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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 mindslight »

turtlesdown11 wrote: post #63
dang wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't waste community time and space by posting unsubstantive comments. Edit: Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait generally? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly, and we've already asked you more than once not to. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

> Please don't waste community time and space by posting unsubstantive comments. It's a very genuine question for how an attorney deals with these businesses? There are countless examples of startups breaking the law at mass scale (Uber, etc) and getting away with it. Sorry that asking difficult questions is wasting "community space". Your own profile cites conflict as essential, is asking difficult questions not par…

While you'd have a point if you were asking in-house counsel at one of the companies in question, you're asking an immigration attorney who works with many different companies. The few times I've tried asking independent attorneys hypotheticals about how to break the law the least, or how to skate through min-maxing the rules the way hackers want to, I've generally gotten a pretty simple answer: "Don't".

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

#112

Post by throwaway219450 »

proberts wrote: post #9
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #7

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

USCIS is reporting - and we're seeing - much higher RFE and denial rates for EB1A, EB1B, and NIW green card applications and O-1 applications.

Do you get the impression this is a cause for concern for qualified applicants? Rephrased: what sort of applications are now getting denied/RFE'd that would have been fine say a couple years ago?

Anecdotes would suggest that a lot of people were able to get these visas because there was some fairly loose interpretation of the criteria.

I'm particularly interested in EB1A.

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

#113

Post by nv2156 »

proberts wrote: post #16
sammyspizza wrote: post #10

The current administration has made it very hard for tech workers to get perm status. Many larger companies are no longer sponsoring perm applications for workers on h1-bs because it is so difficult to meet the new requirements. Which of the new requirements is the most difficult for companies to meet and have you seen any creative solutions, especially for smaller companies and startups trying to get their H1-B folk…

The challenges I see with green card applications now are not with PERM applications (yet) but with EB1A and NIW applications. The primary stumbling blocks for PERM applications are layoffs, which require companies to suspend and pause the PERM process. This is a big issue with big tech because of the constant downsizing over the past couple of years.

What challenges are you seeing around EB1A. Context: I have an approved EB1A but waiting for i485, so curious to learn about the challenges.

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

#114

Post by foobiekr »

proberts wrote: post #89
1qaboutecs wrote: post #76

I never really understood about PERM. Suppose I am a manager on a team and one of my employees is going through the PERM process. I'm supposed to put out a job advertisement (but the job isn't real) for my employer. If an applicant passes the interview process, I don't have to hire that person (I probably can't - I don't have budget or permission from the organization). But I do have to honestly say if they have all…

I think everyone would agree that the PERM process is an awful process for both applicants and for employers. The job is supposed to be treated as an open position and the recruitment is supposed to be done in good faith. So, if a qualified, willing, able, and available U.S. worker applies for a PERM job, the employer either must hire this person or terminate the PERM process and wait at least 6 months before restart…

It is well known at the companies that I've worked for that there is no good faith at all in the process and it's basically ritual to justify the application.

Since they are clearly violating the law, how can I report this?

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

#115

Post by proberts »

shrubble wrote: post #93

Have you seen an increase in usage of the L1 and is that being scrutinized by USCIS more than before?

Individual L-1s (as opposed to blanket L-1s) have always been challenging and I don't feel that they're harder to get than they've been. I know that we're doing more L-1s and E-2s than before but I don't know if that's an industry trend.

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

#116

Post by bluegatty »

proberts wrote: post #106
bluegatty wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably the 'current situation' which has seen a radical shift in immigration policies not seen in many decades.

All I can say is that I have seen a marked reduction in legal business immigration because it's just getting harder to get work visas or because the U.S. is viewed as inhospitable to foreign nationals.

That's a prudent and judicious take.

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

#117

Post by proberts »

Aarostotle wrote: post #105

What's the climate like around TN visas nowadays? Specifically, from Canada to the US. (Thinking of Waterloo grad-types but also humanities types coming to join in non-eng roles)

Since a Canadian TN can be applied for when traveling to the U.S. from Canada, it's a very fast process and still generally easy for Canadians with engineering degrees.

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

#118

Post by tombert »

proberts wrote: post #110
tombert wrote: post #108

My wife is a US citizen now. I'm not that worried, but of course I see the reports on TV about the Trump admin abducting and imprisoning lawful residents and citizens. To be clear, we were completely honest on every form required to do this and my wife isn't part of any political groups and doesn't do much interesting stuff in that regard, so I don't think they would have much room to strip her citizenship. On the of…

The reports have scared a lot of people but you and your wife should be fine. That being said, if she were detained by ICE, then yes, immediately call an immigration or criminal defense lawyer.

Thank you. I have my immigration attorney's number directly available if the worst happens.

As I said, I'm not that worried; the only concern I have is that we are traveling internationally at the end of the year and while I have no doubt that they are outlier cases, I have heard of a lot of scary stuff happening during customs upon reentry.

Anyway, thanks for the advice!

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

#119

Post by proberts »

foobiekr wrote: post #114
proberts wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think everyone would agree that the PERM process is an awful process for both applicants and for employers. The job is supposed to be treated as an open position and the recruitment is supposed to be done in good faith. So, if a qualified, willing, able, and available U.S. worker applies for a PERM job, the employer either must hire this person or terminate the PERM process and wait at least 6 months before restart…

It is well known at the companies that I've worked for that there is no good faith at all in the process and it's basically ritual to justify the application. Since they are clearly violating the law, how can I report this?

The government agencies involved are the DOL and USCIS so you would report abuses/violations to them.
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