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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

#151

Post by proberts »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #7

Do you see a changing trend in number applications, accepted ones or visa cancellations ?

While U.S. companies continue to hire lots of foreign nationals and while foreign national founders in large numbers continue to try to build businesses in the U.S., the numbers appear to be down. The recent H-1B lottery seems to confirm this. Regarding cancellations/rejections, I would say it's getting harder to get cases approved but our success rate is still high.

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

#152

Post by proberts »

tomtomx4 wrote: post #149

If a married couple on L1 visas both comes in to work in the US and one loses their job - can that person switch to the dependent visa, then back to the L1 visa when they find a job? Would the green card wait be reset then?

The spouse could definitely switch to L-2 but then might lose eligibility for L-1 since the spouse still would need to meet the qualifying foreign employment requirement and the three-year lookback period for qualifying employment abroad would start now, not when they initially transferred to the U.S.

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

#153

Post by proberts »

dian2023 wrote: post #144

As a co-founder (Australian citizen) of a Series A funded software startup, is there an easy decision matrix on whether to apply for an E3 or O1 visa? It seems like I don't fully fit into either category.

E-3s are super quick and easy so this is definitely the first option to explore. But it requires a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in a field related to the job. And being a founder/owner can complicate the process but doesn't automatically mean an E-3 isn't an option. There's no helpful decision matrix. If you'd like, send me your resume and schedule a call and I can tell you which option to pursue.

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

#154

Post by proberts »

VSwiffer wrote: post #142

I applied for a EB1-A in October 2024 and still haven’t heard anything. I’m French with a valid O-2 until October 2027, working in corporate event planning with pharmaceutical companies. Do you think I’ll hear back this year? Is my application compromised with the actual economical and geopolitical context ? Should I plan on trying to extend my O?

Was the EB1A petition filed with premium processing?

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

#155

Post by proberts »

jnsaff2 wrote: post #148

Is there a guideline how much time can one take for moving after getting a green card? Should one count days during the first year to not run into problems or is this more second year and onwards? There does not seem to be much information about this besides very vague statements.

Do you mean getting an immigrant/green card at a U.S. Consulate abroad?

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

#157

Post by aliljet »

proberts wrote: post #72
jjmarr wrote: post #60

How has AI affected your job and what tools are you using? What's an ask you'd make to startups in the legal AI space? Not selling something, but have heard primarily negative sentiments from other lawyers due to hallucination risk.

We're not using AI much at all. We're using it a bit to search and organize documents but not much beyond that. It's almost always a little wrong when responding to immigration-related questions/providing immigration legal advice and a little wrong makes it completely unreliable except as a first step in trying to get answers.

What systems are you actively using? And what systems have you tried? It seems like law, generally, may be hitting a tipping point on LLM use...

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

#160

Post by jnsaff2 »

proberts wrote: post #155
jnsaff2 wrote: post #148

Is there a guideline how much time can one take for moving after getting a green card? Should one count days during the first year to not run into problems or is this more second year and onwards? There does not seem to be much information about this besides very vague statements.

Do you mean getting an immigrant/green card at a U.S. Consulate abroad?

I mean after the initial entry when they stamp the immigrant visa and send you a green card. Is it alright to take 6 to 9 months to getting everything in order in your origin country and getting settled in the US? At some point they will probably start asking questions about why the long absence or are you actually living here etc. Any guidance on how long this actually is or how to mitigate these risks would be helpful.
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