Hi Peter, a European (Hungary) colleague of us visited Iran once and does not receive any Visa (tourist,...) because of that. He does not even receive answers to his renewed applications. Is there anything he can do?
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
#82I'm working on my O1 visa and I'm nervous about my portfolio. I'm a developer with plenty of experience, but never spoke at conferences, blogged, or was public. I hires lawyers for the paperwork, but the publicist they recommended me started doing “articles” that just scream fake. I decided to get my own, real stuff instead. What things are the best from POV of effort/benefit? Open source projects, talks, podcasts, b…
Podcasts, blogs, posts matter little and talks are only marginally helpful. The lowest hanging criteria are essential roles for distinguished organization, high compensation, press, and judging (either serving as a reviewer for an academic journal or conference or serving as a judge at a competition or event, such as a hackathon or startup/business competition). By the way, your gut is right; USCIS is sensitive to fa…
Thank you! What kind of press would I go for? And how would an engineer typically get to the judging roles like these?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#83Do you feel the H1B system denies jobs to Americans or suppresses wages for those with jobs?
> Do you feel the H1B system denies jobs to Americans or suppresses wages for those with jobs? Yes. If you have a problem with that, move to Europe. The US is known for making money. Not for taking care of its citizens.
So zero data give by you to support your view that H1B lowers wages (as usual, because data shatters the fake narrative H1B lowers wages).
So according to you
1. H1B lowers wages,
2. America is known for making money
3. Yet more professionals from Europe want to move to the US than the other way around (as seen in this thread)
Also, despite H1B why are developer salaries higher in the US than in Europe?
https://4dayweek.io/salary/software-engineering-europe-vs-un...
Are European companies exploiting their workers?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#84I am on H1b visa now. I filed my PERM one month ago. According to some people, it takes 1 year and a half to get my PERM approved and it takes another month to get my I-140 approved. But I want to jump ships soon. If I leave my current company, I will have to start everything over again (Prevailing Wage Determination, Labor Market Test, PERM). I feel I'm stuck in this company. What are the things I could do?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#85Thank you for doing this. I don’t know if this is part of your expertise. I am planning of incorporating the holding of my start up in Delaware, the startup is located in Dubai (I am a resident there, German origin, my co-founder US passport holder). As we are planning on targeting US investors we decided to have the holding in Delaware. Now the question is, what are the potential tax implications for a company from the outside incorporating a holding in Delaware. (1) Is the operational business taxable in the US? Is there a threshold? Or would it only play a role once we would potentially sell the company? The feedback we are receiving is not very straightforward. (2) I am aware that my confounder obviously needs to report to the IRS, but would him holding an Us passport also have an impact on the company or this is completely separate?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#86Hello, thank you for hosting this! I'm applying for green card based on marriage. I've prepared i130, i485, i130a, i864, i131, i601, i765, i693. Is there any form/documents I'm missing? Is there any very crucial marriage, financial, or legal status proof that tends to be overlooked by applicants? Thank you!
Unfortunately, I can't provide that advice since I'm not representing you and your wife and don't "own" the case and know all the facts. All I can say generally is that it's important to provide financial documents (such as tax returns and W-2s/1099s), evidence of the bona fides of the marriage, and evidence of past and present immigration status.
Thank you a lot. Were Trump to sign new executive orders regarding immigration today, would that affect the current instructions on USCIS website immediately?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Do you feel the H1B system denies jobs to Americans or suppresses wages for those with jobs? Yes. If you have a problem with that, move to Europe. The US is known for making money. Not for taking care of its citizens.
So zero data give by you to support your view that H1B lowers wages (as usual, because data shatters the fake narrative H1B lowers wages). So according to you 1. H1B lowers wages, 2. America is known for making money 3. Yet more professionals from Europe want to move to the US than the other way around (as seen in this thread) Don't you see how 2 and 3 contradict 1? Also, despite H1B why are developer salaries higher…
> Don't you see how 2 and 3 contradict 1?
Nope.
Because even with the lower H1B wage, it is still 3x higher than Europe.
Europeans know this. Americans know this. And you know this.
> Are European companies exploiting their workers?
Nope.
It just turns out, ambitious Europeans don’t give a shit about work life balance. Hence the desire to move to US.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Hi, I looked at the regional centre-dependent EB5 process but pivoted to the EB5 direct investment route. I have now bootstrapped a single food truck, and we are looking forward to launch it next month. Can such kind of business setup qualify me for O1 instead ? At my day job, I am a software manager in FAANG.
O1 requires you have considerable outstanding achievements [0], such as widely recognized international rewards, being featured in major publications, scholarly articles, or etc. I don't see how a food truck would help you qualify for any of those. Demanding a high salary, which I assume you do at FAANG, would only tick one box, but to qualify you need to tick at least three.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#89Any idea how the executive orders will effect trans people renewing their passports?
A trans friend already changed the gender marker on his passport, and it's expiring in two years. He's deciding whether to renew it ASAP or wait. Any guess how likely it is to come back with the wrong gender marker, or get stuck in a bureaucratic mess?
Thank you so much for doing these! No worries if this question is outside your wheelhouse.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#90How viable is the effort to overturn birthright citizenship?
It's in the Constitution (14th Amendment) I would say extremely unlikely.
I wouldn't. The wording of the 14th Amendment is ambiguous and was arguably misinterpreted by the courts.
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, AND (capitalized for emphasis) subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
If they can get the SCOTUS to reconsider United States v. Wong Kim Ark from 1898 it could go either way - the court is conservative and public sentiment has shifted.