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How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

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Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#81

Post by dotBen »

vgurgov wrote: post #37
davidw wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sheez, what's with the "pile on" downvoting. If he's wrong, vote him down to 0 or -1 and leave it at that.

Thx, but i dont really care about my carma. I simply cant be wrong here because i experienced this myself and know like 10 friends doing such things with zero probs. Heck even YC says that visa isnt a big deal for their companies. Guess most of downvotes coming from lazy hackers who like to count visa issues as excuse for their own laziness.

I too know a ton of friends who are doing it with zero probs.

I also know for a fact they are working illegally.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#82

Post by dotBen »

alain94040 wrote: post #64

I have been on 6 different visas, over 15 years, I have quite a bit of experience in the matter. 1. 90% of the answers in this thread are bad advice. Some of it really bad. A lot of it just misleading, bogus or exaggerated (on HN, it's bad form to criticize others, but when it comes to life-altering advice such as here, I can't let it stand). 2. It's too complicated to explain in a paragraph. It depends on too many f…

I just want to second what alain is saying here. I'm a foreign national working in US on a visa and I've spent a ton of time and money on immigration law.

There is some outright CRAP advice in this thread that I know for a fact is BS. Even if you are doing something that is unlikely to get caught at the time, if you ever apply for a green card they will investigate the entire history of your activity in the US and this is when problems can occur. (problems will result in almost certain deportation and being barred from entering US again)

I have also heard of a VC/investor passing information to the DHS about a startup founder who pitched him who was working illegally - think about that for a moment. (I've got nothing against him, the investor was totally in his right to do so - plus no one is going to fund a company that has founders working outside the law anyway).

PLEASE get legal advice, and from someone who you know has already helped startup founders. Many lawyers don't understand the landscape we are in.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#83

Post by kareemm »

jbarham wrote: post #74
mynegation wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Canadians, there's also TN-1 visa, which is a simplified way to get a work permit for a year. It has limitations compared to H1-B in terms of occupations, but it is much simpler to get. You need to have a letter from the company stating that they intend to employ you. Now, how that relates to startups and whether your own corporation can sponsor you - I honestly do not know.

Sure, TN is easy to get (I've had it) but there are two major restrictions: 1. You cannot apply for a green card on TN visa 2. It has to be renewed annually, and you have to demonstrate continued strong ties to Canada (bank accounts, family, etc.), so US immigration would no doubt get suspicious if you kept renewing

> You cannot apply for a green card on TN visa

Actually, you can:

http://www.naftatnlawyer.com/applying-for-green-card-tn-st/

> It has to be renewed annually

There's a 3 year TN now:

http://www.naftatnlawyer.com/nafta-tn-blog/2008/10/16/three-...

If you're Canadian, I suggest subscribing to the Grasmick.com newsletter and poking around the site. Lots of good info there.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#84

Post by dotBen »

impeachgod wrote: post #77

So thus we have a good reason to have more women founders - immigrant hacker-startup guys are usually male. Thus, they can just marry their US-citizen startup cofounders.

Or we all push for marriage equality so that LGBT folks can marry too, with full federal recognition including immigration status for the other partner.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#85

Post by dotBen »

eduardoflores wrote: post #24
duke_sam wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a visa (It's one of the E visas) for people bringing capital into the states but you it's not a trivial amount and you need to prove that you will employ a certain number of Americans.

Info on the E1 (trader) and E2 (investor) on the US Embassy in Mexico http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/eng/evisas_E.html Highlights for the investor visa: - The investor must be coming to the United States solely to develop and direct the enterprise - The investment must be substantial. It must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the enterprise - must have the capacity to generate significantly more in…

You have to bring $100,000 of your own personal money into the company (so investment from 3rd party doesn't count).

You also have to maintain control of your company, ie you can never give away more than 50% of the equity in the company - and that will be prohibitive when seeking investment.

