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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

#121

Post by bjornsing »

proberts wrote: post #26
bjornsing wrote: post #18

Hi Peter! I’m a highly skilled engineer and reasonably accomplished entrepreneur (founder of a VC-backed startup that is still alive but hasn’t taken off, and I no longer work there). I’m a natural born citizen of Sweden and I live there. I’d like to emigrate to the US, with citizenship as the goal. I can spend a bit of money on it, but I’m not wealthy. What’s my best bet? What would you say is the probability of suc…

The answer really depends on your background/accomplishments and whether you would be working for your own company or for another company. Oftentimes, for entrepreneurs, the best and easiest option is the E-2 investor visa, which is available to Swedish citizens.

Thanks For the E-2 suggestion!

Since my goal is US citizenship and I’m in-between projects right now I’m open both to working for my own company or for another company.

I have a master’s degree in engineering physics. I’ve had senior leadership roles in two VC-backed startups (one of which I founded and was CEO of). I’ve been covered in the press, by regional newspapers and national tech media. I’ve spoken at a number of tech/telecom conferences. I’m the inventor on a handful of patents.

Does that help narrow down other paths?

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

#122

Post by ska »

proberts wrote: post #83
MorganGallant wrote: post #77

I'm a Canadian Citizen going to the University of Waterloo. My next co-op work term is Winter 2021 (Jan-April). Would it be possible for me to work for a US company for that term? I've done the J-1 process twice before and that worked great in 2019, not sure about now given the visa suspension and COVID. Would appreciate any ideas here. - Could I still get a J-1 for Winter 2021? - Are there any other avenues for Cana…

There are no US immigration requirements to work remotely for a US company - that is, you don't need a visa or work authorization - but to work in the U.S, work authorization would be required and the J-1 won't be available again until January at the earliest.

A thought: are TN "visa's" still available at this time? I know in the past some people have used them for co-op, but unclear if that was really by the book as it's unclear if they meet the education requirements.

edit: I really shouldn't have said "education requirement" - it's a job categorization, so education is only supporting evidence that your job meets the criteria.

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

#123

Post by dudus »

My question is related to green card holders that went back home to spend quarantine with family.

Can they lose the green card if they spend too much time abroad? How long can they safely stay abroad before losing the GC?

For people that want to get citizenship through green card. How long before their clock resets? How likely is the gov to understand quarantine as a good reason to stay abroad?

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

#124

Post by the_h1b1 »

thecreamedcorn wrote: post #35

How do you justify being an American whose work entierly revolves around taking jobs that Americans could have fulfilled and trying to give them to people who are not citizens, did not grow up here, and see America as nothing less than an institution they can use to get ahead?

Ok let's presume you are fully correct (you are only half correct).

--

Both sides need to take a chill pill and calm your __ __ down.

--

Let's address the elephant in the room.

Does it take away s_o_m_e jobs that Americans could have fulfilled?

Yes.

There are many exploitive bad-labor "consulting" companies that do it. It should end, for the benefit of their exploited employees too.

Three line edit: Coincidentally, this is also trending at the top 5 of the front page of HN at the same time:

* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23939242 https://archive.today/YDOQ1 https://web.archive.org/web/20200724165038/https://news.ycom...

* https://www.economist.com/business/2020/07/23/indian-it-cons...

--

Does it create s_o_m_e jobs that Americans could have n_e_v_e_r fulfilled?

Yes.

--

Does it create m_o_r_e jobs that Americans could have never fulfilled?

Yes.

Ok let's presume you are fully correct (you are only half correct).

Do you use Google or YouTube or Facebook or Tesla?

Great.

They were co-founded by Russian-born Sergey Brin, Taiwanese-born Steven Chen, German-born Jawed Karim, Brazilian-born Eduardo Saverin, RSA-born Elon Musk.

Do you use the Internet optical fibers or computer silicon chips?

Great.

They were invented by Taiwanese-born Eygptian-born.

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

#125

Post by [deleted] »

thecreamedcorn wrote: post #35

How do you justify being an American whose work entierly revolves around taking jobs that Americans could have fulfilled and trying to give them to people who are not citizens, did not grow up here, and see America as nothing less than an institution they can use to get ahead?

[deleted]

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

#126

Post by dkochmex »

proberts wrote: post #116
dkochmex wrote: post #7

Hey Peter, Thank you so much for doing this! Im a German citizen living in Mexico. Since I have been to Iran I no longer qualify for ESTA and had to apply for a visa at the embassy here in Mexico City to visit the USA. My visa has been in processing for 2y now and I have not received any response other than "still in processing, we will be in touch". What do you recommend? Is there anything I can do to accelerate thi…

I've seen such delays. Unfortunately, there's very little that can be done but as a first/next step, I would ask a Congressional office for assistance/to inquire with the Consulate.

Thank you!

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

#127

Post by techCEO4356 »

taken_username wrote: post #84
thecreamedcorn wrote: post #35

How do you justify being an American whose work entierly revolves around taking jobs that Americans could have fulfilled and trying to give them to people who are not citizens, did not grow up here, and see America as nothing less than an institution they can use to get ahead?

What is sad about this comment is how the author define and American. USA is a country that is built by immigrant (I am not talking about the CEO of big tech companies, I am talking about your grand-grand parents who came here a few generations ago) How do you justify the people who let you ancestors to immigrate there being Americans whose work... (replace the rest with your own comment!)

Your barely legible english is pretty much making OP's point.

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

#128

Post by proberts »

vowelless wrote: post #23

Question about E2 treaty countries. If one is an E2 treaty country citizen, and starts a company in the treaty country, how difficult would it be to create an American presence? Could you go a bit more into E2 and how it could be used by start ups (if at all)? And also, could you go a bit into what an E2 treaty county citizen can do to live/work in the US?

The E-2 is a great and really the best option for entrepreneurs if you have home-country money to invest in the U.S. company and an E-2 can be used for new U.S. companies with no employees - yet. If for example your citizenship is French, then requirements for an E-2 are as follows: the U.S. company needs to be at least 50% owned by French-owned companies or French citizens (who also are not U.S. citizens or green card holders), a substantial amount of money from French-owned companies or French citizens needs to be invested in the U.S. company, a substantial amount of money needs to be spent by the U.S. company in the U.S. on business expenses, and the U.S. company needs to have a strong/clear business plan that shows likely job growth (the hiring of U.S. workers or green card holders) over time.

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

#130

Post by digianarchist »

proberts wrote: post #108
digianarchist wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Visa ban doesn’t affect Canadians. https://twitter.com/gsiskind/status/1275913510145462272

That appears to be so because Canadians are visa exempt but there's been no explicit statement/clarification of this by the government.

Great point. This could be changed or clarified at any moment.
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