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

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

#41

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:53 PM UTC

javier123454321 wrote: post #31

I have an idea for a startup in which the current company that I am a full-time employee for could be a potential customer. It would be a tool to facilitate some of the workflow that we've had an issue with, but nothing related to the industry in which we operate. We didn't really sign a non-compete or an NDA, but I am very curious if there is some kind of basic guideline for potential conflict of interest in a situa…

It's good that you have flagged this potential issue but I can't advise since that's outside my area; you should consult an employment lawyer.

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

#42

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:54 PM UTC

kelh wrote: post #9

How often do you see bootstrapped founders get an O-1? How much revenue do they typically have before applying?

All the time and there's no explicit revenue or funding requirement. In the O-1 context, the company-related requirements are minimal; it's much more about the applicant's/beneficiary's qualifications.

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

#43

Post by cabronerp » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:56 PM UTC

Hi Peter, thanks for doing this!

We have a co-founder who is from the UK. We are a Delaware company. Is there an easy way for 1/ paying him and 2/ taking SEIS investment from UK investors? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding what an immigration attorney knows about

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

#44

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:56 PM UTC

kubb wrote: post #7

As an EU citizen, what are my chances of being able to get a visa if hired by an American company?

If you are currently employed abroad by a related company, then the L-1 visa might be an option. If you are not, then - assuming that you are not from a country with its own visa, such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Singapore - the potential options are the E-1/E-2, H-1B, and O-1.

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

#45

Post by tvcx » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:57 PM UTC

I’m a citizen of an EU country that meets the Visa Waiver criteria. I’m working for a startup based in the USA. I’m one of the earliest employees, hence a great asset to the company. I’m considering emigrating sometime in the future but I’m unsure what needs to happen to enable it. Is a company-sponsored visa the only option? How inclined are startup founders to sponsor work visas? I’m convinced this is not attainable now, we’ve got a product to build, I’m only speculating for “when we make it”. Separately, how are startup employees treated when it comes to trying to convert the work visa to a green card? The definitions for EB-1, EB-2 are very interpretable. Thank you!

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

#46

Post by synack » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

Any advice for online forum operators regarding the UK Online Safety Act taking effect in March?

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

#47

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

Etheryte wrote: post #19

A few questions regarding the EB-5 visa. Is this still a realistic path to a green card, and if so, how complicated is the process if you want to take the targeted economic area route through a regional center? Do the investments through a regional center usually persist, or in other words, how high is the risk of the underlying business going bankrupt based on real experiences? There's plenty of articles about all o…

The EB-5 is still an option although the process largely depends on the regional center/entity that you are going through and requires that you do real due diligence like you would any major investment. The EB-5 is also an area that at various times has been shut down or delayed because of government concerns about fraud and criminal activity.

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

#48

Post by a2code » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

Will YC and startups be more or less agreeable on remote work? Will the new administration cause changes to remote work?

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

#49

Post by antithesis-nl » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 4:59 PM UTC

Yeah, so, any chance you could do a monthly-or-so post that explains, in legal terms (of course!) why referring to an entire, diverse bunch of people as "H1Bs" (which, as you know, is just a visa class and pretty much, as you also know, the only path to legally entering the US as an immigrant without family ties or, well, the future-Head-Guy-or-one-of-his-cronies fancying you) is, like, a crime against humanity?

Because that has always been a trope amongst HN commenters (a large subset of which is supposed to be future HN founders), and it bothers me. A lot.

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

#50

Post by _iafj » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 5:01 PM UTC

What’s your perspective on when the EB-3 and EB-2 rest-of-world priority dates will move into 2024, considering they haven't changed much since April 2023?