Hi Peter,
I'm from Europe and currently in the US on a B2 visa (I’ve traveled frequently between the US and Europe over the past year, so we chose B2 over ESTA to be safe). I’m preparing my O-1 case to legally work on my startup here. I would love to participate in an accelerator here. This would also strengthen my application for the membership/awards criteria but I am not sure if I am even legally allowed to participate in these programs (e.g. YC) on a B2 before officially having the O-1?
Thank you!
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
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
You didn't have any issues re-entering the US prior to picking up the permit from your friend's address?
Thanks for sharing your experience. A year is a very long time..I am also curious about the pickup options and address. My partner will be updating their address to have mail sent to a family member’s address in the US, but we will also be living in a country that has a US embassy easily accessible. My partner is Mexican, so as you can imagine, they almost always have awful experiences with immigration in the US.
Yes, a year is a long time but evidence of having applied for a reentry permit in the form of a receipt notice is usually enough to reenter the U.S. without issue even with absences of more than 6 months.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#153Should I hire a lawyer to fill out the form to apply for citizenship as a Green Card (marriage) holder
Unless you have an issue (that is, a criminal record, a history of immigration violations/fraud, or extended absences from the U.S. while a green card holder), it's an easy application and process and doesn't require assistance from a lawyer.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those organizations are "H-1B cap-exempt" organizations that are not subject to the annual H-1B lottery. Cap-exempt organizations include non-profit institutes of higher education, organizations affiliated with these institutes (like hospitals), non-profits primarily engaged in research, and government research organizations, like Fermilab and NASA. If you get a cap-exempt H-1B, you could transfer to another cap-exem…
> although you could get approved for part-time concurrent employment with such an entity. Can you elaborate on what you mean here?
You would continue to work for your H-1B cap-exempt employer but then get an H-1B through a private cap-subject employer that would allow you to work at the same time on a part-time basis.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#155I'm graduating from my PhD and starting a FAANG research role. I'm Australian and about to start in F-1 OPT status. I am interested in an EB-1 or EB-2 (possibly NIW) visa, but am concerned about a long period where I can't travel (aka re-enter). What's the practical difference between E-3 and F-1 OPT (with STEM extension) in my case? Is it easy to switch from F-1 to E-3 at the same role?
Your green card process will have two steps, the I-140 filing and then the green card application, either in the U.S. with USCIS (known as an I-485 application) or outside the U.S. with a U.S. Consulate (known as an Immigrant Visa application). During the I-140 stage, there is some risk traveling on an F-1 or an E-3 visa (with the F-1 riskier), but this risk is relatively low and can be mitigated. One way to reduce t…
Thank you Peter, this is super helpful!!
Does your firm do immigration law consultations or do you have any that you would recommend to ask some more questions?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#156is E2 still an easy option for (small) investors to buy/start a business with ~100k capital?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#157Hi Peter, I wanted to know what all options are available other than H1B after F1 OPT visa expires to continue working in United States?
There are specific visas available to those from a handful of countries (Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Singapore). The other options are the O-1, E-2, and E-1 visas. One important point is that while the E-2 and the E-1 visas allow founders to get visas to build and run their companies, it also allows citizens of the same nationality as the company to get an E-2 or E-1 visa. The E-2 and E-1 visas aren't available to citizens of every country but they are available to most.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#158If you want to get a visitor visa to attend an incubator like YC, is it better to:
1) wait to be admitted into YC and get B1 visa for 3 months. Do you get some kind of invitation letter from YC that increases your chances of approval?
2) get a normal tourist visa now and specify you will go to the US for a week or two like a normal tourist and later use that to go to incubator training.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#159What sort of people get O-1 visas? I assume it is people with multiple degrees and have decades of experience in a specific field? I am good at what I do, have done public speaking at major conferences on what I do but no degree and so assume that i've no chance of ever getting into the USA. Currently a UK citizen living in Ireland.
It's beyond a joke. Recently spent some time at an accelerator and the partners of the VC firm were very open about purchasing "fake" research or presenting investments as if they were from more than one "investor". I still fail to understand how Dwarkesh Patel managed to "self-sponsor" an O-1 with a... tech podcast...
i did o1 twice and then eb1. it’s not a joke if you set expectations too high in your mind.
all visas are just about fulfilling the legal criteria. if you do that, you get the visa. same is true for extraordinary alien ones.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#160Hi Peter! There's a lot of confusion and uncertainty around a June policy update regarding TN visa (some related links in https://www.reddit.com/r/tnvisa/comments/1lerikw/nonengineer... ). At least one big tech (my personal anecdote that I don't feel comfortable sharing) temporarily paused new TN applications for software engineers with a CS degree, citing this change. This seems to have always been a fuzzy area on p…
Recently I heard of an instance where CBP denied a TN application by an applicant with a CS degree for a software engineering position. While this is of course concerning, this has always been a potential issue - I've seen this happen several times over the years - and there are ways to mitigate the risk (by, for example, highlighting the applicant's engineering courses or getting a letter from the school or an expert in the field). We have continued to pursue TNs for software engineers with CS degrees and have not had any issue yet.