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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

#431

Post by newyankee »

jkingsbery wrote: post #171

I'm an American citizen, but many of my current and former colleagues have moved here from other countries. On a number of occasions, those colleagues have explained something about their own immigration process. The current system is crazy. What is the likelihood of process simplification? What are some groups that are pushing for concrete, attainable steps to simplify the process?

I moved back to my country (India) after more than a decade in USA because waiting list for my country was about 150+ years. I went to a good grad school, worked at big cos, was generally focused mostly on my work and well respected to the extent i know. It is unfortunately not my mistake that my country has 17% of the world's population and almost #1 or #2 waiting list in Green card applications.

I had to follow rules as i worked at a Big Tech company. However many folks who worked for smaller sweat shop IT firms which are generally scammy in nature got their green cards as they were given designations of manager or filed under separate priority designations. Big Tech company like mine followed all rules strictly so bending or interpretation was out of question.

It is just the way it is, i do not complain. I understand the need for a more merit based overhaul. So many shades to the story though. I have seen many people getting diversity lottery just by virtue of having a family member in USA. I have seen people from lower populated countries getting green cards much faster and doing simple jobs like working at Walmart without complaining.

I think clear policy is helpful, either it is merit based or it is not. Merit is very difficult to define as well.

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

#432

Post by xfalcox »

bberenberg wrote: post #320

Can you speak at all to how a US based company that is 100% remote should hire "employees" in various countries? Today we make most of them contractors, but are trying to understand if there is a better method. It seems particularly difficult especially when we only have 1 person in a given country.

This company from an ex-gitlab does exactly this

http://remote.com/

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

#433

Post by airstrike »

Do you have any thoughts on H-1B renewals in the current environment? Usually these require traveling outside of the US, but that's easier said than done, so I wonder if there are any rumors of these working differently in the upcoming application season

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

#434

Post by refurb »

smnrchrds wrote: post #300
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that work? Surely, if they knew you'd lied they'd refuse your visa so you couldn't travel to USA. If they didn't know they would, possibly, give a visa; how would they later find out you'd lied if they didn't know in the first instance? Do they go and re-check visa applications? Do they lie and give visas to people just so they can lock them up for falsely acquiring a visa?? Didn't the current First Lady fa…

Like almost all crimes, they wouldn't care to prosecute most people. Tax avoidance is a crime. What percentage of people who lie on their tax returns get prosecuted anyway? But if you are one of the unlucky few whom they decide to prosecute, you will have a bad time. Read the articles about Sirous Asgari. I don't have any good articles which tells the whole saga, but use this as the starting point and search more on…

That's kind of a modus operandi for law enforcement in general. If they can't get you on a major crime, they are more than willing to vigorously enforce minor crimes to the fullest extent of the law.

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

#435

Post by refurb »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #250
superhuzza wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last job in Canada paid me $70k CAD, or $52k USD. The same job in the US would likely pay me $115k USD.

Sure, but in Canada you've got a much more robust social safety net and healthcare not to mention a sane leader. Now that a lot of jobs are allowing remote work why not live in Canada and work for a US company?

Our "sane" leader is currently being invested for receiving kick-backs through a gov't funded non-profit.

The US offers much better opportunities and compensation. And as a upper-middle class worker, healthcare isn't really any issue.

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

#436

Post by Ao7bei3s »

manuelabeledo wrote: post #248

L1-B holder here, in the process of getting my PERM. Lawyers told me that my degree does not qualify as a BSc, even after I send them the certificate that proves it does. Apparently, anything under five years is not considered a BSc. They also told me that my 15+ years of experience have little value, as they will only consider the five most recent. What is the position of the USCIS about this?

Ask your lawyer for an "academic equivalency evaluation" from a professional US education advisory firm that specializes in assessing foreign educational credentials.

Or Google those terms to find a provider (or email me, for the same result), and buy it yourself (price starts at $110; just expense it later). If they like your degree, you'll get like a 2-3 page wall of text that should usually be sufficient for USCIS. Take that to your lawyers, and make them include it in your application. I'm surprised they didn't get one already for your L-1B.

3 years B.Sc. can definitely be fine, but maybe it depends on the country/university/courses? (In my case it didn't matter; I also have an M.Sc. But they certify what you give them, not just the highest, and so I know my 3 year B.Sc. is ok, at least for the evaluator, don't know about USCIS.). One potential problem is if your subject of study doesn't match exactly (e.g. an EE MSc doing software dev). USCIS has been stricter in those cases in past years afaik.

Also, it's more risky, but x% of a degree + y years progressive experience can sometimes be summed up and then in total considered equivalent to the degree. (Progressive means you can show your job continuously became harder. y years of beginner level wouldn't count. Any work that doesn't directly relate doesn't count either.)

