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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

#71

Post by Etheryte »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #55
proberts wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are within your rights to say no but if you say no, almost certainly CBP will assume that you are hiding something and deny you admission.

[flagged]

There are many contexts where this comment would apply, but border crossing is not one of them. If you're a foreigner trying to enter another country, then by definition you have less rights than natives.

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

#72

Post by proberts »

poki89 wrote: post #10

My H-1B with my current employer expires on Jan 10, 2026 and can’t be extended because I don’t have an I-140. Another startup plans to file my O-1A at the end of December. Can I remain in the U.S. while the O-1A petition is pending?

The regulations and long-standing USCIS policy and practice support remaining in valid status in the U.S. after January 10th as long as the O-1 petition is filed before January 10th. But we are hearing stories of USCIS starting to take a different view and treating someone in that situation as out of status even though the O-1 change of status petition is pending and was timely filed.

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

#74

Post by proberts »

figmert wrote: post #32

How serious is/was this whole $100k for H1-B applications? How has this impacted the hiring process?

The subsequent clarifications has significantly lessened the impact since it only applies to those who are the beneficiary of H-1B petitions filed with a request for consular notification rather than with a request to change or extend status. So it has impacted the ability to get H-1Bs for those outside the U.S. but that was always a small number.

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

#75

Post by garbawarb »

proberts wrote: post #54
garbawarb wrote: post #29

A question about TN status for a Canadian living in the US. There are some income-generating things I'd like to do outside of my work visa (play a music gig, upload music to Spotify, act in a movie). My understanding is that I can't do these things in the US. Am I able to do these things if I do them outside of the country, or is there any way to make them work? For example, if I went to Canada, recorded an album, up…

Yes, if the activity occurs while you are outside U.S., then you can get paid for it without having to have U.S. work authorization to do it. So, yes, recording an album while outside is fine but it becomes a little more complicated if you are now getting paid for downloads while you are in the U.S.

While I'm inside the US, can I perform work for non-US entities? For example, remotely teaching a music lesson do someone in a different country or writing a book and publishing it abroad but not in the US.

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

#77

Post by proberts »

constructive wrote: post #2

Hi Peter, thanks for doing the AMA! I have a Delaware registered LLC (10 years old), I managed to get even an EIN remotely. However, I can't open a bank account remotely and so I have just been paying the registered agent fees and Delaware gov taxes for the LLC all these years. I however, genuinely want to come to the states to open the bank account and actually expand my business into the US. The LLC hasn't really h…

It's going to be difficult to answer this in this forum because really what you are asking is how can you get a B-1/B-2 visa because the existence of a non-operating LLC really has no bearing on that question.

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

#79

Post by fencepost »

garbawarb wrote: post #39
barbazoo wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got no answer but it sounds really fun what you’re planning to do :)

It's no fun if you legally can't do it...

Just remember, if you want to put your content on youtube be sure you're demonetized by cursing up a storm.

(not real advice. I think.)

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

#80

Post by proberts »

rathboma wrote: post #20

Thanks for answering questions! Do you think H1B visa holders looking to move to a Green Card (in coordination with their employer) should be concerned about rejected applications or other issues?

There is no issue specific to those in H-1B status impacting the ability to get a green card but I would say that it's getting tougher to get green cards in general, particularly through the National Interest Waiver and Extraordinary Ability routes.
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