I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
I’m Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA
I have a job offer from Microsoft in Vancouver and might move there after the pandemic ends. I am Indian citizen residing in India. The main challenge however is that I am disabled (quadriplegic) and I would be needing a caregiver to travel with me to Canada. I understand that there used to be a caregiver visa, for Canada, which was discontinued back in 2019.
So my question really is, is there a way in which I can bring a caregiver from India to Canada? I know one option is to hire a caregiver from Vancouver itself but it’s really going to be difficult, because of the language barriers and the understandings. They are an important part of my life and I cannot function without someone who I can completely trust to live-in with.
Another option would be to take the caregiver along with me on a visitor or tourist visa, but in that scenario, they are not allowed to work in Canada.
I am really looking for solutions here and I don’t want to give up on this amazing opportunity of migrating to one of the most amazing countries in the world with high standard and quality of life.
I can’t comment on Canadian immigration but I can share the names of some good providers in Canada if you’d like. Just email me.
Vancouver being a much younger city is more accessible than the average North America city for wheelchair users, starting with the entirety of the Skytrain system… But you probably already know that. 🙂 Good luck!
Yes, I’m aware of that and really excited! Although, after having lived in India for so long, I don’t really mind the absence of accessibility (life in permanent hard mode here for wheelchair users), and it’s not a key driving factor for me.
There is a significant Indian population in Vancouver – both immigrant and several generations of post-immigration (White Rock, etc.) so if ultimately you must find a caregiver there I wouldn’t expect language to prove problematic. Good luck.
This might be a strange question, but I’ll give it a shot anyway.
Amongst myself and a number of friends (whom work in tech), we’ve observed a similar difficulty with meeting and employing lawyers for either personal- or business-related issues. We all seemed to arrive at the same conclusion that we don’t know any lawyers personally, they don’t seem to be part of our extended circle of acquaintances, and are difficult to find locally and evaluate their ability to handle whatever the need is, without shelling out a decent sum of money upfront.
Maybe this is unique to us, or maybe others here have experienced this too (please chime in). I suppose what I’m asking is what are good ways to find local lawyers with the right specialization (most of the half-decent recommendation services I’ve seen online are paid services). Also, where are y’all hiding? Can I buy one of you a beer?
I am not an immigration lawyer in US. I practice law in a different country. But in general most lawyers put in a lot of work to find and retain clients.
My advice could be to ask around if anybody can recommend any good lawyer, no matter what field he is specialized in. Ask that lawyer if he/she can help you with your questions. If he/she can’t he/she will refer to a colleague that is specialized in the field you are looking for. Lawyers know lawyers :), we network a lot.
Another way could be to try to research the topic you want to get answer to online. Most law firms/lawyers publish informative articles when they have free time for marketing purposes. Contact the lawyer/firm having written that article.
And believe me, if you connect with a lawyer, he’ll come and connect with all your friends who are looking for a lawyer too :).
I’d definitely let you buy me a beer. I’d say the approach is similar to finding people in other professional fields. Ask someone you know and trust in the legal field for a recommendation for someone in a specialty. So, for example, if you have a relationship with a corporate lawyer, ask him or her for a recommendation for a good employment lawyer. Lawyers know lawyers and one way or another likely will be able to connect you to another good lawyer in a specific field or location.
TLDR; Finding a good lawyer is very difficult without a trusted personal referral.
You are getting some good advice below. But remember that at least half of lawyers are below average. And a lot really really suck.
Often price can be a clue, but not always. We have taken over many projects from high-priced name brand firms that were piles of garbage.
Most if not all of our new clients are referred to us by other people that have worked with us.
Asking any lawyer you know to provide a referral for a different area of law can sometimes work out. But be careful if they are referring you to another attorney in their own firm because they may be financially incentivized to do so.
Also, most referral services do not consider the competency or quality of the referred attorneys. Usually, attorneys who sign up to those services simply provide a list of their practice areas/interests and maybe billing rate. Then the referral services simply round-robin their way through the specialty lists.
Another thing to keep in mind is that most good lawyers will be busy, usually very busy.
So how do find a good software developer without paying a lot of salary for trial and error? The real good ones are rarely available, there are many more who will create a buggy mess. And now imagine, that you don’t understand anything about software development yourself.
So what you are asking for is simply impossible, there is no silver bullet.
Excuse the brevity, and I don’t mean to sound harsh, apologies in advance.
Presently doing two legal things that involve legal experts.
So anyway, from my experience:
No, you can’t buy your lawyer a beer. Your lawyer is not your friend.
No lawyer wants to give you anything resembling advice, or even commentary lest it be construed as advice, for free, out of contract, over a beer.
> without shelling out a decent sum of money upfront.
You’ve answered your own question.
We don’t ask doctors and dentists to “come round for a beer wink wink nudge nudge”, so stop asking lawyers and tech people for free advice too.
No we don’t, but I also have a really hard time finding physicians and dentists that I like and trust. It’s not about getting work for free, it’s about trust.
