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How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

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Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#141

Post by marwis »

returningfory2 wrote: post #121
skynetv2 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree. Someone I know received an O1 EO visa but they had worked on products that were shipping worldwide for 100s of millions of dollars, filed patents, had advanced degrees, worked at some high profile institutions, had 1000s of citations for their papers, papers published in high profile conferences and journals, and recommendation letters from CEOs, CTOs of high profile organizations from US and abroad. And…

> On a related note, the moment OP resigned from their L1B job, I am fairly certain they needed to leave the country in 60 days or so. It may or may not affect them when they pursue citizenship. Just a technical note that it won’t affect them at all. When you apply for an employment based green card you can actually have arbitrary amounts of “unlawful presence” before your most recent admission to the US. The Immigra…

But OP didn't apply for green card?

And now they can't anymore. Pretty strange move to go from L1 to O1 since L1 allows relatively straightforward upgrade to green card but O1 is a non-immigrant visa.

Correction: they can. Looks like "non-immigrant" can still have dual intent of immigrating.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#142

Post by [deleted] »

gumby wrote: post #67
wil421 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you go through the trouble? Most people I worked with in restaurants would just find someone’s name/ssn to use, put they had 10 children, and never ever file taxes. I think there was a shady underground way to match illegal immigrants with SSNs. Or they just networked heavily in their communities.

It's short-sighted nonsense that undocumented immigrants can't get SSNs. They should be issued SSNs and pay taxes as usual. They are working, and the IRS should be collecting taxes, nothing more, nothing less. If they aren't paying taxes, someone else has to make up the difference. Likewise I want them to get licenses if they can pass the driving laws test, and should be able to get insurance. I don't want to be hit…

[deleted]

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#144

Post by eek2121 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #93

Congrats OP! I'm trying to choose my words carefully, because I don't want to give the wrong impression: 1. I think it's great that OP got the visa, and it's clear (at least to me) that we should be attracting entrepreneurial types like OP to start businesses in the US. I also understand that our immigration system is hopelessly broken, and oftentimes the best one can hope to do is "hack" the system. So I commend you…

The process has been broken forever and needs to be reformed. I don't blame any workers either, but just right/left infighting. I have no idea about solving the problem, but if I had to say without giving it thought, I think the US needs a salary/wage database for industry workers that is based on US Citizens and US dollars, and companies shouldn't be allowed to pay less to foreign workers, regardless of if they work here or elsewhere. In exchange, said company should be allowed to hire as many foreign workers as they want and ship them over here.

At least then it becomes about talent rather than money, which also helps with the shitshow IT security at many companies that we have now.

...most politicians would never vote for it even though it'd be one of the most competitive laws in the world. Don't want your citizen to leave? get good.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#146

Post by abigail95 »

elevatedastalt wrote: post #107

I find it insane that people think it's a good idea to flaunt how they got these things. Good for OP that he gamed the system, I have no ill-will for him. But the smart thing to do would be to keep quiet and enjoy the legal status, not write a blogpost showing how flimsily it was obtained. If I were the USCIS I'd see this as a sign that this whole visa application was made in bad faith.

USCIS is the one that approved it? Surely they know more about the situation than a blog post.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#147

Post by remarkEon »

DrSAR wrote: post #114
TMWNN wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>especially considering the context of the rest of their post where they talked about exploiting loopholes and the letter of the law to abuse the system. I didn't read the original post that way. If the poster stayed within the rules and—more importantly—immigration officials agreed with his interpretation of the rules, who am I to gainsay their decisions? To put another way, this is why my response was to hn_throwaw…

The 1951 UNHCR convention [1] would like to disagree that only an entitled line of thinking presupposes rights of refugees. [1] https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/1951-refugee-co...

The entitled line of thinking is that everyone who comes from a country where things are shitty is a "refugee". That's the problem with the way this discussion is framed.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#148

Post by jerrygoyal »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #93

Congrats OP! I'm trying to choose my words carefully, because I don't want to give the wrong impression: 1. I think it's great that OP got the visa, and it's clear (at least to me) that we should be attracting entrepreneurial types like OP to start businesses in the US. I also understand that our immigration system is hopelessly broken, and oftentimes the best one can hope to do is "hack" the system. So I commend you…

> I commend you for not just hacking the system

your comment implies that he did something illegal, but that is not true.

> at least to me, doesn't meet the "Extraordinary Ability" intent of this visa.

sorry, who are you?

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#149

Post by returningfory2 »

x86x87 wrote: post #126
returningfory2 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US Department of State has a webpage literally called "Employment-Based Immigrant Visas": https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrat... It's not common for people with no prior connection to the US get one of these, but it is 100% possible. You can look up statistics on the number of employment green card visas issued here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/v... In the P…

you're missing the point. the immigration "visa" is actually the green card. while your greencard, under EB-X category is processing, you still need a "proper" dual-intent visa like HB1.

You don’t need to be the US while applying for a green card. You can be living in, like, France, and apply for an EB1 green card with USCIS and then when it’s approved go to the US Embassy for a EB1 visa stamp and move to the US. This is what I meant.

In this case you don’t need a non immigrant visa because you don’t live in the US while it’s processing.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#150

Post by cscurmudgeon »

DrSAR wrote: post #114
TMWNN wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>especially considering the context of the rest of their post where they talked about exploiting loopholes and the letter of the law to abuse the system. I didn't read the original post that way. If the poster stayed within the rules and—more importantly—immigration officials agreed with his interpretation of the rules, who am I to gainsay their decisions? To put another way, this is why my response was to hn_throwaw…

The 1951 UNHCR convention [1] would like to disagree that only an entitled line of thinking presupposes rights of refugees. [1] https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/1951-refugee-co...

1. They didn't say ANY refugees in the country is entitled thinking. They meant as MANY as possible is entitled. Wich is a reasonable take.

2. Also, just because a UNHCR convention says it, doesn't mean it isn't entitled. (I would say the UN is an exemplar of entitlement. The US provides the largest budget while countries like China get an equal vote in vetoing.)

3. Everyone coming illegally is either a) a refugee, b) an economic migrant or c) a threat. Every country has the right to a reasonable process to determine which bucket someone falls into. Even the 1951 convention you linked allows for that. The US's process is actually less onereous than the EU's. The EU won't grant you asylum if you come through a safe country. The US has no such concept. You can be a single military aged male from China but you will still be validly considered for asylum just like a child or 80 year old from Afghanistan.

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