The company is thus limited in it's ability to fundraise above a certain point and an exit is impossible without the founder leaving the country.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#86

Post by amastilovic »

ovi256 wrote: post #22
DirtyAndy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually depending on where you are from you can also apply for the Greencard Lottery. Free way to get a Greencard. http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/

Applying to the Greencard lottery puts you on some kind of blacklist for US visas. Happened to a friend from Romania years ago. No idea if this is official policy or not, but he always got his visas refused afterwards, even after careful preparation. Hope things have changes.

This has simply not been true for me. I participated in DV lottery for quite a few years, and later on had multiple visits to US Embassy and never have had any kind of problems with getting my visas approved whatsoever.

I think your friend might be having some other issues, not the DV lottery.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#87

Post by suthakamal »

dotBen wrote: post #80
suthakamal wrote: post #41

If you enter the US on a B2 business visitor visa, after being in the country for 60 days you can petition in writing for an Adjustment of Status to change your visa to another type. You can remain in the US under the terms of the B2 until you get a reply to your petition, even if it is after the 90 day expiration of the B2. Note that the above is true for canadians. Ymmv for other nationalities.

I don't think this is correct. NEVER stay in the US longer than the duration of your visa on your i94 under ANY circumstances. Even if it's day 89 and the airport is closed for bad weather you must drive to the border (or whatever) to leave otherwise next time you come back into the country it will be picked up and you can get deported + bared from entering US. PLEASE get legal advice if this is your situation. (sour…

If you overstay your visa, then you're absolutely right, you're in for a world of trouble.

However, ONCE you have entered the US on a B2, you can file an I-539 to permit you to extend your stay and apply to change your status to another class of visa.

As it happens, this is precisely the process I've gone through to go from B2 -> TN-1.

That said: Ben's right that you should seek legal counsel from an immigration attorney on all things related to the visa process.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#88

Post by jbarham »

kareemm wrote: post #83
jbarham wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, TN is easy to get (I've had it) but there are two major restrictions: 1. You cannot apply for a green card on TN visa 2. It has to be renewed annually, and you have to demonstrate continued strong ties to Canada (bank accounts, family, etc.), so US immigration would no doubt get suspicious if you kept renewing

> You cannot apply for a green card on TN visa Actually, you can: http://www.naftatnlawyer.com/applying-for-green-card-tn-st/ > It has to be renewed annually There's a 3 year TN now: http://www.naftatnlawyer.com/nafta-tn-blog/2008/10/16/three-... If you're Canadian, I suggest subscribing to the Grasmick.com newsletter and poking around the site. Lots of good info there.

Thanks for the info. Things have obviously changed since I had my TN in 2006.

However, looking at the green card application process on the TN it doesn't look like it's any easier than it is on an H1B.

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#89

Post by dotBen »

suthakamal wrote: post #87
dotBen wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is correct. NEVER stay in the US longer than the duration of your visa on your i94 under ANY circumstances. Even if it's day 89 and the airport is closed for bad weather you must drive to the border (or whatever) to leave otherwise next time you come back into the country it will be picked up and you can get deported + bared from entering US. PLEASE get legal advice if this is your situation. (sour…

If you overstay your visa, then you're absolutely right, you're in for a world of trouble. However, ONCE you have entered the US on a B2, you can file an I-539 to permit you to extend your stay and apply to change your status to another class of visa. As it happens, this is precisely the process I've gone through to go from B2 -> TN-1. That said: Ben's right that you should seek legal counsel from an immigration atto…

So I have a TN (as it happens). If you are looking to get a TN as a Canadian citizen (rather than Mexican, different rules apply for them) you can actually apply for a TN at any airport (not just via Canada). This is a little known fact.

The advice given to me was just to take a trip somewhere and come back into the country to get the TN rather than apply for an AoS with the DHS (which can take ages to process - they are not really incentivized to process it with a short turnover).

I got my most recent TN at SFO in secondary checking, it was trivial (assuming you qualify + your paperwork is in order, etc).

Re: How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

#90

Post by kareemm »

Surprised nobody has mentioned the O-1 visa for "aliens of extraordinary ability":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-1_visa

AFAIK, a couple of non-US citizens have gotten them to work in the US on YC (the Auctomatic guys). I know DHH was on one to work for 37S.

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