Hi Peter,
I work for a large tech company that has recently announced internally that they will be putting all PERM filings on pause indefinitely. The reasons cited are:
— The 10-day in-house job posting is of dubious quality now because there is no one at the office to to see it (it’s closed and empty because of Covid), and they believe the Department of Labor may notice this and refuse applications.
— Because of the current administration’s outlook on immigration, they’re worried that more filings will be audited/rejected, which could lead to more oversight on future filings for the company, making things more difficult.
They said a number of times that pausing all PERMs is a proactive measure — there have been no issues so far, but they want to make sure there never are any.
The basic premises seem to make sense, but it puts all of us running through the process in a difficult position. They wouldn’t give any timeline for how long such a pause would last, but reading between the lines with office closures, it seems that it would last at least all of 2020, and probably well into 2021.
My question: Is what my company doing reasonable, or is it more of a situation where they’re adopting a very conservative stance to reduce their own risk down to zero, even at the cost of putting all its employees into immigration limbo?
Thanks!
Really both. First, your company can post the notice of filing electronically so that’s not a real issue. But yes, there’s a chance that PERM filing will be scrutinized more closely and audited and denied with greater frequency. But that hasn’t happened yet so I guess in the end I don’t buy that approach. I just don’t think it makes sense to base decisions on things that might happen.
> PERM filing will be scrutinized more closely and audited and denied with greater frequency. But that hasn’t happened yet
Interesting to see you think that way.
My wife recently got her PERM application denied. The reasoning was that the in-house job posting did not include the salary for the position. We think it was a clerical mistake on part of the company attorney and we are trying to move on by looking at other options.
However, last year her colleague obtained PERM with the same job posting template. It gave us the impression that indeed the PERM filings are being scrutinized and denied with greater frequency.
Would posting this on internal Wiki & publishing the link to all employees a reasonable alternative during COVID?
Hi Peter,
I asked my company if there was any electronic alternative for the NOF and they insisted there wasn’t. Do you have any sources I could use to prove this to them? I tried searching something myself but I couldn’t find anything concrete.
I have this very same question. My company announced something similar – that they wouldn’t even be doing PERM recruiting because of the posting requirement, and the risk of getting in trouble with DOL. I too work for a large tech company.
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.
> I have seen many people getting diversity lottery just by virtue of having a family member in USA.
AFAIK the diversity lottery is random and doesn’t take family members into account.
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.
> 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.
I am not sure if that’s really the case. Case in point, the Obama administration. They had 8 years to fix this, but they didn’t.
Now Obama did do some small changes that were a net positive to the immigrant community (Work Permit for spouses who are waiting for GC, 1 year increase in work permit for students who graduate from US colleges, etc). But all the other bad parts of the system are unchanged.
> They had 8 years to fix this, but they didn’t.
I’m not sure if you’re being facetious here, or if you simply are ignorant of how the U.S. Constitution / government works.
There are two types/levels of federal laws: (1) statutory laws – made by Congress (“U.S.C.”/US Code), and (2) regulatory laws (“C.F.R.”) – made by the Executive Branch.
For a statutory law to pass in the US, the House + Senate + President has to agree. When one party has control over all 3, it’s called a “trifecta”. Moreover, in the Senate, you need 60% votes due to the what’s called the legislative filibuster.
Democrats had a trifecta only for 2 years (2009 and 2010). During the remaining 6 years that Obama was in office, Republicans blocked practically everything substantive. The Democrats actually did try to pass a small immigration bill (the DREAM Act) during their trifecta, but that bill (S. 2205) got 52-44 votes, and thus failed due to the legislative filibuster. It’s extremely difficult to pass statutory laws in the US.
Obama and the Democrats spent put a huge amount of effort trying to fix the immigration system, but they were blocked by Republicans through and through.
> Obama did do some small changes
He actually made a huge number of substantial changes with regard to immigration in our regulatory laws (the CFR). More than any recent President. Obama did everything he could that was within his power (ie within the power granted to him by the Constitution and statutory law).
They actually have simplified one thing with electronic filing. At least now you can more easily know when you’re “documentarily qualified” and it’s electronic so they don’t keep losing the stuff you already sent them and demanding it again and you can see exactly what they have.
That, uhh, that doesn’t stop them from simply forgetting to tell you when you have a consular interview and leaving you waiting for months pointlessly to receive the date. By the time we heard back from our Senator’s legal counsel for advice, we already had the visa in hand, but that is a route of escalation if things go crazy. Anyone who gets stuck like that is advised to talk to the consulate directly or have their lawyer do so.
Overall, for us, the worst thing was the glacial speed things move at. It’s funded by the fees paid by applicants, so I don’t know what can be done to speed things up, but it’s incredibly frustrating to be left in limbo for a long time.
Thanks for noticing, it is really crazy indeed. I remember when my wife first came to my country of origin in the EU and it was pretty straightforward. Hope the US improves on this.
German citizen here.
Q1) What is (/are) the easiest path(s) to start a company in the US and/or seek funding there for Europeans? How costly is it?
Q2) If there’s already a company registered in Germany for example, how costly (approximately) is the process to “register a subsidiary” in the US (required for YC), and how would the visas work? (Would spouses be allowed and be able to get a working permit?)
