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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

#191

Post by moralestapia »

proberts wrote: post #29
moralestapia wrote: post #23

Hi Peter, Could you shed some light about what kind of profile could apply for (and get) an O1 visa? Specifically, if I have a tech company set up in the US that's pulling some decent revenue, is it worth applying for an O1? What other circumstances come into play against/in favor of this? I've seen a lot of advisors and "influencers" all over the web saying that it's "easy". I don't think that's the case because not…

I wouldn't characterize an O-1 as easy but it's often within reach of talented professionals, particularly founders. At the end of the day, the issue is less about the quality of the evidence - although that matters - and more about the existence of evidence that checks at least 3 boxes/criteria. And now, with the recent public announcements from the Administration, O-1 petitions with an AI component have an even gre…

Thank you, I'll definitely give it a shot.

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

#194

Post by tw600040 »

I am getting conflicting opinions on this, so I will ask. My company has filed a 485 for me (currently on H1) and my wife is a dependent. My wife is currently on O1 and her company wants to file a separate 485 for her (with me as dependent) for backup. But my company's attorneys are telling me that's not recommended and it's better to withdraw one before filing another. Is that so or can 2 485s be filed?

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

#195

Post by BobaFloutist »

Firmwarrior wrote: post #190
wrp wrote: post #147

When a USA citizen meets abroad and wants to marry a non-USA citizen, with the intention of the non-USA citizen pursuing permanent residence in the USA, does it have any effect on the process which country they get married in? I've heard this and similar concerns from employees of multinationals who meet someone while at an overseas branch. They want to do what they can to avoid snags.

I was in this boat back in 2017, and a lawyer working with my FAANG company advised me off the record that our best bet was to visit the USA, and suddenly have a surge of loving feelings and spontaneously get married in a tiny impromptu ceremony. Then apply for a change of status while in the USA. I probably should have listened to her.. I did it the "right" way since I wanted to quit that job anyway. Got married abr…

Yeah what you were recommended lets you kind of "jump the line" (for fiance visas, which take forever), and as long as you consult a lawyer and approach it sensibly it's pretty much risk free.

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

#196

Post by lemiant »

CrunchyJams wrote: post #161

For anyone considering working with Peter, our firm has been a client for 10 years, have sponsored 5-10 green cards and 20+ visas. Peter has been amazing to work with and we've gotten emphatic thank you notes from people we recommended to him.

Worked with peter for 8 years from 3 founders to 300 employees. They are great

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

#197

Post by fgdorais »

temp91223 wrote: post #188

How likely an adjustment of status to H1-B from F-1 be denied due to ~120 days visa overstay that happened over a decade ago?

I'm not the expert here, but AOS only applies when you're currently in the US. Has this person been in the US for over a decade without a valid status?

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

#198

Post by lgkk »

proberts wrote: post #170
lgkk wrote: post #150

Hi. I’m working on early product (no fundraising yet) and my friend is on h1 and cannot work with me due to visa restrictions. Is there any option here so we can work together?

It depends what you mean by work. He or she cannot get paid of course but there's lots that he or she can do with regard to establishing the company, building the product, etc.

Thanks!

If he helps me build the product outside of his regular employment duties, can I give him advisory equity? As you mentioned I cannot pay him.

Thank you again.

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

#199

Post by temp91223 »

fgdorais wrote: post #197
temp91223 wrote: post #188

How likely an adjustment of status to H1-B from F-1 be denied due to ~120 days visa overstay that happened over a decade ago?

I'm not the expert here, but AOS only applies when you're currently in the US. Has this person been in the US for over a decade without a valid status?

Currently in the US. Reentered US again after visa overstay and maintained valid status since then. Current employee is planning to apply for H-1B next year. Although prior overstay length is < 180 days - the worry is still there.

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

#200

Post by 8ytecoder »

efitz wrote: post #163

I have a lot of friends at work that have H1B visas. They try to get green cards but the process drags out often for more than a decade. Why is it so hard for people who want to be here, and who have well paying jobs, to get green cards?

There’s a limit on number of green cards per year. Then there’s a hard limit of 7% of that per country. There’s also a priority system with Family coming first. The combination of three results in a really long wait time for Indians without family (who are citizens) in the US moving on H1B. The current priority date is 2012 if I’m not wrong. It did progress faster during the pandemic but got quickly rolled back. Remember that those who come on H1B are already capped per year.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/v...

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