To which countries are you seeing white citizens of the United States fleeing, right now?
I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
131–140 of 291 posts
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#132Thank you for the Q and A! I have an EB-1A sponsored by my employer, i-140 approved and it's been 180 days since my employer filed i-485 (still not approved). I have my EAD and AP in hand. Can I change jobs, lose jobs, etc with no fear of losing my green card?
Unrelated, but if you don't mind, how did you/your employer manage to get a EB-1A filed?
I just asked and they did it, haha. I work for a big company with a big lawyer team. I came here on an O-1 and it was basically just resubmitting all that paperwork. I was actually pretty pissed off at the time, because they just filed it super fast after I asked, without even getting my final approval on the full application. I thought the standard for EB-1 was much higher so I was worried, but it turned out fine I guess (though I haven't got the physical green card in my hand yet, I do have the i-140 approved which I think is the hard part where they judge if you're "extraordinary" or not?).
Getting the O-1 was such a nightmare though. I'm not being modest. I'm really not extraordinary at all. I just think the O-1/EB-1 system is a little antiquated, so they look for things like academic publications more than e.g. if you actually invented a really great technology. Plenty of colleagues are actually more extraordinary and productive than me. The criteria for O-1/EB-1 maybe made more sense back in the 1970s where the smartest folks wrote academic papers? But anyway, I did a PhD in a very niche subject area which was kind tied to applications in industry, which you can make the argument affects lots of people, and so the general argument the lawyers made was: "X is a very niche field. America needs X". I have a few hundred citations, not thousands. But one or two pieces of work were with bigger companies so did make the press (mainly a short article which was copied and multiplied lots of times across different outlets). The really big pain was asking for 7+ references from people I had worked with in the past, explaining that, hey, this isn't a normal professional reference, this is a US immigration thing, so if you could say how much of a genius I am that would be super helpful, thanks.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#133There is a restriction on green cards that the holder cannot be outside the country for more than 6 months. How strictly is that to be followed, asking because I might have someone in that situation soon because of the pandemic.
It's actually not really a restriction. The real issue is on absences of more than one year. And with the pandemic, I've had no issues with clients stuck outside for more than 6 months - but less than one year.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#134I need to sign off now. I'll be back at noon. Thank you.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#135I'm from a country with a large EB2 backlog, and I'm at a principal/staff level at a FAANG, currently somewhere on the EB2 backlog.
What are my chances of getting an EB1 if I self sponsor (with help from a law firm)?
I have about 15y of professional experience but everything I've done has been very proprietary, albeit on well known household-name products. I haven't blogged or published either under my own name or for my employers. I can probably get references from senior leaders in various FAANG companies. I don't have a PhD but I have a Masters with some publications and a few dozen citations.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#136Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#137Thank you for the Q and A! I have an EB-1A sponsored by my employer, i-140 approved and it's been 180 days since my employer filed i-485 (still not approved). I have my EAD and AP in hand. Can I change jobs, lose jobs, etc with no fear of losing my green card?
You really are free to change jobs without issue but you should work in the same or similar occupation.
Thank you!
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#138Hi Peter, Thanks a lot for doing this. My partner is on a cap-exempt H1B (academia) and is a citizen of a European country. She has her work authorization, but the visa in her passport is expired, and to my understanding she needs that to re-enter the U.S. should she leave the country. As you know, visas are not being issued until at least Dec. 31st by presidential proclamation. After that, it seems consulates have a…
My wife is an H1B holder who is now in line for a green card. She is unable to leave the United States until she receives that green card within a year from now. Her passport will likely expire before then. It's all just a giant game :) Our solution was to lawyer up and let them handle everything for us, there is no use in trying to understand a government system.
You don't need to leave the United States to renew your passport. Your country's embassy in the US can do it for you.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#139I'm a DevOps engineer living in Europe with 10+ years IT experience. No formal education.
What's the best path to work and settle in the US with my wife?
What's a good but reasonable salary that I could achieve?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#140I have recently joined a FAANG company. I am currently working remotely in Canada (where I am a citizen) but they would like to bring me to the US in 2021 on a TN visa. I can choose to relocate any time from January to July.
I would like for my wife to be able to work in the United States. My understanding is that if I get on an H1B visa she would be able to get an H4 visa that allows her to work.
My question: Since the H1B is a lottery, is there any advantage to me moving to the USA ASAP (Jan/Feb) so I can try to get in the lottery for 2021? Or would that be too late and I would probably end up waiting for 2022's lottery anyway?