Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 406 posts

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

#41

Post by gr4vityWall »

I'm a non-American Software Engineer, living outside the US. Me and my girlfriend (who's an American citizen) are seriously considering marrying and moving together next year.

Any advice or anything you recommend reading? Also, how long it typically would take until I was able to legally have a job in the US, once I move?

I have a tourist visa and traveled to the States countless times. If I go there with the intent of getting married, do I need a special visa or not, considering I can already enter legally?

Thank you for your time.

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

#43

Post by tombert »

proberts wrote: post #36
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #27

How are you thinking about the potential effects of a second Trump administration on immigration and how it might affect tech companies?

There's a lot to worry about but to keep the worry/analysis grounded, I think it makes sense to review what his administration did last time. And most of the damage was done to those who were illegal or seeking asylum or were from certain countries and seeking to travel to the U.S. It was awful and very disruptive to the lives of many. On the legal business immigration side, the main damage was the result of changes…

Is there any reason to think that Trump will ramp things up if he gets a second term? Particularly since the Supreme Court is so thoroughly conservative now?

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

#45

Post by TZubiri »

Remote workers are clearly a gray area in immigration law. On the one hand if the worker lives abroad and imports products and related support services to the US, that's clearly not a migrant worker.

On the other hand, if a remote worker is a virtual receptionist for a US business, or if the worker controls machinery remotely that operates in the states, they clearly compete with local labour, and bring cybersecurity issues.

As an attorney with power to interpret and shape case law, do you think there is any grounds to require visas for some types of private remote work, given the current laws? Or would this be a matter that needs to go through congress.

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

#46

Post by eapotapov »

Many Russian citizens who have moved out of Russia are currently being denied B1/B2 visas, regardless of their prior history or any proof of ties to their current country of residence. The rejection rate is around 60%, and I am among those affected under 214(b), despite having held five B1/B2 visas before, with no visa overstays or other issues.

I don't plan to move to the US, but my startup operates in the US market, and it would be beneficial if I could meet customers and investors in person.

I plan to apply again next spring (a year after the denial), and if I’m unsuccessful, I’m considering applying for an O1 visa to be able to visit the US, although I have no intention of staying long-term. Do you think this is a good idea? I’m concerned that after the O1 visa expires, my only option to return might be to apply for another work visa or O1 visa.

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

#48

Post by proberts »

abixb wrote: post #32

What has been -- in your personal experience as well as in the experience of some of your lawyer colleagues -- some of the 'hardest' cases wrt employment authorization for US-based startups and YC? And why? Also, how are you anticipating the immigration landscape to change especially if President Donald Trump returns to the White House in January 2025? I'm asking this in the context of the 2017-2021 Trump administrat…

Those who are in YC and who previously were in YC almost always can get work authorization, whether it's an O-1, E-2, H-1B, or country-specific visa. Relatively speaking, the harder cases are those involving those who don't have at least a bachelor's degree. While lots of experience sometimes can fix this, not always, which means that an O-1 visa is usually the only option. Regarding the impact of a change in administration, I just touched on this in response to another question/comment.

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

#49

Post by gangstead »

One idea to replace the H1-B lottery that I've seen on HN is to sort the applications by salary and let in the top XX highest paid.

Do you have any thoughts on that? Is this one of those "why don't they just..." type of ideas that people with first hand knowledge know is majorly flawed?

Post reply on HN