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How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

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Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#91

Post by rmbyrro »

throwaway1507 wrote: post #90
rmbyrro wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you live illegally in the US if you run a tech business? I mean, you can sell tech services to the US market living anywhere legally!..

Please, tell me how to do this. My (SW dev) business so far relies heavily on personal relationships built over long periods of time. I wasn't able to find any other way. I don't have much disposable income for online marketing professionals and ads (I had but it all went to waste).

LinkedIn is great. You'd be surprised how many welcoming people you'll find if you communicate like a real person. But be prepared and don't take personally when someone ignores you or give a bad response. Just move on.

Do extensive research first and make sure there is a real potential that what you offer can be valuable to them. And communicate that. Smaller businesses are much easier to sell to. Startups are even easier, but you have to be sharp, deliver very quickly, and be prepared for a more dynamic environment.

I've sold SWE services as a solopreneur to customers in the US, UK, even Hong Kong. All through direct messages on LinkedIn.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#92

Post by throwaway1507 »

hasty_pudding wrote: post #49

There should be a series on hacking the American immigration system to work around all of its draconian rules.

You should try immigrating to one of the EU countries... I tried helping a senior programmer friend. No amount of experience, proof or whatever else could change the government's stance - they don't have an employer so they surely must be looking to exploit the social system - bye.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#93

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

Congrats OP! I'm trying to choose my words carefully, because I don't want to give the wrong impression:

1. I think it's great that OP got the visa, and it's clear (at least to me) that we should be attracting entrepreneurial types like OP to start businesses in the US. I also understand that our immigration system is hopelessly broken, and oftentimes the best one can hope to do is "hack" the system. So I commend you for not just hacking the system, but posting this to Hacker News!

2. It seems pretty apparent that while OP may be able to "check some of these boxes", he, at least to me, doesn't meet the "Extraordinary Ability" intent of this visa. I worry that with more spotlight on these types of applications that various political movements would try to tighten the loopholes for this visa.

To expand on number 2, raising 98K from family, friends and seed investors really does not strike me as a "nationally or internationally recognized award". Again, clearly it is by the letter of the law (at least the rules of the USCIS), but that surprised me as a layperson. The section on "Being employed in a ‘critical capacity’ at an organization with a distinguished reputation" seemed even more dubious. Path, OP's startup that is nothing more than a pitch deck and 100k in funding, is "an organization with a distinguished reputation"???

Again, to be 100% clear, I don't fault OP at all for going this route, and on the contrary, I commend him for "playing the game" correctly. I just worry about the downstream consequences of "pulling back the curtain" and showing how the game works to a larger audience.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#94

Post by throwaway1507 »

rmbyrro wrote: post #91
throwaway1507 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please, tell me how to do this. My (SW dev) business so far relies heavily on personal relationships built over long periods of time. I wasn't able to find any other way. I don't have much disposable income for online marketing professionals and ads (I had but it all went to waste).

LinkedIn is great. You'd be surprised how many welcoming people you'll find if you communicate like a real person. But be prepared and don't take personally when someone ignores you or give a bad response. Just move on. Do extensive research first and make sure there is a real potential that what you offer can be valuable to them. And communicate that. Smaller businesses are much easier to sell to. Startups are even…

Did you have any issues regarding your timezone? I had some good leads there (and some success too, but always with local people) but the timezone thing killed it every time.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#95

Post by apapapa »

drtournier wrote: post #62
apapapa wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long did the process take? I became a citizen without an attorney and from start to finish it was about 5 years... Different process used though (got married). Got a pile of paper about 2 inch high from all the forms I had to fill, mail that I sent and received, etc... Painful process.

Our case took around 14 months for the EB-1 from the first call to lawyer to the green card in our mailbox.

How long including citizenship, if that was the goal?

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#96

Post by hasty_pudding »

j7ake wrote: post #75
hasty_pudding wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the immigration system broken? Or are there just billions of Indian and Asian people?

There are 750 million Europeans , and maybe 4.5 billion Asians (6 times more in Asia than Europe). But the wait and difficulty is much more than 6 times if you’re Asian versus if you’re European.

immigration should be on a country by country basis, not on a population basis.

so if your country has tons of people (for whatever reason), that's kind of your country's fault and not the immigration systems fault.

while there are benefits to a culture of having 12 kids theres also negatives.

Europeans seem to have moderate family sizes for some reason.

why is that?

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#97

Post by hasty_pudding »

throwaway1507 wrote: post #92
hasty_pudding wrote: post #49

There should be a series on hacking the American immigration system to work around all of its draconian rules.

You should try immigrating to one of the EU countries... I tried helping a senior programmer friend. No amount of experience, proof or whatever else could change the government's stance - they don't have an employer so they surely must be looking to exploit the social system - bye.

it's good in a way, allowing immigrants to leave their country of origin... deprives a country of its talent.

instead of making their own country great another country is benefiting from their talent.

and it's a self reinforcing system.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#98

Post by petronio »

ceejayoz wrote: post #44
beaeglebeached wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why wouldn't they? They'd probably just use the business tin as the taxable account owner and then their real foreign passport as the UBO for KYC. If they can't do that it would surely break the wheels of industry as foreign owned US businesses need US bank accounts. IIRC banks need a ITIN or SSN + passport or ID of the UBO

Documented immigrants will get a ITIN and/or EIN. Undocumented immigrants are far more likely to go the... undocumented route.

Undocumented immigrants can get an ITIN, and many do. A lot of the time the ITIN will be used where it's allowed (opening bank accounts) and a counterfeit social security card where it's not (applying for employment).

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#99

Post by petronio »

gumby wrote: post #67
wil421 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you go through the trouble? Most people I worked with in restaurants would just find someone’s name/ssn to use, put they had 10 children, and never ever file taxes. I think there was a shady underground way to match illegal immigrants with SSNs. Or they just networked heavily in their communities.

It's short-sighted nonsense that undocumented immigrants can't get SSNs. They should be issued SSNs and pay taxes as usual. They are working, and the IRS should be collecting taxes, nothing more, nothing less. If they aren't paying taxes, someone else has to make up the difference. Likewise I want them to get licenses if they can pass the driving laws test, and should be able to get insurance. I don't want to be hit…

Undocumented immigrants can get an ITIN, and many do use them to pay taxes. The IRS really doesn't care where you got your money from, so long as they get their cut.

Where undocumented immigrants won't be able to file their taxes is if they used a counterfeit SSN to be employed, but even in those cases they pay anyways through standard withholding. Most Americans don't know you can adjust withholding, nevermind undocumented immigrants.

Re: How I got an O-1 visa as a software engineer

#100

Post by TMWNN »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #93

Congrats OP! I'm trying to choose my words carefully, because I don't want to give the wrong impression: 1. I think it's great that OP got the visa, and it's clear (at least to me) that we should be attracting entrepreneurial types like OP to start businesses in the US. I also understand that our immigration system is hopelessly broken, and oftentimes the best one can hope to do is "hack" the system. So I commend you…

>I also understand that our immigration system is hopelessly broken, and oftentimes the best one can hope to do is "hack" the system.

Just because something is difficult/time-consuming != "hopelessly broken". (No, kids, the Reason magazine "What Part of Legal Immigration Don't You Understand?" flowchart is not ipso facto proof of this, either.)

There is no obligation for the US, or any country, to turn something as important as determining whether someone is eligible to enter the country into a one-click online process. One might say that the country would benefit by making the process easier, and that may or may not be correct, but that is not the same argument.

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