Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied • Hacker News Board

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#21

Post by techtivist » Tue, Aug 05, 2014, 7:49 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #2

Unfortunately after a denial it is much harder to apply again as they'll check your previous application and look for alterations (i.e. lies or additions). A business accelerator doesn't really fall into any one visa category well. Is it a 2-3 month "business meeting" (i.e. B-1), is it educational (i.e. F-1), or even a "short course" eligible under a travel visa (B-2)? All of the above? The reason you got denied is a…

Thanks for the response. The USCIS website actually now says that being in an accelerator is fine with a B1, and in fact if the accelerator has fixed start and end date that can act as a proof that I will return home after the accelerator ends. Look at http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/b-1-business-visitor/und... under "How do I show that I intend to remain for a limited time?", it's the 3rd point.

Silly me, I didn't see that before the interview. Anyways, my interviewer was new and had no idea what an accelerator was.

What I am doing now is interviewing in another city, with the same application, albeit with added true information that would support why I want to come back, which I honestly do in the short term as my parents are unwell. The city I interviewed in first has almost no startups, so they have never encountered a situation like this before. This time I am interviewing in a city that has a history of sending startups to US accelerators including YC and Techstars.

Let's see, I am interviewing this week. Taking all documents including my parents medical documents and a printout of the page above. Fingers crossed!

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#22

Post by techtivist » Tue, Aug 05, 2014, 7:54 PM UTC

hpagey wrote: post #17

Attending an accelerator on B1 visa is always a dicey proposition. On B1, you are not allowed to gainfully employed, i.e. you cannot run a company but you can conduct activities like, a) attending meetings, b) Solicit sales or investment c) Make investments or purchases d) Interview or hire staff, etc etc. As you can see the line is very thin between whats allowed and whats not.

Yeah, but it's getting better now even if informally. See this link http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/b-1-business-visitor/und... under "How do I show that I intend to remain for a limited time?" It explicitly mentions accelerators. As long as you are not "employed" by the company, or more specifically the US incorporated entity, it's okay.

The problem is that there's no "directive" as such, so a lot depends on the interviewer one has, because it's so subjective. Mine was new and had never heard of what an accelerator was. He thought it was an MBA!

But there's no scope for an appeal, one has to reapply and pay the hefty application fee again!

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#23

Post by techtivist » Tue, Aug 05, 2014, 7:56 PM UTC

Spoom wrote: post #5

They want to see ties to your current country, i.e., reasons why you NEED to leave the US to return after your accelerator program is complete. Do you have a lease? Are you a current student? Do you have family remaining in your home country? Do you have other non-negotiable responsibilities in your home country? B1 is a non-immigrant visa; you need to convince them that you are not going to attempt to immigrate.

Yeah, I do. I have my parents here, but we don't have any property that we own, which is the biggest problem. I honestly, do want to return in the short term because I am the only child and need to take care of my parents while I grow the company.

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#24

Post by techtivist » Tue, Aug 05, 2014, 8:01 PM UTC

zura wrote: post #7

Spoom wrote: post #5

They want to see ties to your current country, i.e., reasons why you NEED to leave the US to return after your accelerator program is complete. Do you have a lease? Are you a current student? Do you have family remaining in your home country? Do you have other non-negotiable responsibilities in your home country? B1 is a non-immigrant visa; you need to convince them that you are not going to attempt to immigrate.

Interesting. So if you decide to immigrate with B1, you have to do so illegally, right? And in this case your only option is blue collar jobs. But someone with enough knowledge and skills who is able to get into some accelerator program obviously won't go for these kind of jobs... But in case if it is possible to legally immigrate with B1, then what's the problem?

The problem is the law, and I sort of sympathize with the interviewers because they have to be seen as being completely blind to the "subjectivity" of the personal case, and rely solely on documentation. Logically, it makes so sense for me to stay illegally in US. Not only will it screw my company, it wont help me in any way. I went to a very good CS school, and have ample high paid job opportunities here at home and legal ways to apply for a job in US.

My bad luck was that I had a new interviewer who was extra cautious, understandably. He was in a doubt and went to speak to the guy in the next counter, and came back and said no. Which is a little screwed up because the guy in the next counter didn't even speak to me!

But there's no scope for an appeal, so the only option I have is to reaply and this time take some document as evidence and hope I have an experienced interviewer.

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#25

Post by techtivist » Tue, Aug 05, 2014, 8:04 PM UTC

vishalzone2002 wrote: post #3

Sorry to hear that. You are better off talking to the accelerator and see if they could move you to another batch. B1 visa is a tricky visa. You need to have clear reasons for returning back to your country. You can show them any liquid and non-liquid asset that you own, maybe an inc. company,etc.

Thanks, I am going to give it another try. My first thought was to register the company here, but it takes 2 months to do so! But worse comes to worst, I will have to do that and ask the accelerator to move be to a different batch.

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#26

Post by techtivist » Tue, Aug 05, 2014, 8:05 PM UTC

Spoom wrote: post #9

dennybritz wrote: post #6

Where are you from? Why did you apply for a B visa instead of taking a tourist visa (or visa waiver)?

B is the tourist / work visa class, and not every country is on the visa waiver program.

Exactly, my country isn't on the visa waiver program. So B1(/B2) is my only option.

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#27

Post by atroyn » Wed, Aug 06, 2014, 2:20 PM UTC

falsestprophet wrote: post #20

atroyn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't assume I'm unsure of it, I am speaking from my own experience as a foreign founder who travelled to the U.S last year, including 3 separate entries at 3 different airports under the Visa waiver program after a B1/B2 refusal. I also helped bring in the rest of my team under B1 and E3 visas, including one team member who was at one point flagged by CBP and had to re-enter under the B1 rather than the VWP.

How did you bring in team members to work in the country on a B1 visa? That is expressly forbidden.

To be clear, these were co-founders and our company was also incorporated outside the U.S, which allowed for more room for manoeuvre.

Many things that are 'forbidden' on paper turn out to not be so when it comes to the visa process. Many other things that aren't mentioned at all become crucial factors. The U.S visa process is incredibly onerous, and giving facts only as necessary was what worked for us.

Re: Accepted to a well-known accelerator in Fall, but B1 visa to the US denied

#28

Post by Spoom » Wed, Aug 06, 2014, 4:25 PM UTC

techtivist wrote: post #23

Spoom wrote: post #5

They want to see ties to your current country, i.e., reasons why you NEED to leave the US to return after your accelerator program is complete. Do you have a lease? Are you a current student? Do you have family remaining in your home country? Do you have other non-negotiable responsibilities in your home country? B1 is a non-immigrant visa; you need to convince them that you are not going to attempt to immigrate.

Yeah, I do. I have my parents here, but we don't have any property that we own, which is the biggest problem. I honestly, do want to return in the short term because I am the only child and need to take care of my parents while I grow the company.

I was rejected at the US border (entering from Canada) several years ago for lack of ties; one of the things on the checklist the CBP guard wanted was a lease. I told her that I lived with my parents, and she basically said that I was screwed.

Fast forward a week where I came back with everything they wanted and a notarized letter from my parents, and she let me in (while still seeming to be quite pissed about it).

I would look at the evidence they want to see for ties to your home country, and post what you can gather to visajourney.com . They'll give you some suggestions on ways to improve it and/or tell you if they think it's enough. (Good people. If it wasn't for that forum, I may not have been approved for a K-1 and may still be living in Canada.)