I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA • Hacker News Board

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

#231

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 9:51 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #194

Hi Peter, My wife has a green card, and has since October of 2021. We have filed the paperwork for her to get citizenship in November of last year, but of course these things take time to process. Due to the anti-immigration rhetoric of the incoming Trump administration (particularly against Mexico), I am extremely worried that this might end up with delays or even a halting of the citizenship process. Are my fears f…

I don't think so. She's already an LPR and during his last time in office, other than some processing delays, in my experience, applications that were supposed to get approved got approved.

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

#232

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 9:52 PM UTC

strambino242 wrote: post #195

What percentage of new STEM hires are immigrants and what percentage are US citizens or greencard holders?

I don't know but that's an interesting question and I would be very interested to know the answer.

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

#233

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 9:53 PM UTC

highcountess wrote: post #139

Are there any pitfalls to prepare for or avoid for people trying to get their parents permanent residency/green cards?

These tend to be pretty straightforward easy applications. There really are no gotchas in this context.

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

#234

Post by proberts » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 9:56 PM UTC

Thank you again for the great questions and discussion. I'm taking a break now and will return in about an hour. If I miss any questions before the AMA ends today, I'll do my best to respond tomorrow

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

#235

Post by keybored » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 9:58 PM UTC

proberts wrote: post #70

antithesis-nl wrote: post #49

Yeah, so, any chance you could do a monthly-or-so post that explains, in legal terms (of course!) why referring to an entire, diverse bunch of people as "H1Bs" (which, as you know, is just a visa class and pretty much, as you also know, the only path to legally entering the US as an immigrant without family ties or, well, the future-Head-Guy-or-one-of-his-cronies fancying you) is, like, a crime against humanity? Beca…

I don't agree with that view/trope since my clients (granted, a limited dataset) are hiring H-1B workers because they believe that they are the best candidates.

What “best” means could be unpacked.

- Just best for the job

- Best retention since the visa is tied to the employer

- Best price, i.e. lower wage

All of that amounts to “best” without outright lying.

The bell curve (people tend to narrowly focus on IQ when it comes to “best for the job”) should look the same everywhere. So it seems a bit roundabout to look all over the world when you have a “culture fit” in your own backyard.

So it does seem to just come back to mutually beneficial exploitation of the employee. But the clients never have to talk about it in such plain terms.

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

#236

Post by tonymet » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 9:59 PM UTC

We are working to apply for n-565 for my mother in law who has been a working American citizen for 50 years. She now needs naturalization records to apply for Real Id and continue domestic travel.

The issue is that she had a divorce and name change, and we can’t find her name change record with the county superior court. N565 requires the name change evidence

We have tried FOIA request to US CIS and no records were found

Can we use her 50 year social security contribution record as evidence of the name change ? What other pieces of evidence could we present ?

Is there a hearing or more dynamic forum we could present the case to ? The forms for naturalization and real id have narrow and rigid qualifications .

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

#237

Post by mdhb » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 10:02 PM UTC

TheBlight wrote: post #156

mdhb wrote: post #132

[flagged]

Why do you say that?

No reason at all…

https://bsky.app/profile/drrosena.bsky.social/post/3lg75xw2q...

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

#238

Post by pylua » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 10:08 PM UTC

My company is flying over architects / project members for design meetings from other countries for small meetings over the course of of a week. Does this usually require a work visa ?

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

#239

Post by t-awayfor2day » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 10:09 PM UTC

Hi Peter, Thank you for the AMA! I am reposting here because my earlier comment was killed [0] and you probably haven't seen it.

I am a STEM postdoctoral researcher currently in the first year of my STEM OPT, and I am planning to apply for a green card in the coming months alongside my STEM OPT extension. After consulting with an immigration lawyer, I have been advised to pursue the NIW EB-2 category.

I would greatly appreciate your insights on the following questions:

1. Based on your experience, how would you rank the importance of the following evidence in supporting an NIW EB-2 application (from most to least important)?

- Citations

- Competitive awards and fellowships

- Experience as a peer reviewer

- Letters of recommendation

- Expert opinions (independent letters of recommendation)

- Research in an area of high importance to the United States

2. The legal fees quoted by my lawyer seem very high compared to figures I’ve found elsewhere online. Given my current severe financial constraints, I was wondering if you could share what you consider a reasonable range for all legal fees associated with an EB-2 application (NIW I-140 petition, Adjustment of Status, RFEs).

3. If you have worked with any immigration lawyers or firms that would be appropriate for cases like mine and that you would recommend, I would be very grateful for your suggestions.

Thank you so much for your time and advice. I truly value your perspective and any guidance you can provide as I navigate this process.

0. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42772058

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

#240

Post by yeputons » Mon, Jan 20, 2025, 10:15 PM UTC

road_to_freedom wrote: post #224

proberts wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This depends on the reason for the 221g. Security-related reasons can take a while but often 221gs these clear quickly. What's the reason?

The reason wasn't specified. Are they supposed to specify the reason like security check? The officer told me to send CV, job offer and support letter on email. Even though these were available at the interview so this ask looks to me more like a facade.

Sounds like the typical "administrative processing". They typically do not give any reason, just that they "need a bit more information" and "the processing typically concludes in 60 days or less". You may be lucky and that is the case, you may be unlucky and it is stuck for years. Even if you're from e.g. the developer of curl from Sweden in 2016, not a nuclear physicist Russia or Iran in 2025: https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2020/11/09/a-us-visa-in-937-days...

I've heard about a person waiting for 4 years for their B-1/2 U.S. visa recently.

I haven't heard a single story where any kind of feedback or realistic timeline was provided to anyone, be it the applicant, the employer, a lawyer, a congressman. Not once.