IANAL

(You may have already done this; I couldn't tell from your post. "certificate that proves it does" could refer either to a (useless) piece of paper by your university, or an independent academic equivalence evaluation. So posting this just in case you don't have the latter one yet.)

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

#437

Post by pedrosorio »

arcticbull wrote: post #405
superhuzza wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last job in Canada paid me $70k CAD, or $52k USD. The same job in the US would likely pay me $115k USD.

Consider that your cost of living may be dramatically higher in the US and what you can do with what you have left over may not leave you any better off. Certainly, you're not talking about working in the Bay Area because a $115K total compensation is borderline impossible to live on anywhere between SF and SJ. Your thinking could be right, however I would say it depends heavily on where you're living now and where y…

> Certainly, you're not talking about working in the Bay Area because a $115K total compensation is borderline impossible to live on anywhere between SF and SJ.

People raise families on less than that. If this person is single, they can certainly live very comfortably in the Peninsula.

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

#438

Post by winter_blue »

nos4A2 wrote: post #185
jkingsbery wrote: post #171

I'm an American citizen, but many of my current and former colleagues have moved here from other countries. On a number of occasions, those colleagues have explained something about their own immigration process. The current system is crazy. What is the likelihood of process simplification? What are some groups that are pushing for concrete, attainable steps to simplify the process?

Thank you for this comment, it made my day. I usually see posts wanting skilled immigrants out. The last few months have been especially bad due to the various policies that have been adopted.

> I usually see posts wanting skilled immigrants out.

You have your answer there. There are a lot of Americans who love and welcome immigrants (and I know many of them – 99% of my friends are American), but there are also many who hate immigrants, and of all places, many of these immigrant-haters have found a home at HN. (Open up any HN thread on US visas and immigration, and the level of immigrant-hatred and xenophobia is truly stunning and appalling.)

These Americans who hate immigrants vote. You can guess what party they vote. Their votes are the reason our immigration system is broken beyond measure.

There was a bill, called the "Gang of Eight" bill (or S.744 of the 113th Congress) which would have fixed many issues with our immigration system. It failed to pass in Congress because of Republican obstructionism. It passed the Senate with a super majority, but was blocked by the House despite majority support because of the GOP speaker not allowing a vote on it, in order to pander to the extreme wing of the party. (Also, as a side note, the GOP's House majority was won in 2012 through gerrymandering – the popular vote for the House in 2012 had been for Democrats.)

If you want an answer to why the immigration system is broken – this is pretty much it. There are plenty of people who hate immigrants, and you can have the displeasure of meeting them, and reading their horrifically anti-immigrant comments right here on HN. They hate immigrants and want immigrants out, so we are at the deplorable place that we find ourselves in today.

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

#439

Post by arcticbull »

pedrosorio wrote: post #437
arcticbull wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider that your cost of living may be dramatically higher in the US and what you can do with what you have left over may not leave you any better off. Certainly, you're not talking about working in the Bay Area because a $115K total compensation is borderline impossible to live on anywhere between SF and SJ. Your thinking could be right, however I would say it depends heavily on where you're living now and where y…

> Certainly, you're not talking about working in the Bay Area because a $115K total compensation is borderline impossible to live on anywhere between SF and SJ. People raise families on less than that. If this person is single, they can certainly live very comfortably in the Peninsula.

Sure that's fair, that may be hyperbolic (outside SF and SJ), but I stand by the idea that 70K CAD in Canada will go just as far if not further than 115K USD in the Bay Area.

Let's break it down:

- 70K in Ontario per year is $4400CAD per month after tax.

- A two bedroom apartment in the Glebe in Ottawa (~Mission type vibe) is about $1800-2000 per month on Zumper, leaving you with $2200-2400 after tax.

On the other hand:

- 115K in California is $6400USD per month after tax.

- A two bedroom apartment in the Mission is $3800-4500 per month on Hotpads in the heart of COVID after a 10% y/y drop, leaving you with as little as $1900-2600 per month after tax.

Even before you factor in that everything is more expensive in San Francisco, you'll see quite quickly that you're better off taking a 70K/yr CAD Ottawa salary than a 115K/yr San Francisco salary. You'll have a better lifestyle and you'll probably be happier too.

The math changes when you make a lot of money, I suppose, or if you're going to send it back, but otherwise, it's by no means sufficient to use the exchange rate as a proxy for your lifestyle (50K vs. 115K).

[edit] Not to mention the definition of a low-income household in the Bay Area is $117,000 so, while close, $115,000 is actually considered low income. [1] On the other hand, the definition of a low income household in Ottawa is $56,000 CAD, so you'd actually be 25% over the threshold.

[1] https://fortune.com/2018/06/27/bay-area-six-figures-housing-...

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