I'm wondering what would the differences in terms of difficulty between getting citizenship by finding a start up and getting a green card by working for Microsoft be.
What the startup visa should really look like
31–40 of 48 posts
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#32Did you know a fashion model can easily get a O1 if she has appeared in a few print magazines, but an entrepreneur has to basically have won a noble prize? I could write a book about the issues each of the above visa’s have, but I want to keep this post light as it’s a complicated subject.
Let me quote from the regulations. You need either a Nobel Prize or any three of the following:
Receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor
Membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought which require outstanding achievements, as judged by recognized national or international experts in the field
Published material in professional or major trade publications, newspapers or other major media about the beneficiary and the beneficiary’s work in the field for which classification is sought
Original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field
Authorship of scholarly articles in professional journals or other major media in the field for which classification is sought
A high salary or other remuneration for services as evidenced by contracts or other reliable evidence
Participation on a panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or in a field of specialization allied to that field for which classification is sought
Employment in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation
Now comes the hacking bit: can you map any three of those broadly written requirements to three specific achievements a 23 year old programmer could have within two months of setting out to have them? Empirically, more than a few people can. (I'm constrained about what I can tell you about individual folks.)
e.g. While I'm an American citizen and thus wouldn't have to worry about it (the relevant criteria for my Japanese visa are, obviously, different), I could present a fairly strong case for an O1 visa on the basis of:
1) I have been published in a major CS journal. (ACM reprinted a blog post of mine. Totally counts. I'm pretty sure you can make "Guest posted for Smashing Magazine" into one of your three points, if that seems unlikely.)
2) My salary is high (i.e. "at least as high as a starting grad at Google"), as evidenced by copious paper I could produce on that topic. Not a high bar for any engineer to hit.
3) I judged a hackathon once ("participated on a panel as the judge of work of others..."). (So not kidding. Bureaucracies are state machines. You give them exactly what they ask for and get the published transition.)
etc, etc, etc
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#33Did you know a fashion model can easily get a O1 if she has appeared in a few print magazines, but an entrepreneur has to basically have won a noble prize? I could write a book about the issues each of the above visa’s have, but I want to keep this post light as it’s a complicated subject. Let me quote from the regulations. You need either a Nobel Prize or any three of the following: Receipt of nationally or internat…
The above is very accurate. However, I'll also add that you need either a college degree or a 4 years professional experience for every year of education it replaces to prove your high level of skill.
The salary bit can be difficult, since you're applying as a founder. Not sure how much investors like a very capital-intensive founder, as would be mandated by the law if that's one of the criteria used.
Makes it somewhat more difficult for an 18-year old with multiple exits to qualify.
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#34H-1B has no requirement that no US citizen can be found with the qualifications. This is a common misconception. In fact, H-1B is fairly trivial if you meet the criteria (degree or equivalent). This "no qualified US citizen" requirement is associated with EB-2 and EB-3 PERM applications, which is the first step to an employer sponsored green card process. Also, It is not valid to start a business and pay yourself at…
I believe that while this is technically correct, the labor certification that is needed to go through the H1-B process does require a "no qualified US citizen" proof. However, I'm told that's also fairly trivial to surmount, which is the cause of a lot of angst in the anti-immigration (anti-H1B subgroup) community.
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#35EIR[1] has worked on a temporary solution to resolve this by re-interpreting the laws for L and O making it more startup friendly. This was further confirmed by Doug Rand (from whitehouse) at GAN[2] conference but no ETA on formalization. [1]. http://www.uscis.gov/eir [2]. http://gan.co/
Right, EIR program has been dark since their cancellation of the July webcast of the GA Tech event that was supposed to be the wrap up of their first 90 days.
Anyone hear anything from them since then?
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#36Here's my story. I had H-1b for more than 3 years. I know for sure that I was taking someone's job - there's no doubt about that. When I finally got my green card - I quit the next day to start my own company. Now I create jobs. So it took me 3 years until I could start creating jobs in the US. In my opinion US government should provide incentives for the foreigners to CREATE jobs, not TAKE them. Right now it's exact…
Great story. Want to tell it on www.immigrantexodus.com? We're using it as a platform to seed press to influence the DC debate and advance startup visa.
craig politihacks com (with the usual distribution of at and dot)
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#37H-1B has no requirement that no US citizen can be found with the qualifications. This is a common misconception. In fact, H-1B is fairly trivial if you meet the criteria (degree or equivalent). This "no qualified US citizen" requirement is associated with EB-2 and EB-3 PERM applications, which is the first step to an employer sponsored green card process. Also, It is not valid to start a business and pay yourself at…
I believe that while this is technically correct, the labor certification that is needed to go through the H1-B process does require a "no qualified US citizen" proof. However, I'm told that's also fairly trivial to surmount, which is the cause of a lot of angst in the anti-immigration (anti-H1B subgroup) community.
The H1B is just a work visa - it does not require a labor certification at all.
Turning a H1B into a green card is the process that involves the labor cert.
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#38Did you know a fashion model can easily get a O1 if she has appeared in a few print magazines, but an entrepreneur has to basically have won a noble prize? I could write a book about the issues each of the above visa’s have, but I want to keep this post light as it’s a complicated subject. Let me quote from the regulations. You need either a Nobel Prize or any three of the following: Receipt of nationally or internat…
I want to believe this and internalise it, and make it my road map. I intend on getting a 4-year degree as well as a master's degree.
Do you have any evidence on the state machine-ness of bureaucracies? Anecdotes? How can you substantiate your opinion and example?
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#39EIR[1] has worked on a temporary solution to resolve this by re-interpreting the laws for L and O making it more startup friendly. This was further confirmed by Doug Rand (from whitehouse) at GAN[2] conference but no ETA on formalization. [1]. http://www.uscis.gov/eir [2]. http://gan.co/
Right, EIR program has been dark since their cancellation of the July webcast of the GA Tech event that was supposed to be the wrap up of their first 90 days. Anyone hear anything from them since then?
I got the details from Paul Ford, he is one of my mentors and is on the panel. Also, Doug Rand confirmed this at the GAN conference.
Re: What the startup visa should really look like
#40Did you know a fashion model can easily get a O1 if she has appeared in a few print magazines, but an entrepreneur has to basically have won a noble prize? I could write a book about the issues each of the above visa’s have, but I want to keep this post light as it’s a complicated subject. Let me quote from the regulations. You need either a Nobel Prize or any three of the following: Receipt of nationally or internat…
I want to believe this and internalise it, and make it my road map. I intend on getting a 4-year degree as well as a master's degree. Do you have any evidence on the state machine-ness of bureaucracies? Anecdotes? How can you substantiate your opinion and example?
No one can guarantee anything for you. Achieving 3 of the above criteria will not hurt you and are quite easy to achieve. They will also help you in other ways.
Worry about being great -- (Steve Martin quote is relevant here: "be so good they can't ignore you")