Appreciate the AMA! I moved to the US ~5.5 years ago on an H-1B visa. About 3 years ago I got my green card. Around 2 years ago I married a (native-born) US citizen. My understanding is that I am eligible for citizenship on my 3rd wedding anniversary as opposed to having to wait the extra year based on my green card date. I'm guessing there might be some nuance here, but does that seem correct?
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
#272I applied for H1B multiple times without getting it. I ended up getting an L. What is the probability for H1B rejection?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#273A friend is an ESTA holder. At a point of entry, an immigration officer verbally told her that she needs to leave the US within 1 month, even though her ESTA status allowed for a 3-month stay. (She had a return ticket 2 months from the date of entry.) The immigration officer did not write any date (at all) on the stamp in her passport. The ESTA website lists her required departure as 2 months out. Are there any other…
Yes, they record conversations had at the border as notes. I've had previous conversations come up as questions: do I still do X, did I travel to Y. Consistency seems to be important. Maybe they are verifying also one's identity.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#274Hello Peter,
I am a green card holder approaching my 5-year anniversary. I want to apply for US citizenship and have two questions:
1. I changed my job about six months after becoming a permanent resident. I stayed in the same profession (software engineering). Will I encounter any problems during the naturalization process because I changed my job so quickly after getting my green card?
2. My national passport has expired and I don’t really want to renew it. Is having a valid national passport a requirement for US naturalization? I believe I need to bring all current and expired passports to the interview. However, I would not have any current passports.
Thank you.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#275Probably hard to answer but in general what are the tradeoffs between sponsoring non-US-citizen employees to come to the US, versus not and instead simply use a 'global remote' model, that for example the YC company Deel (or even Stripe) enables? Is it more cost effective to continue doing global remote or are there benefits to bringing employees to the US?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#276[deleted]
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#277My impression is that over the past 20 years or so, the visa process has become a lot more bureaucratic, involved, and time consuming. Is that your impression as well? What has changed, and why? Are any of the changes for the better?
My PERM was certified yesterday after 12 months and 2 weeks. That used to take 6 months. I'm now backlogged until October which never used to happen at all to ROW (rest of world excluding India and China) applicants.
It changes over time. My spouses PERM took 4 years.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#278If I want to keep living in Europe but work for a US company, is there some visa work necessary? Do they have to have offices in Europe?
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Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#279From the UK. Put simply: if a (large) US company wants to employ me, will they take care of the visa alongside a job offer? Or is there some preparation that I should do myself before I even start trying to get an offer?
You’d need to apply for a role at the company and then it would be situational and perhaps not immediate.
There’s no easy option that I’m aware about and just getting a US offer and having a US employer to help with immigration does not guarantee much —
You might be eligible for an O-1 if you possess graduate qualifications, publications or meet other options. “Person of Extraordinary Ability” essentially.
You might win the H-1B lottery.
You would not be eligible for an L-1 unless the US company has a subsidiary entity in your country, you work for that as a full-time employee for at least a year before applying, and then you (and your role) meet the bar for Multinational Manager/Exec or Specialized Knowledge Worker.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#280Hello Peter, I am a green card holder approaching my 5-year anniversary. I want to apply for US citizenship and have two questions: 1. I changed my job about six months after becoming a permanent resident. I stayed in the same profession (software engineering). Will I encounter any problems during the naturalization process because I changed my job so quickly after getting my green card? 2. My national passport has e…
Im not proberts, but I can give you a personal anecdote, I changed jobs 4 months after my GC arrived and they didnt ask about it during naturalization. I had 2.5 years total in that job if that matters