Q1) For entrepreneurs/founders, the best visas are E-1s, E-2s, L-1s, and O-1s. Q2) You are alluding to the L-1 intracompany transferee visa but to work, the Germany company must have employees and be doing business and must continue to have employees and do business after the transfer.
Just a quick note that you will also have many tax issues in addition to the VISA difficulties. I recommend also getting one fo the top tax firms to have a look at your situation before you move. (I didn’t and it was a very expensive mistake to make)
Q1) starting a LLC in Delaware/Nevada
I’ve always thought converting an LLC to a C-Corp is either not possible or prohibitively expensive, even for a growing startup. Is that the case?
Also Nevada? That’s new to me!
LLC to C-Corp is easy and inexpensive.
There can be huge tax consequences of going the other way around, though.
I’ve been involved in several startups which enjoyed favorable tax treatment as an LLC, and then converted to a C-Corp upon the first round of outside financing.
It’s possible, I once went through that process, but it took ages. But if you want substantial external financing, there is no other option.
Last time I checked, both Delaware and Nevada were tax-free up to $1M revenue. However, franchise tax depended on the amount of C-Corp shares (i.e. instead of paying $250 for an LLC one could end up paying $70k for a C-Corp). And for your personal taxes it depends on the agreement between the US and your home country. In the worst case you’d have to pay both if there is no agreement.
What type of professional would I need to talk to, to learn more about this? I’ve been looking at Stripe Atlas and Firstbase.io for options, but I want to talk to someone that can tell me what the best option for incorporating is.
Hallo! You may want to check Stripe Atlas out: form a C Corp in Delaware for $500 plus some ongoing costs.
Disclaimer: I work at Stripe.
Hey Peter,
Thank you so much for doing this!
Im a German citizen living in Mexico. Since I have been to Iran I no longer qualify for ESTA and had to apply for a visa at the embassy here in Mexico City to visit the USA.
My visa has been in processing for 2y now and I have not received any response other than “still in processing, we will be in touch”. What do you recommend? Is there anything I can do to accelerate this? Or withdraw the application and apply from Germany?
Thanks a lot!!
My ESTA was revoked (unilaterally and with no reason ever given). I waited on a B1/B2 in Administrative Processing for basically 12 months – all of 2019.
It’s a frustrating process because there is literally no information available when the application enters this state, although my suspicion is that this is because nothing is being done.
Anyway it might have been longer but eventually the company’s legal team collected statements from all the people this had happened to and they were submitted to one of the US Senators in the state where the company is based. My visa was issued shortly afterwards.
Not sure what message you can take from this except perhaps that the whole system is crazy (arguably even corrupt?)
(To head off the first question: No I don’t have any criminal record, and there is no reason anyone has come up with as to why the ESTA was revoked.)
I’ve seen such delays. Unfortunately, there’s very little that can be done but as a first/next step, I would ask a Congressional office for assistance/to inquire with the Consulate.
Never heard about not being eligible for ESTA after having travelled to Iran. WTF? What kind of weird rule is that?
From https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-…:
“Under the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, travelers in the following categories must obtain a visa prior to traveling to the United States as they are no longer eligible to travel under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP):
Nationals of VWP countries who have traveled to or been present in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011 (with limited exceptions for travel for diplomatic or military purposes in the service of a VWP country).
Nationals of VWP countries who are also nationals of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria.”
And you did not use the two passports trick – common if you are Woking in the middle east ?
2 passports only help for situations in which they really only check entry/exit stamps in your passport. In this case, when applying for ESTA, you explicitly have to declare that you haven’t been to the above-mentioned countries and therefore qualify. If you tick the wrong box, its quite possible that they
i) either reject your ESTA application
ii) or reject entry to the country on arrival
and in both cases that significantly dampens your chances of ever getting an ESTA/Visa again.
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 falsely immigrate, lying about work or something, so it can’t be that much of an issue to lie in your paperwork or she would have gone to prison??
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 the internet: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/iran-scientist…
Recap of the saga:
An Iranian university professor (who had previously studied in the US and has ties to the US) requested a US visa. It was granted. Hew was arrested as soon as he entered the US. He was charged with wire fraud, visa fraud, and stealing trade secrets. After a lengthy trial, 2 years later, he was cleared of any charges and acquitted. But then ICE took him into custody because they had revoked his visa and he was in the US without a valid visa (please note that he had no choice in this, as he was forbidden from leaving the US while the trial was proceeding and he was taken into custody again immediately after the trial concluded. Real catch-22). Then he spent a couple of months in ICE custody and his frequent requests to be sent back to Iran was denied. He got infected with COVID-19 during this time. And finally in June, he was deported to Iran.
And this is the case of someone who was innocent. Imagine what would have happened if he were actually guilty. They gave him a visa so they could arrest him and charge him with visa fraud (among other things). Even when he was acquitted, he spent more time in jail because they retroactively revoked his visa. And most important of all, none of this even made front page. This is not one of those WTF cases that are so rare you might as well ignore them. Following the news on this over the years, the tone was always “yeah, nothing special about this case.”
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.
