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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

#171

Post by proberts »

99b12e2d358bb03 wrote: post #140

Peter, Thank you for taking time to do this. For founders with spouses (either through marriage or common-law), where both spouses are from Mexico or Canada, what is the best visa for the founder and what visa should the spouse apply for (if he/she desires to work)? For the spouse, how do visa considerations change if the spouse has: 1. A liberal arts-oriented university degree 2. A STEM-oriented university degree 3.…

A spouse's ability to work is often the most important factor when looking at work visa options for a founder. The visa classifications that give spouses (and only married spouses can get dependent visas under U.S. immigration law; common-law spouses can't) unrestricted work authorization are the E-1 and E-2 visas, the E-3 visa, and the L-1 visa. Fortunately, Mexican and Canadian citizens have their own visa classification, the TN, so this is another option for spouses although this would require direct sponsorship by a U.S. employer.

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

#172

Post by proberts »

aecs99 wrote: post #167

Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA. Are there any benefits to converting from a green card to citizenship, in the context of employment? Access to some government jobs is the only thing I can think of. Can green cards be extended every time they are about to expire until someone retires, or is there a limit?

You can't lose your citizenship even if you decide to live abroad or get convicted of certain crimes and you can lose your green card; you can vote in federal elections as a citizen; you can sponsor your parents and siblings for green cards. It's really a personal decision, I think. And there's no limit on how many times a green card can be renewed.

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

#173

Post by proberts »

karamanolev wrote: post #155
gumby wrote: post #145

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…

Not an attorney and only have passing knowledge, but I'm sure people will correct me if I'm wrong. An inter-company transfer visa (L-1) will only work if your company is operating both in the US and in the foreign country, i.e. it has a subsidiary there. The workers need to work for that subsidiary in a normal labor capacity - think full time employee vs independent contractor. After 1 year passes, they can apply for…

That's right, an L-1 broadly requires one year of full-time employment (as an employee, not an independent contractor) abroad with an entity related to the U.S. in a managerial/executive capacity or specialized knowledge capacity. Both entities must be real and operating and the entity abroad must have employees other than the transferring employee and it must continue to operate during the L-1 employee's employment in the U.S. But L-1s are tough to get approved unless the employee is managing employees now and will manage employees in the U.S. or the employee's position is highly technical/specialized and ideally involves the application of proprietary knowledge.

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

#174

Post by random_coder »

Hi Peter, thanks a lot for doing this. I have a h1b from 2012, i worked in the us for an year using it and returned to my home country. Is it of any use to me now, can i be cap exempt or its validity has expired and I will need a new one?

Regards

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

#175

Post by gumby »

proberts wrote: post #173
karamanolev wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an attorney and only have passing knowledge, but I'm sure people will correct me if I'm wrong. An inter-company transfer visa (L-1) will only work if your company is operating both in the US and in the foreign country, i.e. it has a subsidiary there. The workers need to work for that subsidiary in a normal labor capacity - think full time employee vs independent contractor. After 1 year passes, they can apply for…

That's right, an L-1 broadly requires one year of full-time employment (as an employee, not an independent contractor) abroad with an entity related to the U.S. in a managerial/executive capacity or specialized knowledge capacity. Both entities must be real and operating and the entity abroad must have employees other than the transferring employee and it must continue to operate during the L-1 employee's employment…

Thanks! Has the H-1 situation improved since the days when Indian consulting companies "flooded the zone"?

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

#176

Post by proberts »

blackhaj7 wrote: post #148

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 w…

1) No, unfortunately. 2) Green card options aren't tied to or dependent on in any way the individual's nonimmigrant status so your possible options are the same whether you are in L-1B, H-1B, O-1, etc. It's just coincidental - not causal - that those in a certain nonimmigrant status go down a certain green card path. That being said, most of those in L-1B status go the PERM/labor certification route or the NIW route.

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

#177

Post by proberts »

random_coder wrote: post #174

Hi Peter, thanks a lot for doing this. I have a h1b from 2012, i worked in the us for an year using it and returned to my home country. Is it of any use to me now, can i be cap exempt or its validity has expired and I will need a new one? Regards

The $64,000 question. It could go either way. But unfortunately I think the weight of the law supports the need to go through the lottery again where there has been a gap of at least 6 years.

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

#178

Post by DelaneyM »

proberts wrote: post #160
DelaneyM wrote: post #152

Hi Peter! I'm considering work for a US company on an O1 visa, but I hope to spend the majority of the time in my home country and make monthly trips to the US. I have no desire to acquire permanent residency. I'm happy to be tax-resident while employed and have a mailing/residential address in the US, and I know it's a bit of a pain crossing the border under a visa, but is there a minimum "days in country" requireme…

No minimum number of days requirement so the O-1 should be fine. We have lots of O-1 clients in a similar situation.

Thank you!

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

#179

Post by proberts »

gumby wrote: post #175
proberts wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's right, an L-1 broadly requires one year of full-time employment (as an employee, not an independent contractor) abroad with an entity related to the U.S. in a managerial/executive capacity or specialized knowledge capacity. Both entities must be real and operating and the entity abroad must have employees other than the transferring employee and it must continue to operate during the L-1 employee's employment…

Thanks! Has the H-1 situation improved since the days when Indian consulting companies "flooded the zone"?

From an outcome standpoint, things have settled down and, in my experience, nearly all approvable H-1B petitions get approved. The issue is with the high number of lottery submissions so the odds of getting selected in the H-1B lottery have been really low the past few years.
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