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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

#481

Post by ty6853 »

robomartin wrote: post #479
brailsafe wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard similar accounts, and anecdotally holds up, although my experience travelling for work specifically is limited. Incidentally, as a Canadian, I've been searched many more times, if not 100% of the time, coming back from the states than going in. Security theater in both directions though for sure, just looking for a slip up. Going in to the states, I once had a slightly vague answer about where I was stayin…

> They've got boxes to check. Yup. That's it. And the people running entry and customs at airports around the world are not necessarily the most capable and accomplished among us. I have lots of stories. For example, entering into Mexico (Cancun), there are probably twenty passport check booths. The line for passport checks easily had 500 people in it. Every single agent left their station, with only one left to proc…

Mexico uses passport control almost purely as a jobs program. At the land borders only the largest cities seem to check (like Tijuana), most of them don't even glance at you. The guy at the x-ray machine has been asleep a few times.

For first world entry they just depend on the fact the 1st world country is harsher on security than them so they don't bother. Might be different if you enter from Mexico's south land border.

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

#482

Post by robomartin »

ty6853 wrote: post #481
robomartin wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They've got boxes to check. Yup. That's it. And the people running entry and customs at airports around the world are not necessarily the most capable and accomplished among us. I have lots of stories. For example, entering into Mexico (Cancun), there are probably twenty passport check booths. The line for passport checks easily had 500 people in it. Every single agent left their station, with only one left to proc…

Mexico uses passport control almost purely as a jobs program. At the land borders only the largest cities seem to check (like Tijuana), most of them don't even glance at you. The guy at the x-ray machine has been asleep a few times. For first world entry they just depend on the fact the 1st world country is harsher on security than them so they don't bother. Might be different if you enter from Mexico's south land bo…

Trip to Mexico. Get into the hotel. We bought a few things that had the kind of packaging that is impossible to open. I said "I'll go to the front desk and ask for scissors". Without missing a beat, my daughter pulls out a full size Fiskars pair of scissors from her carry-on luggage and hands them to me. The scissors made it past LAX security theater x-ray machines, etc. Hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Mexican security caught them on the way back, so we had to donate them to Mexico's GDP.

People get worked-up about interactions at airports without fully understanding their context and realities. Just chill, don't argue, don't be an idiot and enjoy the trip.

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

#483

Post by [deleted] »

protocolture wrote: post #377
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…

As early as the last Trump presidency I was seeing people with good opsec doing the following. 1. Backup your device to the cloud (a different cloud than the default if possible) 2. Erase your device 3. Provide your empty / near empty device for inspection. 4. Load the backup after the airport checks. It might be wise to update this with some basic changes, like creating fake accounts that are auto signed in on your…

[deleted]

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

#484

Post by xpl »

argo_cve wrote: post #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 Cong…

Check out this Russian Telegram channel on AP https://t.me/usadminvisaprocessing/1

There are people who file collective mandamus lawsuits, so you might consider joining one of those groups.

However, from what I've seen, it could be a waste of money, as there isn't convincing evidence that it accelerates AP. These lawsuits usually take many months, and AP often resolves "by itself" before the lawsuit reaches a resolution.

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

#485

Post by yeebadoobey »

proberts wrote: post #427
yeebadoobey wrote: post #410

As a student moving to the US for uni and looking to utilize the Stem-OPT to find a job, what advice can you give? Also do some jobs give you any sort of priority in the H1B lottery?

I'm not sure what advice you are looking for but at a minimum make sure that your degree is considered a STEM degree for STEM OPT purposes.

So how strict are immigration when they consider whether your job aligns with your degree?

And is there any way to improve your chances at the H1B lottery considering how low they are?

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

#486

Post by throwaway219450 »

appleaday1 wrote: post #475
throwaway219450 wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference in the US is that it's (comparably) extremely difficult to change status from a temporary visa to a permanent one. Even if you are highly qualified. For example the most common academic visa, the J1, is explicitly a temporary exchange program and you can't have immigrant intent (on application). Most universities won't give out academic H1Bs even though they're cap-free. In most European countries, onc…

Tell me more about Vienna or Austria please, I used to live there for like 3-5 years as a kid,

https://www.migration.gv.at/en/types-of-immigration/permanen...

Lots of info on the government website.

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