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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

#271

Post by jmyeet »

proberts wrote: post #255
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.

Not a lawyer but I went through exactly this route back in the Obama administration so it may have changed. But even then there were questions about whether you could file an I-485 while on what was technically a nonimmigrant intent temporary visa (this includes E3 and TN). There were a lot of people who said it wasn't possible. Those people were wrong.

Here's how I approached it: when my PERM was approved, I immediately went and renewed my E#. This required a trip out of the country. I went back to Australia. My employer was amenable. This was to avoid being out of status or needing a renewal when my I-485 was pending.

One thing to note is that the application for the E-3 doesn't ask you "do you intend to immigrate?". It asks "Have you filed an I-485?" and at that point I could truthfully answer no because I hadn't.

I arrived back in the US and almost immediately filed the I-140 and I-485 concurrently.and applied for EAD and Advanced Parole. Those arrived within a few months.

The only wart was USCIS asked me to file an extra form giving up my diplomatic rights because other E visas are for diplomats. My lawyer said this really wasn't necessary but the best path was simply to give it to them. I think I got my green card after 8 months.

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

#272

Post by creaturemachine »

robomartin wrote: post #221
miotintherain wrote: post #21

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…

"What are you complaining about? Just be white like me."

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

#273

Post by tenacious_tuna »

gus_massa wrote: post #165
klipt wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically the US has not had much "exit control". For example leaving the Schengen area it's obligatory to go through "exit immigration" and get your passport stamped. Leaving the US, you show your passport to the airline, but usually there is no formal immigration check at all.

IIRC, [a long time ago?] you MUST give a piece of paper to a guy/gal near the exit, so they remember to mark your exit in the database. I don't think they check too much, just collect the pieces of papers? (I don't remember the details, but if there was a scary warning if you forget to give it and they forget to update the database.)

This is part of the Canadian border control in my experience; i.e.

- Arrive in Pearson

- go to passport control, scan passport at kiosk, kiosk spits out receipt

- you flash receipt to a border officer at the stairs out of passport control

- go to baggage claim

- get bags

- go to customs

- hand passport with receipt to officer at customs

- welcome to Canada

I haven't had that experience when leaving other countries bound for the US; like GP said, I've had to show my passport to the airline to board, but I believe that's to fulfill the requirement that they made good-faith effort to ensure I'm capable of entering the US.

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

#274

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

jsbg wrote: post #246
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh, arguing over the simple meaning of factual statements on the Internet is my biggest pet peeve. If you don't have an appropriate work visa, permanent residency or citizenship, and you answer yes to the question of "Are you legally authorized to work in the US", you are just a liar, plain and simple.

> If you don't have an appropriate work visa, permanent residency or citizenship Well, TN is none of those, and here I am authorized to work legally. If I apply for another job elsewhere, the honest answer to this question is yes, despite the fact that I will be required to get a new TN.

Why do you think the TN is not a work visa? The US State Department website literally refers to it as "the TN visa", https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employme... :

> The nonimmigrant USMCA Professional (TN) visa allows eligible citizens of Canada and Mexico to work in the United States as USMCA professionals in prearranged professional level business activities for U.S. or foreign employers.

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

#275

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

YZF wrote: post #205
xp84 wrote: 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…

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…

The US State Department literally calls it a visa, I'd trust them before I trust random Internet commenters: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employme...

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

#276

Post by onepremise »

Hey Peter, what are your thoughts on networks states and the methods tech CEOS and VCs are using to push the working class towards Techno feudalism? Do you think Peter Thiel using Palantir to mine US tax payers information, to help drive and target innocent civilians towards their vision, is legal? Should the constitution exist or do we need to be conquered and lead by monarchies? Most importantly, do you believe the supreme court should exist to serve its purpose in our system of checks and balances?

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

#277

Post by proberts »

reposefulcats wrote: post #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 trave…

Almost certainly, even if you did overstay, it's not an issue but for peace of mind, you should speak with an attorney because it sounds like you didn't overstay in a way that would have impacted your H-1B, green card, or citizenship applications. (F-1 students are admitted until D/S - duration of status - so they almost never considered overstays.)

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

#278

Post by proberts »

WaxProlix wrote: post #203

Appreciate the AMA. I'm curious about options for transitioning employees from the temporary (and now at-risk) Uniting for Ukraine parole status to something more stable and long term. Is H1B lottery just going to be a Ukrainian's best bet? A lot of the advice and documentation seems contradictory, as 'parole' seems in some ways to be more a lack of status than a status itself. Leave the country and apply for some ot…

The task is to find another type of work visa, which would require departure at some point but this could be to countries other than Ukraine. For most Ukrainians, the visa options are going to limited to the regular H-1B, the cap-exempt H-1B, and the O-1.

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

#279

Post by maronato »

robomartin wrote: post #221
miotintherain wrote: post #21

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…

You are misinformed.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44006618

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

#280

Post by focusgroup0 »

proberts wrote: post #173
focusgroup0 wrote: post #126

Have a friend who quit his job and overstayed his TN visa during The Pandemic. After going back to Canada for visiting family, his next visit to the US was denied at CBP, and he was given a 10 year entry ban with option to appeal at a facility across the river from Buffalo, NY. What are his options? Is this situation fixable with a new work visa?

A work visa/status won't help. He has to deal with the overstay issue first, which he should be able to fix since presumably his overstay happened because he was unable to travel/depart before his status expired.

thank you good sir, much appreciated
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