Just a small nit, but tax evasion is a crime. Tax avoidance is normal and expected.
I’m signing off now but I’ll be checking in again tomorrow morning and responding to anything I’ve missed or any new questions/comments. If you posted something and I missed it, please re-post. Thanks.
I’ll be taking a break now for about an hour. Anything I can’t respond to today I’ll respond to over the weekend. Thanks.
Is it risky to change jobs on H1B with an I-140 approved right now? Both in terms of H1B transfer and especially a new PERM filing since a lot of Americans are out of jobs right now. Have you noticed or do you anticipate PERM filings being difficult?
Thanks for doing this, Peter!
To date, because of the pandemic and job loss, I haven’t seen any change in H-1B or PERM processing (and in fact I would argue both have improved in recent months) but it’s possible – even likely – that PERM processing will be impacted because of the job loss.
If I changed jobs and transfer went through, I’m still able to get an H1B extension with an already approved I-140 even if the new PERM filing is impacted, yes?
Thanks again!
I can see that I am getting a lot of questions about options to move to the U.S. The answer is going to be very fact-specific – tied to your background/achievements. If you would like me to assess your options, please email me your CV.
My question is related to green card holders that went back home to spend quarantine with family.
Can they lose the green card if they spend too much time abroad? How long can they safely stay abroad before losing the GC?
For people that want to get citizenship through green card. How long before their clock resets? How likely is the gov to understand quarantine as a good reason to stay abroad?
Yes, it is possible to lose a green card if one spends too much time outside the U.S. but there are steps one can take before leaving the U.S. to protect one’s green card (that is, apply for a reentry permit) and steps one can take to reactivate a green card if stuck outside for a very long time (more than one year) (that is, apply for a returning residence visa). There is no exception to the reset – one year continuously outside will reset the residence clock for naturalization purposes.
Yes but that process is very unfriendly. First you need to know you are going to spend over 1 year abroad. Since you can only apply before you leave. Second it takes month to approve and costs 500+ USD to apply for that permission.
If you left without the intent to stay longer than a year and had to extend for unforeseen circumstances (say a global pandemic heavily reduced air travel options) than you are out of luck.
For me it would be more convenient to spend 6 months abroad and then a couple months in the US then go back and spend another 6 months abroad.
If I do that technically I’m complying with all the rules and my green card should be safe while also not reseting my clock for citizenship. But the USCIS seems to be a bit vague on what would happen if I did that.
> But the USCIS seems to be a bit vague on what would happen if I did that.
That’s because the CBP officer who evaluates your request for entry on a permanent resident visa has the discretion to say that you are “likely” residing elsewhere and “remind”/”advise” you of the requirement to be permanently resident inside the United States in order to keep PR status.
The six month rule is less of a rule and more of a presumption but if a CBP officer sees a series of entry stamps all hovering around that six month mark, the officer can make that note and the next officer might declare that you’ve abandoned PR status and you’d then have to go through the process overcome that.
That makes sense the system would be setup like that.
I’m not trying to game the system, but these are weird times. I wish USCIS was a bit more flexible during these times to avoid unnecessary travel and let people quarantine with family while maintaining status.
I’ve anecdotally heard that it’s possible to go from a TN -> Green Card. Light googling is pretty mixed on the subject; one side takes the stance that it’s strictly not possible and the other says it is, but a risk.
Can you comment on your take? Is it possible to do this, what are the risks, and would you recommend it vs. trying for the H1B lottery?
Yes, it’s possible and we do it all the time in fact. The issues are around timing of the filing of the green card application and international travel and renewal of the TN after the filing. Generally, it’s not advisable for naturalized Canadian citizens who were born in countries with green card backlogs (that is, India and China).
Not a lawyer, but somebody who went through the greencard process.
The answer is yes. Same for E3 (for Australian).
The risk is once your company files I-140 petition (petition for immigrant workers), you might be denied entry if you leave the US. It’s hard to prove your non-immigrant intent… So if you have less than a year on your i-94 it’s risky (i-140 takes a while these days to process – mine took 1 year). It would take a few more months to get the EAD and advance parole document before you can travel internationally. So consider these factors as you will have to miss visiting Canada in the meantime.
My friend who was on E3 went through this and his i-94 was running out so he was told he might not be able to work while the application is still pending (the company did offer to continue paying him though, which was nice).
H1B lottery is safer, but the chances are low. If you have a committed employer + stable job then I’d go with the adjustment of status route.
Ah interesting. This makes me wonder if now is the optimal time to try this given that going back to Canada is less appealing.
It’s also interesting that your friend managed to stay in the country despite his i-94 running out. I didn’t think that could be done.
This gives me a lot to think about, thanks!
> friend managed to stay in the country despite his i-94 running out.
His adjustment of status was pending so there’s a grace period (check with your lawyer). He was basically waiting for his EAD/Advance Parole card at that point!
(IANAL) Once your I-485 is pending you can remain in the US for as long as it remains pending, on that basis. [1]
Most people also file an I-765 and I-131 alongside the I-140, I-485 and I-693 forms, and once approved, you’ll be issued an EAD/AP combo card which entitles you to work in the US and return to the US on the basis of the pending I-485. This travel and employment eligibility is separate from any previous E-3 or TN status.
