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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

#201

Post by proberts »

onetimeusename wrote: post #190

Is there a way for someone on h1B to start a company in a roundabout way by doing something like placing company shares into a trust and having a unpaid board seat? Is that pushing luck? Not for me but a friend who I had plans to go into business with but we're facing a chicken or egg problem until she gets a green card or changes her visa status.

There are ways for someone in H-1B status to start a company and not in a roundabout way. The approach will depend in part on whether she will leave her current employer and get an H-1B through her startup, stay with her current employment and get a concurrent part-time H-1B through her startup, or just stay with her current employer and somehow work on her startup.

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

#202

Post by RedRaven7 »

fooker wrote: post #157
RedRaven7 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Why is the US an open economic zone Do you know of the fable of a goose that laid a golden egg once a day? You are proposing to kill the goose to see if you can get multiple golden eggs at once. > country with an identity Like it or not, the identity is 'land of opportunities' and not 'land of anglo-saxons who emigrated before ~1850'

[flagged]

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

#203

Post by andsoitis »

tempfile wrote: post #160
mpweiher wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, "no obligation to admit" means they don't have any obligation whatsoever, and that includes doing so for any reason they see fit and not having to disclose those reasons (if any) to you. It is exactly the same as "I don't have to let you in".

No, it isn't. For example, I do not have an obligation to let people into my house. I can choose to let them in or decline them entry. But there are certain preconditions I cannot apply. I cannot, for example, say "you may come into my house only if you murder my neighbour". That's because I'm legally bound not to induce people to commit murder. It would obviously be disingenuous to say this means I have an "obligati…

> But there are certain preconditions I cannot apply. I cannot, for example, say "you may come into my house only if you murder my neighbour".

How is that a relevant argument?

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

#204

Post by USMCAThrowAway »

kethinov wrote: post #27

Suppose you could wave a magic wand and change US immigration law in any way you like. What changes would you make?

Not Peter but would like to spur discussion on positive changes that could be made.

- Paper-free overhaul of the entire immigration system.

- Green Card recapture [0].

- Country of Birth caps abolished for Green Cards. Impossible to justify this as it doesn't serve the intended purpose since AC21 was passed.

- EAD/AP premium processing - so many livelihoods ruined and immigration journeys derailed because people can't get work authorization or cannot travel.

- TD holders granted working rights incident of status same as L2S.

Now for the not-so-popular suggestions...

- Diversity Lottery - there's bipartisan support to cancel the program and it's really hard to justify bringing almost 55k with a min of high school education into the country.

- Removal of F2B, F3, F4 family based categories to move inline with other developed nations immigration systems such as Canada [1].

[0] - https://www.fwd.us/news/green-card-recapture

[1] - https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/se...

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

#205

Post by andsoitis »

immibis wrote: post #152
saradhi wrote: post #7

Could you please help with any insights about the social media vetting rules? This has been a blackbox to the visa applications - started with student visas, now being forced on work visas too from Dec 15th.

Based on news, it seems like if you like Donald Trump you may get in. If you don't like him you don't. You may also be jailed for two months for not liking Trump - that's happened a few times and that's why tourism fell off a cliff.

> You may also be jailed for two months for not liking Trump - that's happened a few times

Do you have a concrete example story that illustrates this?

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

#206

Post by fooker »

RedRaven7 wrote: post #202
fooker wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is the US an open economic zone Do you know of the fable of a goose that laid a golden egg once a day? You are proposing to kill the goose to see if you can get multiple golden eggs at once. > country with an identity Like it or not, the identity is 'land of opportunities' and not 'land of anglo-saxons who emigrated before ~1850'

[flagged]

> America put men on the moon without millions of foreign immigrants

Did you drop out of middle school?

America saw the highest rate of immigration in history between ~1910-1960. A majority of the scientists and engineers in the Apollo program were immigrants or children of immigrants.

> Why is it only ever white nations that are expected to let everyone else in?

They are not, have you considered moving to Russia?

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

#207

Post by mrguyorama »

OptionOfT wrote: post #125
criddell wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can they deny you admission when you are a US citizen?

They can not. Neither US Citizens or Green Card Holders can be denied entry. Sources: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/what-do-when-encounter... https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/know-your-r...

They are not legally entitled to deny you entry.

That doesn't mean they can't deny you entry. It means you might win a court case some day.

ICE cannot legally arrest people who are citizens for no reason, and yet they have done exactly that 30% of the time by their own admission.

"Knowing your rights" is meaningless if the public chooses to vote for people who don't care about those rights, and celebrate when you do not get your rights.

It doesn't matter what the paper says, it matters what CBP feels like doing, and what their management lets them get away with. The constitution is just a magic circle we all agree to play in, and isn't real if enough people disregard it.

If the border agent doesn't want you to come into the country, you are fucked. Nobody's job is to get between that agent and you and ensure the border agent follows the law on the paper, and the border agent will not go to jail or even lose their job for completely ignoring the law.

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

#208

Post by christkv »

miotintherain wrote: post #11

Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA! I work for an American company and I am based in Europe. I visit the US for work every now and then. I heard a lot of horror stories regarding border entries. If I am ever in a situation where the border police asks for access to my personal phone and pin code, what are my options? Can I refuse and what happens then?

I always traveled with a feature phone and a travel laptop with just work stuff on it when going to the us. Nothing personal like email or other stuff on me.

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

#209

Post by proberts »

loxodrome wrote: post #130

Can a US citizen with a foreign spouse bring the spouse to the US on a tourist VISA and adjust status? What if they already filed the i-130 with consular processing?

That could be viewed as fraud at the time of entry under both scenarios. I recommend that you speak with an immigration to come up with a workable plan. Note that if your spouse applies for his or her green card visa (known as an immigrant visa) at a U.S. Consulate, he or she can visit you on a tourist visa for extended periods of time while waiting for the interview at the U.S. Consulate.
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