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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

#61

Post by proberts »

an_d_rew wrote: post #56

Hi, Peter - thank you for doing this! I'm one of the lucky ones - my I-485 was approved for LPR on the last week of July (EB2, RoW). I've got the I-797 to prove it! :-) The funny thing is that I'm STILL waiting for the actual green card - USCIS has been adamant that "60-120 days between approval and card issuance". I've been told twice, on the phone, that under no circumstances will they even allow me to schedule an…

That's not normal. I would reach out to your local Congressional office and ask it to make an inquiry. This is done all the time.

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

#62

Post by throwaway5612a »

proberts wrote: post #50
throwaway5612a wrote: post #48

Friend who is a Singapore national is trying to figure out if he can do an online bachelors at Capella University in the US, specifically the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology have it be used to get an H1B or H1B1. The sticking point is that he plans to complete it in a year- (he knows how to program and its a self paced program) will it satisfy USCIS requirements which say a foreign national must complet…

It's the course credits that matter. He should make sure that the school is an accredited institution of higher education of course but I'd also have him run this degree program by an education evaluation service.

Thanks so much for the reply!

Just a brief followup- whats the reason for the education eval service? For context the school is US based, accredited, online and for-profit.

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

#63

Post by rshnotsecure »

throwaway5612a wrote: post #48

Friend who is a Singapore national is trying to figure out if he can do an online bachelors at Capella University in the US, specifically the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology have it be used to get an H1B or H1B1. The sticking point is that he plans to complete it in a year- (he knows how to program and its a self paced program) will it satisfy USCIS requirements which say a foreign national must complet…

Capella University has a very low reputation / is for profit. My understanding is it is no better than ITT or University of Phoenix, which have a very bad and infamous reputation in the United States.

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

#64

Post by tombert »

proberts wrote: post #60
tombert wrote: post #58

Hello! My wife is here on DACA after being brought here illegally when she was eight years old. Due to her illegal entry, we aren't allowed to apply for a green card until she has a legal entry, which is prohibited for 10 years. We currently are working with an attorney that is trying to get her through on a hardship petition (claiming (probably rightly so) that her being deported would be damaging to me (a citizen))…

Without knowing all the facts of course, that appears to the best other option.

Ok; we have some friends who claimed that since they were brought in by a citizen, and they were just "waved through" as kids in the backseat of the car, that constituted as a "legal entry".

I'm not an attorney but that didn't really seem like it would hold up since it seems like anyone could claim that.

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

#65

Post by proberts »

sbolt wrote: post #57

Hi Peter, is it possible for someone on OPT STEM extension to be self employed either by forming a company or operating as an independent contractor?

Sort of. You should check with your school because in the end, it's really the school and not the government that makes this determination. But there's really no self-employment under STEM OPT. If the employment is through your own company, then there needs to be a structure in place where you are supervised by someone and don't control your own employment.

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

#66

Post by LiamMcCalloway »

proberts wrote: post #4
LiamMcCalloway wrote: post #2

Can you point us to official U.S. policy that leads to differentiated outcomes of immigration processing speed between nationalities?

An explanation is provided by the State Department in its monthly "Visa Bulletin" at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/v... .

An interesting read and resource going forward, thank you.

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

#67

Post by yvesmh »

proberts wrote: post #40
yvesmh wrote: post #36

Hi Peter, thank you so much for doing this. I'm a Mexican currently going through the Green Card process, In the part where Form I-140 has been approved and form I-485 will be filled in October according to the company I work for lawyers. Over the past 3 years, there have been layoffs in my department around October (start of Fiscal Year), last year the company let go key people that otherwise nobody ever suspected t…

Is this a company-sponsored green card application? If it is, then protections won't kick in until you have filed your I-485 application.

It is company sponsored, thanks for your reply!

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

#68

Post by betocmn »

proberts wrote: post #33
betocmn wrote: post #24

Is there any country you think is doing a better job than the US in terms of skilled migration policy? edit: typo

That's a great question. I really don't know but I'd be interested to hear back from others. I know that early on in the current administration, Canada seemed to go out of its way to attract talent and investments.

I've been tracking the Australian and Canadian systems for the last ~10 years, and it seems they keep learning from each other and making adjusts accordingly.

Both countries use a points-based immigration system[0], so there's much more flexibility in adjusting for specific skill shortages or regional areas.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points-based_immigration_syste...

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

#69

Post by proberts »

tombert wrote: post #64
proberts wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without knowing all the facts of course, that appears to the best other option.

Ok; we have some friends who claimed that since they were brought in by a citizen, and they were just "waved through" as kids in the backseat of the car, that constituted as a "legal entry". I'm not an attorney but that didn't really seem like it would hold up since it seems like anyone could claim that.

These are really fact-specific matters so it's really tough for me to comment.

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

#70

Post by rshnotsecure »

collyw wrote: post #26

Curious what you think (though given your profession I expect a somewhat biased response) - is there really a skills shortage in the US or do you think companies are trying to get cheaper workers?

The skills we’re missing could be easily trained for. People would happily do the training for free even if it lasted months (say through online portals that were self paced) just for a chance at getting a job / a guaranteed in-person interview at least.

There is a skills shortage again yes, but it is remarkably easy to remediate a significant portion of it, particularly in an industry with such profits.

I think though also Peter Thiel is right in his criticisms of colleges. They have dropped the ball significantly, especially compared to India’a colleges, which almost overnight rapidly shifted to an IT/Healthcare focus in the 1980’s.

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