Once you file, you no longer have to maintain your previous nonimmigrant visa status, but if you don’t, a rejected I-485 would subject you to immediate removal. If you do, you can return to your old status.
If someone on H1b wants to create a business, a non profit, or just wants to freelance – what are the options available to them?
There’s no option to freelance while on an H-1B visa and the options to work for another entity concurrently – that is, to get paid by another entity – are very limited and self-employment is generally prohibited. That being said, preliminary steps to create a business or to volunteer for a non-profit are allowed.
Thanks! Can you please provide any further links (or keywords to search for) regarding the ‘preliminary steps’ that are allowed?
Thank you! I was going to ask the same question.
Also, once the business set up..what if it generated profit as h1bs are not allowed to get paid by other entities..
Really complicated and nuanced stuff unfortunately. What’s clear is that one can incorporate, get office space, build a product, and even get funding and that one can’t get paid cash for work done. Everything else in between is nuanced, such as generating revenues if not taking a draw or cut. I’d be happy to talk this through with you and anyone else but my general approach is that once the business is real (not a great definition, I know) and not just a hobby or side project, one needs to get work authorization.
Thanks for doing this, Peter.
My I-140 is approved and my wife has an EAD. Are there any restrictions that would prevent her from opening an LLC and getting paid for her freelance work through it?
I’m a Canadian residing in the United States and have been on a TN for a few years and was selected in the H1B lottery this year.
Would the visa ban prevent me from re-entering after October when I receive the H1B? Would it also prevent me from switching jobs before January when it expires?
That appears to be so because Canadians are visa exempt but there’s been no explicit statement/clarification of this by the government.
Hi Peter, I am an Indian citizen on an H1B. Recently, my H1B was extended and so I have the I-797A. However, now the H1B stamp in my passport has expired. I would like to travel outside the country in the fall, but it seems like traveling back to India to get a stamp is not a possibility. What are my options to get my passport stamped? Or should I not even bother taking such a chance and stay put?
Stay put. It appears that you are subject to the latest proclamation/ban on the issuance of H-1B visas and further nearly all US Consulates are still closed and not processing visas except in very limited circumstances.
Hey Peter – It seems that almost 2/3 of the USCIS staff will be furloughed starting August 3rd. What is the likely impact on processing times? Also in particular, any insight on adjustment of status applications?
If that happens, then I think premium processing will be suspended and the processing of any application or petition by USCIS will take forever; I think USCIS effectively will come to a halt.
What will happen to those filing an I-751 if USCIS is basically shut down for a while due to a furlough? Will there be any special considerations for those who may have to file during the time the USCIS is operating at minimal capacity?
I’m sure that filings will be accepted and receipt notices eventually issued; it’s just that decisions/approvals will take forever.
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.
Unfortunately I don’t know the mechanics, I just know that legally it’s possible to employ someone abroad as a direct employee even if he or she has no US immigration status. For those who can navigate such things, I’d contact an accounting firm that’s part of a global network.
Yeah they’re cool; basically they take on your employees full-time and subcontract them back to you. This way they’re fully papered up, and can even provide benefits. They’re not the cheapest way to go, but once you have a big enough presence in a foreign country you can always open up a local office of your own and transfer them over.
For those viewing solutions here, do your diligence on permanent establishment. You’re almost certainly still liable for corporate tax in country where you’re indirectly employing people, OECD is clear on that as a general guideline. Few solutions bother with actual compliance here and are in a bit of a legal grey area.
For people in the US who are on H1- B and also aren’t eligible for an E-1 visa, other than O-1 is there a different immigration path to founding a company in the US?
My wife moved here last year on a K-1 Visa and currently has her EAD while awaiting her green card which has been delayed even further than normal due to Covid-19 office closures.
She’s a data scientist and has had numerous interested recruiters call her only to ask if she has a green card. When she states she has an EAD and IS awaiting her Green Card they say that’s not sufficient and end the conversation. Is this legal? Seems like discrimination and is extremely frustrating for the both of us.
It’s borderline/barely legal. A company can base a decision not to hire on uncertainty or cost. But there’s really no uncertainty and no cost here. So I would challenge the recruiters on this.
This should be illegal https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/employee-rights-and-resour…
My wife had the same experience during our green card process when she was on an EAD and a company said they couldn’t proceed until she got her green card. Now, I don’t think it was on purpose. The person she was talking to was young and, while most Americans know what a green card is, probably very few know what EAD is so they’ll just default to the safe answer.
Your wife should probably answer with “I have legal work authorization in the US” and leave it at that. Really, this is what the recruiters should be asking as well, not whether or not she has a green card.
How to satisfy the PERM physical notice posting requirement when all offices are closed due to CoViD (keycard access is revoked, all employees WFH)? Is it enough to post it in an empty office and/or electronically on the intranet? What if the office never reopens, or not anytime soon?
I think along with the physical office, you also have to post it in journals/job boards etc., I think it should not be impacted, but will wait for proberts to respond.
