I'll be here for the next 4-5 hours and then again for anther 2 hours. I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons since I won't have access to all the facts and documents. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and comments and I'll try to do the same in my answers!
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
#2How has the immigration law situation changed in the past 10 years? Have things become easier (doubt it), harder, or much harder, to work in the US? If I had to guess from what I've heard secondhand, I would say harder.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#3What are some non-obvious mistakes we can make that might threaten our immigration status, for different classes (for example H1B vs got-a-green-card)?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#4US immigration? If I live past tomorrow, I want to leave the US. Idk how to even start.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#5US immigration? If I live past tomorrow, I want to leave the US. Idk how to even start.
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Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#6What are the biggest issues that you see in the immigration mechanism that the US currently has in place (in terms of tech work visas) and how can we improve upon them as a community? From your vantage point is the immigration mechanism (for tech) working effectively for its intention or does it not align with its stated intent?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#7Why aren't there easier more accessible law and accounting services for early stage Startups. We used clerky for most of our registration and setup but the other 90% was just them telling us consult an attorney.
For non us founders it's almost impossible figure that out. There really should be more price accessible law and accounting services for early stage non US founders.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#8Hello Peter,
Thank you for taking the time to provide insightful answers to our questions.
My question concerns EB-1 visas and greencards for extraordinary ability. The usual route to prove 'extraordinary ability' seems heavily skewed towards those with scientific publications under their belt. Would it be possible to qualify for a software engineer leaning towards tangible tech contributions, for example significant commits to open source projects and building online products with a decent user base ?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#9Whats the best path forward for a h1b solopreneur who wants to gain some traction on the side project before quitting their full time job and going all in on an idea?
Keep going and get into an accelerator and apply for an o1? Or are there new paths with the entrepreneurial parole program?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#10What are some of the toughest part of your job?