Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 272 posts

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

#131

Post by proberts »

throwaway219450 wrote: post #112
proberts wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

EB1As are extremely difficult to get right now. This is particularly true for non-scientific/research/academic employees who are not very highly compensated.

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

#133

Post by turtlesdown11 »

mindslight wrote: post #111
turtlesdown11 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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".

Definitely, was interested in what's been happening since the current administration's changes to immigration policy, but you're absolutely correct.

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

#134

Post by cyberax »

hvb2 wrote: post #99
Hendrikto wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That 6 months is considered “quick and easy” says a lot.

Mind you, this is for obtaining citizenship. Citizenship is a very big deal as it's permanent unless you do something outrageous

This is not for citizenship, but for the permanent residency ("green card"). And yes, 6 months is a dream for most applicants.

I had to wait 2 years for my uncomplicated GC case.

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

#135

Post by dp33 »

proberts wrote: post #100
dp33 wrote: post #21

For someone starting law school in Canada who hopes to eventually work as in-house counsel for US-based tech companies or startups, what career paths tend to work best? Is the common route something like BigLaw (possibly New York) first, then transitioning in-house later, or are there better alternatives?

I took a non-traditional path so I'm not a good person to ask but the TN makes it possible - pretty easy in fact - for Canadian-trained attorneys to work in the U.S.

thank you!

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

#136

Post by johongo »

proberts wrote: post #126
johongo wrote: post #124

What were some notable differences between H-1B before and after the fee?

The main changes are that U.S. employers could sponsor those who were outside the U.S. or ineligible to change status or change employers in the U.S. without incurring this fee.

Did the number of applicants go down/approval rate go up as a consequence?

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

#138

Post by rendaw »

Not sure if this is on topic, but:

Around 2014-2020 I feel like there were lots of companies hiring worldwide online remote.

In the last couple years it seems like the tides moved way back out, and companies are terrified of hiring remote contractors. My impression is that it seems mostly about misclassification risks, but maybe there's another part I haven't seen.

1. Is this a real risk? I've looked it up in a few areas but AFAICT misclassification is strictly about same country relations. I know there's some edge cases (like if a foreign worker isn't actually residing outside the country...) but IIUC the laws are mostly to protect the employees and government from bad companies, so as long as the company doesn't try to do that it's not an issue. The bindings of international contracts are limited and both sides know about that.

2. Is this a real trend? Do you have any idea where it comes from? My gut feeling is that Remote.io and Deel who are in this business are spreading FUD because they're in the business of selling protection. I've heard of multiple companies rejecting candidates with like "Oh Deel doesn't have a contract for your country so we can't hire you" etc. But maybe there was some big case that put everyone on their toes?

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

#139

Post by mindslight »

turtlesdown11 wrote: post #133
mindslight wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

Definitely, was interested in what's been happening since the current administration's changes to immigration policy, but you're absolutely correct.

If you read the whole thread there are definitely some responses to specific questions about what's changed.
Post reply on HN