The requirement to post a notice of filing either physically or electronically hasn’t gone away because of the pandemic although the DOL has relaxed the requirement. One solution is to post electronically if a physical posting isn’t an option.
Hey Peter, thanks in advance.
I’ve been on an H1B for 4 years now and have had Greencard filed a few yrs ago. I’ve been working for almost 5 years and want to take a longer time off, two or three months sabbatical/unpaid leave.
I would still like to stay in US (my parents live here). Is this possible? Will I lose my visa or greencard status?
For international students in the USA who are looking to found a company, what’s the path look like immigration wise?
I know you can go down the H1-B, O-1 or Green Card route, but what do you commonly advise?
How about both cases.
As a student you’re on CPT and OPT. And after you graduate, OPT.
Is there a huge difference?
You can’t work for your own company while on CPT and you can while on your first year of OPT and with some additional restrictions/requirements you also can work for your own company while on STEM OPT.
Can you please tell us more about the STEM OPT restrictions/requirements? I am exactly in that position right now!
Have there been any substantial strides made on merit-based immigration as a partial alternative to the current H1B status? How would that affect the current startup ecosystem?
No real movement on this as far as I am aware. But what has been proposed would completely transform the U.S. immigration system.
Not a question. Just wanted to thank your team, and Michelle in particular, for invaluable support and guidance in what has been a harrowing year.
I met someone recently from one of the countries south of the US border that came to the US as a kid. Very talented and hardworking but undocumented. She may be here on the Dream act, but I did not feel it appropriate to ask at the time. Currently she is doing a masters degree in mechatronics and robotics. Schools are are not allowed to ask about status, so she is taking the opportunity to invest as much as possible in her education, however given her skills she also has the ability to earn well.
I was fortunate to be born as a citizen in the US so I don’t know how to navigate such issues. As I understand it, it is a minefield for a company to hire undocumented workers, even if they are highly skilled workers. Are undocumented individuals allowed to start companies? Does YC have a stance on this from an investment perspective?
FWIW: there is no DREAM act, it never passed. DACA is an executive order, not a law, and (somewhat hilariously in context) it remains in effect, allowing undocumented immigrants who arrived as children to get a renewable work permit.
That permit allows someone to live and work in the country. Anyone can hire her as long as she has it.
As far as starting a company: that’s an interesting question. That’s not an employment issue. My guess is that even people without work permits could found a company, as foreigners are always allowed to hold property in the US. But having done so, I guess it would be possible to prohibit the founder from working for their US company from within the borders? Would love to hear the poster chime in on this.
Thanks for clarifying, I wasn’t aware how it all worked.
Not sure I have much to add. Some of my closest friends have been immigrants and refugees with an unbelievable amount of courage in the face of a red-tape system.
This friend is many years younger to me (I’m enrolled in the university as an adult working-professional student). Generally, given her ability to earn based on her skills, I am simply trying to understand what opportunities are available to people in her situation.
To add to this DACA could have been repealed in the recent SCOTUS ruling but due to improper legal proceedure it wasnt cancelled. I don’t know if anything else would threaten DACA.
What part of the ruling said that DACA was illegal?
My understanding was that they said that the current administration did have the power to end DACA, but that the justification they gave for doing so (that DACA was illegal) was incorrect, so it could not be ended until they gave a proper justification for it.
This blog is usually solid https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/06/opinion-analysis-court-re…
Ruiling:
>Today Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by the court’s four more liberal justices, agreed with the challengers that the decision to terminate DACA violated the APA. Before they could reach that key issue in the case, however, they had to dispose of a threshold question: whether courts have the power to review the decision to end DACA in the first place.
>Roberts reiterated that the court was not deciding “whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies.” Instead, he stressed, the court addressed “only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action” – which, in the majority’s view, it did not.
That’s not right. They didn’t rule on its legality at all (though they have in the past, in other cases, and let it stand as it exists). They ruled that the executive branch (under Trump) has the authority to cancel the EO written under the Obama administration (which is sort of a “duh” thing, of course it does), but that the justification provided for the action was arbitrary and capricious (in the technical sense defined by the Administrative Procedures Act).
Loosely: any president can undo any executive action by a previous president, but you can’t chuck a law simply because you don’t want immigrants in the country.
Really all the Trump administration needs to do is write up a reasonable plan for rolling this back and they can do it.
> Roberts then went on to the second step in the court’s inquiry. The Duke memorandum, he observed, concluded that DACA was illegal and should be terminated because it made DACA recipients eligible for benefits such as Social Security, Medicare and the ability to work legally in the United States. Roberts declined to weigh in on whether the Trump administration was correct in concluding that DACA was illegal
I suppose we are in limbo here
I am a Canadian technical writer who is also a programmer and a graphic designer. Is it easier for me to work in the states through a TN visa (which specifically mentions technical writers)? I’ve never tried looking in the US but I’ve always wondered if that would help ease some of the visa issues.
The TN is a good option and all occupations are good TN options (depending on your education because there needs to be a nexus between your education and the job): technical writer, (software) engineer, and graphic designer.
You should choose the TN occupational category that will fit your job description and experience/education best.
