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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

#271

Post by cromka »

thewinnie wrote: post #121

Hi Peter, I'm a solo founder of software development company in USA. I've been doing everything on B1/B2 visa until goverment told me I spending too much time in USA and they cancelled my visa with recommendations to look for other options. I tried to apply for E2 during covid and it took them almost 6 months to process my case but they declined it with a general reason that they don't see enough evidance to issue E2…

Wait, you created a company in the USA while on B1/B2 visa and they voided your visa because you spent too much time, not because you opened and worked for your own company, something that is typically only possible with a permanent residency?

As someone who was very religious about his H1B in the past and had given up on a couple of simple passive income ideas only because I couldn’t incorporate, I feel a bit… naive.

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

#272

Post by proberts »

impish19 wrote: post #157
proberts wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are other paths but this is a complicated/lengthy/nuanced discussion that requires a call with an immigration attorney.

Surely you can point to some direction about this?

While there are some black lines, what can and can't be done "on the side" is grey and requires a back and forth discussion.

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

#273

Post by proberts »

kingstoned wrote: post #136

For E2 visa: 1. Do they look at whether you paid taxes on the income you invested (how stringent are the requirements for source of investments)? 2. What is the minimum viable investment these days? Could they approve an investment of $50k-$100k for a software business? 3. Can the money your company earned count towards investment or does it all have to be personal income of the founder?

1. Yes, many Consulates will look into the source/basis of the investment. 2. There's no legal minimum but most Consulates want to see an investment of at least $100k with a good portion of that spent by the U.S. business before applying. 3. Generally, no.

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

#274

Post by proberts »

digianarchist wrote: post #165

I'm an L1B visa holder that will be filing I-140, I-765, I-131, I-485 concurrently in the coming months. How soon can I leave my current employer? As soon as the I-140 is approved and the EAD turns up? Assuming that my employer has communicated that they would not withdraw an approved I-140.

What's the basis of the green card application, PERM labor certification or something else?

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

#275

Post by proberts »

root_lib wrote: post #184
proberts wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you a U.S. citizen or permanent resident?

My wife is a U.S. citizen. I am EU citizen. I am currently in Europe, while my wife is in the U.S.

Your job offer in the U.S. won't help. And the U.S. company won't support a nonimmigrant work visa for you?

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

#276

Post by proberts »

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?

The facts matter so it's tough to advise without knowing them all but as general rule, as long as the overstay was for less than 6 months, you should be able to adjust status in the U.S.

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

#277

Post by proberts »

bubblethink wrote: post #233
kabigon wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately we've submitted Service Requests for each of our forms as they are past processing times. Each Service Request was met with a response that boils down to "We know. Wait longer.". We've even submitted Service Requests for a couple Service Requests that went beyond processing times for responses!! Our local fed rep in socal would probably be Katy Porter right?

You can try federal litigation. Litigation attorneys are typically different from other immigration attorneys. There are lawsuits based on unreasonable delay, but it's highly variable and will depend on your individual case. 15 months isn't that long, but there isn't a strict upper bound anyway. The best case in these lawsuits is that the government settles or issues your benefit rendering it moot. It doesn't strictl…

Good point. Mandamus actions - forcing the Government to act - often work in fact and there are some very good attorneys who specialize in this and I'd be happy to refer some to you. We don't handle these types of matters but have worked with several attorneys that do.

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

#279

Post by world2vec »

Hi Peter,

I'm not sure if my situation/questions are under your scope but I appreciate your time and energy on this thread. My fiance is British with an O-1 visa, currently living and working in NYC. She works in fashion, not tech. But I am a tech worker in London (EU citizen) and would love to move in with my fiance of course. Is my understanding correct that even if we marry it wouldn't allow me to legally reside and work in the US? What would be the best approach?

Thanks so much.

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

#280

Post by r-johnv »

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.

Do you know the best way to contact Peter or his firm? Looking them up online I find broken links to the firm website.

I've been looking for an immigration attorney who specializes in EB1A for an early engineer in the startup founding team with a small number of publication ($2 million value). NIW is unfortunately not a good option due to the country backlog.

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