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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

#251

Post by proberts »

ed153 wrote: post #220

I'm looking to sponsor a family member (brother) to immigrate to the USA, have been told sibling sponsorship takes too long. What is the minimum credible investment one is likly to need in order to apply for an E2 investment visa? What are the most common types of investments the USA government will find credible for approval?

That's correct, it could take at least 10 years through sibling sponsorship. The E-2 visa isn't available to everyone, it depends on the individual's country of citizenship, but if it was available to him, then an investment of $100k could be enough. But definitely consult with an immigration attorney because there are a number of requirements for the E-2 visa.

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

#252

Post by proberts »

qwezxcrty wrote: post #206

For a foreigner living outside of the US but interested in immigrating to the US in the longer term. Is it possible file the I-140, and while the application is being processed (or waiting for the priority date) apply for another nonimmigrant visa (B, F or J) for short term visit? Is it likely the application will be denied because of the "immigration intent" after filing the I-140?

Yes, there is a good chance that the applicant would have an issue getting a non-dual intent visa, such as a B, F, or J visa.

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

#253

Post by sjsdaiuasgdia »

mc32 wrote: post #242
sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mr. Abrego Garcia was declared by a court to not be deportable to El Salvador, yet he was. That is not due process.

He’s a Salvadoran citizen illegally in the US. He gets deported. If you get into Canada or Mexico illegally, barring bribery, you will get deported. No due process is owed you.

You do not understand how laws and courts work.

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

#254

Post by YZF »

xp84 wrote: post #239
YZF wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TN is not a visa and all you need to get this status is a job offer. There's really no work of any specialized nature but some companies do get legal advice to help streamline the process and get better outcomes like reducing the probability that the person would be denied. (EDIT: it is sometimes referred to a visa and sometimes as a status but at any rate as someone who had TN status with two different US startups t…

Brief reading of reddit posts by people who actually did this almost always included that the company's lawyers wrote them letters and prepared packets of materials for them to provide CBP. We don't have any lawyers. We're simply not employing people who don't have green cards. We don't have time or money to play games with the government. One important thing in seeking TN status is that the title of degree matters i…

I agree with you about the dishonesty of saying yes (as I replied in another comment).

That said this is a choice you're making from what sounds like more religious reasons. Your company and your choice but it's not hard to employ TNs in a startup (and I know because I had TN status with two startups so I'm a little ahead of "brief reading of reddit posts").

TN status can also be applied for in advance by the way, doesn't have to be at the border. This wasn't an option when I had TN status but now it is.

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

#255

Post by proberts »

throwe3away wrote: post #153

Thanks for doing this Peter. Quick question. I'm in the US using E-3 visa since July 2024, working as a software engineer for a smallish non-faang company. I am fully remote in the Bay area and there is no office, but technically the company is based in NYC. New hiring for SWEs is outside the US. There haven't been layoffs in the last 12 months and it doesn't seem like there will be. What is the best way for me to pu…

Broadly, an E-3 visa holder can pursue a green card and we sponsor a lot but there are potential issues, most notably, when seeking to renew an E-3 visa while in the green card process. Alternatives to the PERM (labor market test) based green process are the national interest waiver and extraordinary ability paths, which are not tied to a specific job/employer but require a high level of achievement.

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

#256

Post by proberts »

CaveTech wrote: post #197

Are there any difficulties in obtaining TN Visas related to the stage of the sponsor company? More specifically, is it feasible for a Canadian operating startup to open a US entity and employ Canadian engineers under the TN Visa category? This would be an early stage non-VC backed company, but profitable and paying above prevailing market wage.

Yes, what you propose is very doable.

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

#257

Post by 999900000999 »

returningfory2 wrote: post #218
999900000999 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She literally came to coach surf and house sit. The woman is effectively a British nanny who did chores for friends. She doesn't look like a threat to anyone. Maybe your afraid of British nannies baking pies and changing litter boxes, I'm not. Anyway, the proper solution at most is a life time ban and the first flight home.Not indefinite detention. To be burnt, this is a white woman who natively speaks English. If sh…

The German person you link to was attempting to enter the US to work as a tattoo artist which is not allowed under tourist visa programs. I actually think the law should be more flexible and this kind of casual work should be allowed. However the law as it currently stands doesn't allow it and they were "correctly" denied entry. The reason this person wasn't put on a "quick flight home" is because they (along with th…

These are at most trivial civil matters.

The net effect is your talking about putting non criminals in detention facilities rife with human rights violations.

As a hypothetical, if you can visit two countries and one offers the risk of indefinite detainment , which is roughly dependent on how behind the customs officials are on their quotas. Or another country that at most will just send you home, I think most will pick the country that just sends people home.

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

#258

Post by proberts »

hdivider wrote: post #215

Are marriage-based green card applications still being processed at some pace when the petitioner's spouse is also a green card holder? I hear these days this category is ultra slow with no option to expedite.

There are backlogs in this category so the process is slow but once the sponsoring green card spouse becomes a U.S. citizen, the process is fast.

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

#259

Post by proberts »

Zenbit_UX wrote: post #170

When it comes to Canadians working in the US on a TN, are we allowed to accept promotions (title, comp or both) without going through reapproval of our visa? Are there any nuances here like caps on how high a salary increase could be before needing a reassessment? Maybe increases in equity don’t count? Also if the reassessment is denied does your original visa still remain valid or are you risking it all for the prom…

There's a lot more flexibility in the TN context than in the H-1B context so generally it's not an issue to get an inline promotion as long as the core job duties remain the same as or similar to the job duties in the initial application.

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

#260

Post by proberts »

ummonk wrote: post #199

Do you have any insights into how processing times are going to be going forward for legal immigration? USCIS is self-funded but hearing talk that the government seems to want to engage in their cost trimming layoffs anyway?

No real insights other than that the slow-down that was feared hasn't materialized.
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