That’s correct and the occupations that I/you listed are all solid TN occupations – meaning generally there’s no issue getting them if you also have the appropriate corresponding education.
The TN visa does not have a lottery, unlike the H1-B. It also comes out much faster.
Has the current political climate affected Canada to US TNs or are they still being issued as before? Any particular port of entry that you’d favor/avoid?
We’re starting to see greater scrutiny and more irrational decision-making (such as concluding that a degree in computer science isn’t an appropriate degree for software engineers) but for the most part, TN applications are being processed as before (by USCIS and CBP). Regarding ports to favor/avoid, the answer really depends on the nature and quality of the TN application.
I would do two things: contact a Congressional office to make an inquiry with the Consulate and submit a FOIA request.
I hesitate to stray into political territory, but maybe we can discuss without animosity or vehemence from others.
As an immigration lawyer, you undoubtedly see the complexity and huge volume of paperwork needed for even talented and skilled immigrants to this country. They approach a book sized application.
Do you ever find it inequitable or frustrating, that some classes of immmigrants are by comparison, basically waved through? What things about the immigration / visa system would you recommend immediately be changed or fixed to improve our situation?
I’m a bit surprised that there are so many Canadian & Europeans wanting to get into the US to work at this point given our rapidly deteriorating political and covid19 situation.
If you’re a European, chances are you earn 1/6th of the salary of an equivalently skilled American in tech. That’s why they want to move.
Europe screws tech workers.
Would you trade better politics, as you perceive, for millions of dollars less in retirement when considering compounding investments?
In fact, Europeans can earn substantially more money by moving to the UK or Switzerland even. EU countries are some of the worst places to be for a talented software engineer.
New graduates in the US often earn more than senior-level developers in the EU.
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 you plan on moving to. 70K CAD in Ottawa or Montreal is going to get you infinitely further than 115K USD in SF or SJ. You’d probably need closer to 200K in SF to match that lifestyle.
Instead of comparing your $70K CAD salary at home by converting to $52K USD at market exchange rates, you should adjust it via purchasing power parity (as you are looking to figure out how far your new pay would take you in your new home relative to what you have now — not make a purchase in the other country with foreign money). $70K CAD, adjusted for PPP is $75K USD. If you did the same notional conversion for $115K USD in San Francisco (where real estate is 7X the national average price per square foot) you’d probably wind up at $50K.
Now if you’re planning to save money and send it home, that’s different.
> 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.
First off, you’re probably earning more than 115k in the Bay Area.
I moved from Canada and went from $90k CAD to $180k USD. Even with the high cost of rent, I can save more here than what my take home pay was in Canada. I’ll admit though that I don’t have kids and I don’t have health conditions. That would change the equation a lot.
Additionally, the ceiling is higher here. I felt like I was approaching the ceiling in Canada unless I wanted to move to Toronto.
I agree, I was specifically using the numbers OP provided without geographic hint and saying that blanket rules don’t apply and you should really use PPP instead of exchange rate to compare against a notional dollar — and consider the PPP of the city or state you want to work in the US.
What matters isn’t how much you’re making but how far it will take you in the new home you’re considering as compared to how far your current salary will take you in your current home. Of course, if you’re making $500K-600K as a staff engineer in the Bay Area there’s a different conversation to be had.
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?
A safety net and gov provided healthcare isn’t all that important for your average high earning single tech worker who has no kids.
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.
Because salaries are adjusted based on which postal code you live at, so you’ll be getting Canadian wages if you’re working in Canada.
The US, or at least the bay area, pays more.
Besides, you guys are generating herdv immunity as fast as possible. Time it right and moving to the US could greatly decrease your chances of being infected.
To be clear, this is a individual strategy not a group one. It’s moving from a place with a curve that spikes late, to a place with a curve that spikes early, such that you dodge both spikes. This doesn’t work for society as a whole (which can’t just up and move to dodge the virus).
Nor am I claiming that California has yet achieved any substantial degree of herd immunity. Just that projecting current rates forward I think you will before I actually end up moving there (it helps that I have a lot of flexibility).
That said, the 70% figure in your article is too high. Research [1] and experience in Sweden [2] suggests that there are substantial benefits at just 40%.
I’m a Canadian Citizen going to the University of Waterloo. My next co-op work term is Winter 2021 (Jan-April). Would it be possible for me to work for a US company for that term? I’ve done the J-1 process twice before and that worked great in 2019, not sure about now given the visa suspension and COVID. Would appreciate any ideas here.
– Could I still get a J-1 for Winter 2021?
– Are there any other avenues for Canadians to work for a US company (possibly remotely) without a visa (if visas are still suspended)?
There are no US immigration requirements to work remotely for a US company – that is, you don’t need a visa or work authorization – but to work in the U.S, work authorization would be required and the J-1 won’t be available again until January at the earliest.
A thought: are TN “visa’s” still available at this time? I know in the past some people have used them for co-op, but unclear if that was really by the book as it’s unclear if they meet the education requirements.
edit: I really shouldn’t have said “education requirement” – it’s a job categorization, so education is only supporting evidence that your job meets the criteria.
