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The Founder Visa (again)
141–150 of 198 posts
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#142The system is so screwy. We have 50,000 visas a year given out in a lottery system to any high school graduate without a criminal record from any country except the 19 that send the most immigrants annually. 65,000 visas for brothers and sisters of US Citizens. No limit at all on spouse, minor children, and parents of US citizens 21 or older.
But only 41,000 professionals holding advanced degrees with job offers and labor certifications, of which no more than 2900 can be from any one country.
I'm all for more total immigration, but if we are going to have the status quo totals I'd much rather more EB-2s and fewer FB-4s, DVs, or even FB-IRs.
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#143I wonder how many of the negative commenters on this thread are either citizens or permanent residents. I don't see why a techie who is not yet a citizen or permanent resident of US, and wants to be one, would be so negative about this proposal.
At worst this can lead to a few lucky immigrant founders who get free visas, but at best, this can do a lot of good to the country in terms of creating new jobs, and to the startup ecosystem (and to YC -- so what!).
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#144As somebody who fought for a year to get an O1 visa (and an EB-1 green card, though that didn't quite work out), I can attest to the fact that the problem is not that it is an investor vs. a government official that is deciding whether one meets the criteria, but with the criteria themselves. I had a top-notch immigration attorney, and a solid case. I was the first employee of a company that now employs north of a hu…
Your lawyer chose the wrong visa for you
O-1 visas were specifically created for entertainers and athletes at first. It wasn't meant for business. It was later extended to include Nobel prize winners and other academics during Cold War to compete with Russia's science program (and collect refugees from those able to escape) aka. O-2.
And then finally, it was opened to include business and finance individuals aka. O-3. However, the original intent of the visa was never for that case.
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hate to break it to you, but you clearly did not have a top-notch immigration attorney if they advised you that a O1 visa was the best visa for your circumstances. The O1 is intended for people who are the top of their fields; not just those that are good. It's for people like Yao Ming (sports) or Lupita_Nyong'o (arts) that we want to steal from other countries. There were other visas that were more appropriate for…
I'm not sure if I agree with you. I'm not an immigration lawyer nor an immigration expert, so this is all anecdotal: I know a handful of startup founders, who were most certainly not at the top of their fields get O1 visas with the help of their top-top-tier investors / other things I'm not aware of (maybe speaking at second-rate conferences?). These were early stage startups that did not have much traction yet. Whil…
They can do it using O-3 visa, its the same classification as an O-1 but of a different type. Assuming they incorporated the startup, and then immediately received funding and started visa process (in that order) they can use percentage points (from zero to +++ whatever investment they received) as part of their case. USCIS is more interested in profit/revenue than any other metric.
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#146A little tongue-in-cheek, but to co-opt some general immigration/visa catch phrases: 1. Why do we need to bring in immigrants to found companies? Do we have a shortage of Americans already here who also want to start companies? 2. Or, is Start-up Founder one of those jobs, like picking cabbage, that Americans "just won't do"? 3. Or, is it that American founders are demanding too much compensation?
I haven't ever visited US. So I can't give a answer from your perspective.
>>1. Why do we need to bring in immigrants to found companies? Do we have a shortage of Americans already here who also want to start companies?
This is the equivalent of asking why large companies acquire start ups and don't in house innovate their way out to compete in the market.
The answer is, the existing inertia is difficult to change in big companies/countries. Plus people don't realize the importance of the opportunity they have in hand. Imagine if people are that desperate to come to US to just start a company, its obvious the thing called 'citizenship of the US' is a very prized opportunity which most US citizens don't realize.
>>2. Or, is Start-up Founder one of those jobs, like picking cabbage, that Americans "just won't do"?
Starting up is difficult every where, but the US ecosystem is better in terms of the overall equation.
First world country, VC's, Infrastructure etc etc
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#147Some points on my mind: a) Most adventurous student entrepreneurs don't really MUST need a founder visa, they can use OPT. I think founders of Stripe did that. b) Most non-immigrants already working (mostly with H1 visa) needs a founder visa. To work on a startup you founded in H1b visa is hard, consider H1b visa needs some funding/salary requirement on your startup, and that is hard to get by on the early stage of a…
> a) Most adventurous student entrepreneurs don't really MUST need a founder visa, they can use OPT. I think founders of Stripe did that. Founder of Stripe here. Not disagreeing with anything you've said, but I feel I should point out that OPT is far from ideal: it doesn't last very long, it requires the job is related to the field of study, full-time work is permitted only during vacations prior to completion of a d…
seconded - btw do you have a STEM related degree though? there's now an additional provision for OPT extension if you graduated from a STEM related field.
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure if I agree with you. I'm not an immigration lawyer nor an immigration expert, so this is all anecdotal: I know a handful of startup founders, who were most certainly not at the top of their fields get O1 visas with the help of their top-top-tier investors / other things I'm not aware of (maybe speaking at second-rate conferences?). These were early stage startups that did not have much traction yet. Whil…
They can do it using O-3 visa, its the same classification as an O-1 but of a different type. Assuming they incorporated the startup, and then immediately received funding and started visa process (in that order) they can use percentage points (from zero to +++ whatever investment they received) as part of their case. USCIS is more interested in profit/revenue than any other metric.
O-3 visas are issued to the spouse and children of O-1 visa holders. Did you mean something else?
http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers...
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#149Did we really run out of Americans who are capable of being founders?
Do you live on this planet? It's about competitiveness. It's not just about being able to be a founder, if there is a foreigner doing the same product with more success, the American's startup will eventually die. So foreign countries can get all the best talent with their flexible visa systems, including Americans, while America only has access to local talent. That's not really pro-American...
Re: The Founder Visa (again)
#150People seem to be trying to deliberately misunderstand my point. 1) I don't think this should just be for YC. I'm just volunteering to beta test it. I think we are very likely to show success, which would hopefully open it much more broadly. But I'd be very happy to do it together with other investors from the beginning. I feel that in general investors (YC included) are not doing enough to push this issue. 2) I do t…
Deliberately? I generally ascribe to the camp that says: when the majority or a large portion of the audience misinterprets what is being said, the problem lies not with with readers but with the author. Perhaps it is you who mis-wrote not us who mis-read. What you wrote came off as incredibly arrogant. Especially with your recent promotion.
Incredibly arrogant? Really? Sorry, but you're definitely mis-reading that one and you've clearly never met Sam.