you have them do?
Really get behind the IEP program and start to review and approve good faith solid applications (those that are likely to generate jobs).
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#77Should my wife and I get an attorney? She has been waiting almost 15 months for GC, marriage-based. We sent in everything all at once, work permit/travel/adjustment of status. We're thinking about even mailing Katy Porter. She's from Canada, we provided plenty of proof, we did everything right and still nothing! She's desperate to just start working..as it is right now she's pretty bored just playing video games at home all day.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#78How has the immigration law situation changed in the past 10 years? Have things become easier (doubt it), harder, or much harder, to work in the US? If I had to guess from what I've heard secondhand, I would say harder.
I think it's harder now than it was 10 years ago but not that much harder to get authorization to work in the U.S. The changes are really very specific to specific visa types and processes.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#79What the heck is going on where in the past three years we've had more people entering the country illegally than the entire population of 22 states, yet my extremely qualified friend from the UK (who will work in tech and pay taxes) finds it absolutely impossible to emigrate here? He'd need a big tech company to enter that visa lottery for $10k an attempt, it sounds like.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#80Hi Peter, could frequent US visits (B2 visa, once every few weeks) affect the L1 visa process at all?
Only that that time doesn't count toward the one year of qualifying employment abroad and that a Consular officer might question what this individual was doing in the U.S. - that is, whether this individual was working without authorization.