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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

#111

Post by proberts »

e63f67dd-065b wrote: post #48
Martin_Gouy wrote: post #34

Hello! Thank you for doing this. My question:As a green card holder, do I have to be in the US at least 6 months of the year OR I cannot spend more than 6 months outside of the US (5 months outside, 1 in US, 5 months outside, would be authorized ). Thank you very much

The 5 months out / 1 mo in / 5 mo out again would be frowned upon by the admitting officer. They still have to let you in, but you risk being referred to an immigration judge depending on how the officer is feeling that day. As per the handbook ( https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter... ): > An officer must review extended or frequent absences from the United States to determine whether an appl…

Putting aside the impact of time outside on the ability to naturalize, from a maintenance of green card standpoint, you can spend more than 6 months outside and keep your green card. The easiest way to do this is to get a reentry permit.

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

#112

Post by VirusNewbie »

Is Google currently breaking the law in regards to immigration in your opinion?

The story is that Google posts very general, vague job descriptions then puts them through a rigorous interview process, and only once qualified by a hiring committee, are they potentially matched with a team who then is allowed to extend the offer.

However, a couple months ago Google paused hiring for a backlog of 'qualified' candidates that had passed the hiring committee (so, 'qualified' according to the job descriptions) but not yet found a team. Wouldn't this be breaking the PERM law if they offer any candidates a job needing sponsor when there are hundreds of permanent residents that have already been 'qualified' in their pipeline available for immediate hire?

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

#113

Post by aaraujo002 »

Hi Peter, I will be starting a postdoctoral position on a J1 visa in a few months. My wife will get the J2 visa which will allow her to travel to the US. Can she apply for the EAD while in the us temporarily and return to Europe to continue working for her company while waiting for the validation of her EAD? Do you know the waiting time for EAD at the moment? Thank you for your help.

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

#114

Post by proberts »

octref wrote: post #7

Hi Peter! For H1B visa holders, is there any way to start a company and remain in charge (whether as CEO or not)? From what I find online you can only be employed as a H1B holder, but if I start a company I would want to have full control of it.

Full control isn't an option but one can be a CEO and even own a substantial portion of a company in H-1B status. This is one of the reasons that founders get O-1s and not H-1Bs.

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

#115

Post by sb12345 »

proberts wrote: post #79
sb12345 wrote: post #70

Hi Peter, Do you have any statistics on success rate of Entrepreneur Parole? I am currently in USA on H1B visa and planning to leave my current job to join my startup full time. I got commitments of around $500K from a pre-seed VC and a few angels. I am exploring if Entrepreneur Parole or O1 is the right option for me.

IEP applications are getting approved but only if the investors are willing to share detailed information and documentation about the ownership and operation of their VC firm and their previous investments and understandably many are reluctant to since this information is typically highly confidential/personal.

I see! That'll be a challenge if I ask some top tier VC to share all the details of their recent fundings. How long does it take to get IEP approved? Do I need to re-enter into USA after it's approved?

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

#116

Post by proberts »

zamalek wrote: post #72
ggambetta wrote: post #35

How high is the bar to qualify for a O-1B visa (yes, I do mean O-1B), specifically the "evidence demonstrating your extraordinary ability"?

From what I understand, in the realm of Nobel Prize, Oscar/Academy, etc. winner. Especially in a way that would greatly benefit the US. It's an extremely tough category. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-f-chapter-...

The O-1B standard is different from and much easier to meet than the O-1A standard and it is often within reach of talented artists, designers, etc. One of the reasons for this is that unlike the O-1A, letters from critics, experts, etc. check one of the O-1B boxes/criteria whereas in the O-1A context such letters are simply evidence in support of one of the O-1A boxes/criteria.

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

#118

Post by proberts »

wexiya1699 wrote: post #36

What are the risks of NIW EB2 application for the following person type (and what letters should focus on): founding engineer at a well-funded and reasonably successful startup, decent achievements in programming competitions plus a cited paper and a patent to check the box, but definitely not a well-known leader of any field?

What does the company do? What's your educational background?

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

#119

Post by proberts »

nixgeek wrote: post #62
miklosz wrote: post #24

Is there any way to "reactivate" expired green card? It expired 8 years ago as due family reasons I needed to live abroad.

Depending on the exact circumstances you might be able to try the SB-1 route, otherwise no, you are essentially starting over.

It's unlikely but the SB1 route would be the way to find out.

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

#120

Post by proberts »

mousetree wrote: post #12
iandanforth wrote: post #3

What tools and/or services do you recommend to startups looking to access the global market for employees?

Deel, Remote, Pilot

Those tools and from a purely U.S. immigration standpoint, take a hard look at people from countries with their own U.S. work visas since these are often easy to obtain.
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