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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

#221

Hi Peter, thanks for doing this AMA. I am traveling to the US soon for work from Europe. I have been reading a lot of articles about detentions at US airports and phone checks. My mindset has always been to never give my personal phone for an inspection, but times has changed now and it has been happening a lot more frequently. I am wondering what is the best course of action, prior to travel and if asked to give you…

> I have been reading a lot of articles about detentions at US airports and phone checks.

I travel internationally all the time. I work with companies in China, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Europe and Latin America. Meaning, I know lots of people who travel internationally with great frequency. I have never heard from anyone having any such problems. Ever. Not during this administration nor others. Stop listening to idiots pushing false narratives. It's fear mongering. Not real.

Oddly enough, I have been asked more questions when travelling to Canada (Montreal) over the years than almost anywhere else. Nothing serious, thigs like "Why are you travelling to Canada?", "Where are you staying?", "How long?", "Where do you work?", "What's your website and business email?", "Who are you meeting with?", "What is their contact information?", etc. And, BTW, all of this at the standard entry passport check booth, not a side room.

Of course, it feels intrusive when it happens. I look at it as security theater. Just chill and go through the process. Being stupid about this can ruin your trip in any country. Unless you are a diplomat, you are not important enough to bother with. Picking a fight with entry officials in any country will result in bad things happening to you. Don't be that person.

To the point about security theater: Last year we travelled to Mexico on vacation. When we got to the hotel we bought a few supplies. A couple of the items were sealed the type of plastic packaging that you cannot possibly open with your bare hands or teeth. I said "I'll go to the front desk and see if they can let me use a pair of scissors". Without missing a beat, my daughter pulls out a pair of standard size Fiskars scissors from her luggage. Jaw drop moment. She went through security, full scan, and a pair of scissors made it onto the plane. So, yeah, security theater at its best. BTW, the scissors did not make it through security at the airport in Mexico when returning.

BTW, I have also hired Canadian engineers and we've never had problems. You just have to go through the process, hire and attorney and do it right. Which, BTW, is true anywhere in the world.

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

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I still think that those with student or work visas or green cards should travel internationally. It's just a question of being smart and carrying the right documents. The right documents will vary depending on the status so I can't give a list but I'd recommend having a brief consultation with an attorney. Many like myself won't charge for a 15-minute consultation, which is all that this should take.

What would a green card holder need to carry other than their passport and greencard?

Maybe just proof of residence in the U.S., such as a lease agreement or deed.

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

#223
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I just spent 2 months interviewing and hiring candidates for 4 open (remote) eng positions at a US startup. Answering "Yes" to 1 when you don't have a green card or US citizenship would be a way to guarantee that I would rescind your offer and make a mental note to never trust you. I don't think you should do that. We actually hired some Canadian talent -- we just used an EOR in Canada. The EOR cost us about $600…

> Answering "Yes" to 1 when you don't have a green card or US citizenship would be a way to guarantee that I would rescind your offer This might actually violate EEOC. You would discriminating on the basis on nationality. The question that was asked was "Are you legally authorized to work in the US?" and Canadian have a limited legal right to work in the US under NAFTA.

The question is usually understood to mean "on an ongoing basis" and it's essentially lying. The system may not be correct or kind, but I'd have a lot of trouble trusting someone whose response to "the system isn't fair" is "I'll lie to get around it and achieve the outcome I believe is right" enough to hire him.

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

#224
Hi Peter, I am a naturalized US citizen (via employment sponsored H1B to Green Card route). Prior to obtaining my citizenship I held an F1 visa to complete my PhD, and may have overstayed in the US at the end of my studies (I am not sure, this was 15+ years ago). This was never raised as an issue when I applied for my H1B, Green Card or citizenship, but is it something that could become an issue for me now if I travel as a US citizen and attempt to return to the US? Is there anything I can do proactively to address this if it is likely to be a problem? Thank you.

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

#225
Hi Peter. I am a Lead Computer Vision Engineer, working remotely at Veryfi (YC 17). I am a citizen of Russia, living in Armenia for last 3 years.

