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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

#141

Post by Martin_Gouy »

proberts wrote: post #111
e63f67dd-065b wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Thank you both for your answers!

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

#142

Post by gumby »

wexiya1699 wrote: post #49
glitchc wrote: post #31

Regarding the O-1 visa class as a consideration to migrate to the States: 1) What is the threshold for extraordinary? How is extraordinary established? 2) Is there a quota on the number of visas issued per year? Related, is there a quota on the number of visas per country of birth?

I'm not Peter, but I guess I can answer this: 1) For O1 it's checking the boxes - one paper or one award is the same as 10 papers or 10 awards. Even for non-technical people where papers aren't really a thing, an article about a company was written in a high-profile website and that persons name was mentioned. He got an O1. I also know a strong competitive programmer (but no other achievements of value) who got it -…

A few years ago I hired a machinist on an O visa. He didn't even have a high school degree but years of specialization and experience. The package the lawyer assembled was pretty large to get over those kinds of hurdles.

We hired a bunch of machinists. This guy was worth his weight in gold and nobody ever asked "why did you bother to bring in someone from another country?"

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

#144

Post by dang »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #40

Quoted post unavailable.

(I'll answer that, since we originally wrote that title, not Peter.)

It's a fair point but AMA hasn't meant AMA for a long time, if it ever did.

I'm pretty sure that people would bring in about the same number of generic complaints / tangents as they usually do, regardless of whether AMA is in the title, so it seems like a red herring.

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

#145

Post by gumby »

Over the past decade it's become really hard to hire someone on an H1 because they all seem to be snapped up in October. This was especially bad when I was on the board of a private foreign-language school because teachers look for new jobs in March-June, but I'm also looking for certain kinds of technical folks.

Fortunately, for most jobs I can start hiring them as remote workers. But that made me wonder: after they've worked remotely for some time could they then be brought in as an inter-company transfer? Or would H1 still be better for us and for them?

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

#146

Post by philip1209 »

As somebody considering using a PEO -

How do PEOs impact both founder + employee immigration processes? (I'm assuming that having a different employer of record might have some consequences.) Would you advise startups to avoid a PEO if they intend to sponsor visas in the future for employees?

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

#148

Post by blackhaj7 »

Thanks for the AMA Peter.

Two questions on L1-B visas:

1. Is it possible to meet the employee requirements (1 year within the last 3 years) if you worked for the sponsoring company via a ltd company (i.e. not a direct employee relationship)? I work remotely and hence have worked through a limited company. However, the ltd company has only ever had revenue from the sponsoring company and I am the only employee so it was purely set up like that for administrative reasons.

2. What is the easiest/quickest route for an L1-B visa holder to get a green card?

Huge thanks

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

#150

Post by bialpio »

adave wrote: post #20
jason2323 wrote: post #5

What options does an Indian engineer stuck in the green card backlog have? Do they perpetually continue renewing their H1-B? Does this mean that they are somewhat limited in terms of being able to switch jobs?

Yup that's the idea, somehow most folks seem ok with it and don't voice their opinions to politicians.

Because a) folks that are the most impacted by this cannot vote and b) IIRC there are even limits imposed on political activity by visa holders, they get slightly relaxed when you get a green card (but do check it out, IANAL and may be misremembering).
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