As an American living abroad who wants to help my international friends I’ve worked with get to the US and into tech jobs could I sponsor them or vouch for them in anyway? One is an Indian citizen the other Turkish but will soon have his German citizenship.
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
#92Hi Peter, thanks so much for doing this! Here is an interesting situation: I live in the US on a J2 visa with my wife being the J1 holder (PhD student at an ivy league). I (German national) founded a startup in my home country and against all my efforts, it's going quite well so far. I'm currently holding the CEO/CTO title. Assume that we'll raise the next funding round (seed) in the US (the market is just superior)…
It looks like you and your wife will have multiple green card paths available to you either through your wife or through you, such as the EB2 national interest waiver path or the EB1 extraordinary ability or outstanding researcher path. Shorter (non green card) paths include the O-1 for both of you and the H-1B for her, among others. The exact paths will require a discussion.
Very helpful, much appreciated. We'll get back to you once our plans become more tangible.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#93Hey Peter, I'm a foreigner residing abroad with an american spouse of 10 years and we have kids holding American Passports. I'm currently working as a contractor for a company in the US, but I'm thinking of moving to the US and applying for the IR1 visa due to family reasons. I am the primary earner of the household. What are my limitations in this case? Can I keep the contract I'm currently in while the visa process…
I'm sure Peter can answer this much better than I can, but just in case: you might want to look into Direct Consular Filing and whether it applies to you https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/direct-consu... https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrat...
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#94Why does the EAD/AP card exist? Let’s say one is on an L1 visa waiting for the GC. Why does the US even bother to issue the EAD?
A very good question! There were historical reasons for it but now it just seems like a way to generate money for the USG.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#95As an American living abroad who wants to help my international friends I’ve worked with get to the US and into tech jobs could I sponsor them or vouch for them in anyway? One is an Indian citizen the other Turkish but will soon have his German citizenship.
Not really. If you had a U.S. company, you might be able to sponsor them.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#96Hi Peter, Current Bio PhD student here. I would like to know more about ~ minimum requirements and costs for applying for an EB2 NIW. Bio papers take a long time to come out, so I would like to know whether I can still apply during the PhD while some of the papers are still in peer review or whether I would have to wait for a postdoc. Thanks for doing this!
Published papers are not a requirement for an EB2 NIW filing; they might help but they're absolutely not required.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#97Hey Peter, I'm a foreigner residing abroad with an american spouse of 10 years and we have kids holding American Passports. I'm currently working as a contractor for a company in the US, but I'm thinking of moving to the US and applying for the IR1 visa due to family reasons. I am the primary earner of the household. What are my limitations in this case? Can I keep the contract I'm currently in while the visa process…
For you to apply for your green card while in the U.S., you need to be in the U.S. in a work visa status, not in a visitor status. Alternatively, you can get your green card outside the U.S. through a U.S. Consulate (known as an "immigrant visa") but that process would take longer 6-18 months (versus 6 months or less if filed in the U.S.). And your employment as a contractor (as well as your and wife's assets) can be used to meet the financial support requirements.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#98Recently there was a thread about whether SaaS pricing information (enterprise plans behind Contact Us form) could be protected under NDA as a trade secret and whether a customer sharing how much they are paying for an enterprise plan would be in trouble or not. Can you share your thoughts? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39980222
Good question but outside my area of expertise.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#99Hi Peter,
My wife is going to pursue her PhD in US in the coming months, and I'm working as part-time remote employee of a US startup, while owning a startup in India. What options do I have, which would allow me to visit her for 1-2 months, without affecting my work?
I've heard B1/B2 holders being questioned during entry after they stayed for a month during previous trips. As I'm not working full time for the US company, I'm not eligible for L1.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#100Is H-1B an option if I don't have a bachelor's degree (never went to university)? I'm currently doing remote contracting for a US company and I'm wondering what my options would be for working in the US
The requirement is a bachelor's degree or higher or its equivalent and equivalent can be based on a combination of education and professional experience or even just professional experience. So the H-1B might be an option for you. Also, an O-1 doesn't require a degree but the standard is higher than (and different from) the H-1B.