We applied to O1 visa, got approval from the USCIS, then got visa stamps and at the day of my flight visas were revoked. Embassy said to reapply - I did and now it's been 11 months of Administrative processing (as they said in the DoS).

My employer tried writing to the Congressman's office couple times, but every time Embassy answers ~"please wait, no timelines". I also filed a DHS Trip complaint and received this statement: "We have made any corrections to records that our inquiries determined were necessary, including, as appropriate, notations that may assist in avoiding incidents of misidentification".

With everything above, we were not able to get any meaningful timelines or figure what's going on. Is there anything we can do to make movement in my case? It's hard to plan your life living like this, so it is very important for me. Thanks!

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

#226
post #168

I'm a Canadian software developer who'd like to join an American startup so naturally I've been applying to a bunch of jobs. More specifically, I'm looking to go with TN visa. In most job applications, I need to answer the two following questions 1) Are you legally authorized to work in the US? and 2) Will you now or in the future require sponsorship? I'm looking for advice on how I should be answering these question…

Hi, I just spent 2 months interviewing and hiring candidates for 4 open (remote) eng positions at a US startup. Answering "Yes" to 1 when you don't have a green card or US citizenship would be a way to guarantee that I would rescind your offer and make a mental note to never trust you. I don't think you should do that. We actually hired some Canadian talent -- we just used an EOR in Canada. The EOR cost us about $600…

> Answering "Yes" to 1 when you don't have a green card or US citizenship would be a way to guarantee that I would rescind your offer and make a mental note to never trust you.

I wouldn't trust you either. The question is ambiguous when it comes to NAFTA and applicants are worried about being filtered out despite not needing visa sponsorship. TN is not a visa it's a status based on a free trade agreement.

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

#227
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Answering "Yes" to 1 when you don't have a green card or US citizenship would be a way to guarantee that I would rescind your offer This might actually violate EEOC. You would discriminating on the basis on nationality. The question that was asked was "Are you legally authorized to work in the US?" and Canadian have a limited legal right to work in the US under NAFTA.

The question is usually understood to mean "on an ongoing basis" and it's essentially lying. The system may not be correct or kind, but I'd have a lot of trouble trusting someone whose response to "the system isn't fair" is "I'll lie to get around it and achieve the outcome I believe is right" enough to hire him.

I could see that, but given that jobs are all at-will it's hard to argue the employer would have any damages for a contract that can be terminated with literally zero notice.

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

#228

I'm a Canadian software developer who'd like to join an American startup so naturally I've been applying to a bunch of jobs. More specifically, I'm looking to go with TN visa. In most job applications, I need to answer the two following questions 1) Are you legally authorized to work in the US? and 2) Will you now or in the future require sponsorship? I'm looking for advice on how I should be answering these question…

Legally, the correct answers are No and Yes.

That's really interesting. Can you expand on why those are the correct answers?

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

#229

I'm a Canadian software developer who'd like to join an American startup so naturally I've been applying to a bunch of jobs. More specifically, I'm looking to go with TN visa. In most job applications, I need to answer the two following questions 1) Are you legally authorized to work in the US? and 2) Will you now or in the future require sponsorship? I'm looking for advice on how I should be answering these question…

Legally, the correct answers are No and Yes.

Can you expand on that? TN does not require sponsorship even though most companies do agree to pay an immigration firm to help the applicant.

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

#230
post #166

Hello! I do have concerns relating to the U.S. so I will put my questions out there. I know somebody who is a U.S. citizen, however they are originally from Perú. They have official citizenship meaning they went through the whole process and gotten those documents. Are they at risk of losing their citizenship and being deported with the current administration's standing on immigration?

> Are they at risk of losing their citizenship and being deported with the current administration's standing on immigration?

No, they are not. I know this kind of thing is being circulated in social and traditional media. It is pure fear mongering and completely disconnected from reality. Stop listening to idiots trying to create FUD.

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