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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
41–50 of 272 posts
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#42Has the chance of being denied entry to the country with an advance parole document increased? Or is that still fairly low risk?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#43I'm currently on an F-1 STEM OPT got the H1B Lottery. I need to travel in August. If my H1B is approved before my travel date in August, would I be able to keep my 'Change of Status' status if I come back using my F-1 visa? I do not want to trigger the $100k H1B fee if it switches to Consular Processing. Is it risky? Should I stay in the U.S from approval until October 1st?
Historically, travel while in F-1 STEM OPT status after the approval of an H-1B change of status petition and return prior to October 1st would not impact the change of status request. It's not clear how USCIS is going to view this now so given the uncertainty and the repercussions if wrong, we are advising our clients to remain in the U.S. from the time of filing the H-1B petition until October 1st (or even later if…
Thank you!
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#44There's some information online that says if you get an employment-based green card, you must stay at your employer for 6 months after receiving it or else it will cause problems in the future. And others say there's no such rule. Can you clarify if there's any restriction like that and where it comes from?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#45It sounds great in theory, but is returning to the USA on an AP nearly as stress free in reality?
I am considering a concurrently filed EB-5 petition and am curious as to what you are noticing of late.
Thank you for doing this AMA, Peter!
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#46If someone on H-1B in California gets (ostensibly) terminated via email with the reason being given as money, but the company does not send over final pay stubs and instead wires a lump sum, but not for the full amount (no 401k payments deposited into retirement account and I think at least one paycheck) then asks the person to sign a document agreeing they are not owed any money, what steps should that person take? It seems like the issues are 1) change of visa status needs documentation but also importantly 2) they can't get their spouses insurance without final pay stubs. The company said there were problems with ADP and has been delaying on responses.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#47What are the chances of getting back a green card after being out of the country for 4 years? My partner left with the intention to come back soon after, bought a house there as well just before leaving, but then couldn't come back more than a couple of weeks a year for 3 years, and then not at all for the past 4 years. We're thinking to move back to the US at some point, so having a green card would be the royal roa…
It's likely that USCIS will consider her to have abandoned her green card. There are exceptions when the absence was outside the person's control (like during COVID when travel was restricted and risky). It's probably worth it for her to consult with someone about this. The formal path to find out if she's abandoned her green card is by applying for a returning resident visa at a U.S. Consulate in her home country.
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#48What is the current status of the DV program? What will happen with last year's quotas?
And another question: has 100k$ requirement on H1Bs make any meaningful impact on applications count (e. g. to remove the lottery)?
Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#49Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
#50If someone on H-1B in California gets (ostensibly) terminated via email with the reason being given as money, but the company does not send over final pay stubs and instead wires a lump sum, but not for the full amount (no 401k payments deposited into retirement account and I think at least one paycheck) then asks the person to sign a document agreeing they are not owed any money, what steps should that person take?…
Unfortunately, although the person is in H-1B status, this is really an employment law question, not an immigration one, so I'm not in a position to respond.