For Canadians, TN-1’s are not visas but statuses adjudicated at the border (they’re typically just I-94s linked to passports), so they never “run out” as such (no quota).
However the TN is a status for restricted NAFTA (USMCA) professional categories, and typically requires proof of qualifications (in this case, education). I could be wrong, but an undergrad intern typically does not fit these categories. I’m surprised people have used it for co-op.
Right, that’s why I put visa in quotes. And yes, there is no quota but I wasn’t clear if there were e.g. COVID related restrictions on application currently.
People have definitely used this for even undergrad co-op, but I don’t know how widespread. Obviously more easily applicable for grad students.
Part of the issue is that as you note the admissibility criteria is decided by the border agent you randomly see. So you provide evidence of education and fit for a TN category, but they decide if you qualify, and it’s unclear how much guidance they have in this. Appeal process is mostly only through the same agent.
NB: my experience in this area is a bit out of date, things may have changed.
Is it possible that those students were masters/PhD students? Then it’s possible that that would satisfy the TN requirements
Thanks for doing this. I have started working in the US with L1B visa in March but because of the pandemic and the US-Canada border closure I have not been able to move there officially. My L1B was issued in a US-Canada land border (basically flagpoled – took the visa and came back) and my company is fine working remotely since we will be working from home for the rest of the year anyway.
However I need to get a SSN and so far from the SSA website they are issued only through a physical appointment. I have called up a few SSA offices and they all told me they are closed right now and don’t take any appointments. They will let me know when they start scheduling appointments and at that point I will have to go to their office and attend the interview physically.
My questions are:
1) assuming the border remains closed for a while and I have no means of going there while the current EO is in force, is there an alternative way of getting SSN you know of?
2) If it comes to that and there is no way of getting SSN without going there physically – the EO doesn’t impact existing L1Bs but my situation is a bit complex since there was never a stamp in my visa. They just issued I140 and an entry seal in the passport (as is done for all land entries through Canada I suppose). The EO does specifically mention having to have the visa stamp for me to be allowed to enter. How strict do you think the enforcement is going to be and do you think I will be allowed to enter if I attempt when they schedule the interview for SSN? Are the CBP officers enforcing the EO as verbatim or there is room for interpretation for someone who already has L1B but no visa stamps?
FYI, the US border is not closed to Canadians if you enter via air; only the land border is closed to non-essential travel.
Are the border agents at US airports currently processing TN applications? Are all TN workers considered ‘essential’ during the current situation?
The limitation to essential travel only applies to land and sea crossings but regardless coming to the U.S. to work (by applying for admission in TN status) is considered essential travel.
Not a lawyer, but far as I know flights are not restricted between the US and Canada only ground border crossings.
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.)
I obtained PERM with L1 visa and my BSc took 4 years, so that is definitely not the problem.
Hi Peter!
I’m a highly skilled engineer and reasonably accomplished entrepreneur (founder of a VC-backed startup that is still alive but hasn’t taken off, and I no longer work there). I’m a natural born citizen of Sweden and I live there.
I’d like to emigrate to the US, with citizenship as the goal. I can spend a bit of money on it, but I’m not wealthy. What’s my best bet? What would you say is the probability of success?
Thanks in advance,
Björn
The answer really depends on your background/accomplishments and whether you would be working for your own company or for another company. Oftentimes, for entrepreneurs, the best and easiest option is the E-2 investor visa, which is available to Swedish citizens.
Thanks For the E-2 suggestion!
Since my goal is US citizenship and I’m in-between projects right now I’m open both to working for my own company or for another company.
I have a master’s degree in engineering physics. I’ve had senior leadership roles in two VC-backed startups (one of which I founded and was CEO of). I’ve been covered in the press, by regional newspapers and national tech media. I’ve spoken at a number of tech/telecom conferences. I’m the inventor on a handful of patents.
Does that help narrow down other paths?
We should talk. It sounds like you’ll have a good argument for a green card which then leads to citizenship. The question is which path to take in the short-term and the strength of your background likely would allow you to get an O-1 through your own company or another.
What do you think are the effects on the H1B1, especially new H1B1 applications?
What should I do in response to the effects?
What should I fill in if there is a form that asks about visa?
What should I say when recruiters or companies ask about visa during our call?
Thanks for doing this AMA Peter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1b1
The H-1B1 is not subject to the latest proclamation/ban so the only issue (if you are outside the U.S.) is getting an H-1B1 visa since the Consulates are still closed but that’s not an issue if you are in the U.S. – you can change your status to H-1B1 in the U.S. or change your H-1B1 employer. For recruiters, tell them it’s cheap and quick to get H-1B1 work authorization.
How cheap and quick is it to get a new H1B1?
Which reputable links or documents do you send or show when you tell them that it is cheap and quick to get the H1B1?
What did you use to find out that the H1B1 is not subject to the latest proclamation/ban?
Hi Peter,
I hold a GC and have been working outside the US on reentry permit. The latter has already been renewed once, expiring again in Q1 2021. Two questions:
1. Do you anticipate any impact of changing policies on people holding GCs but working outside?
2. What would be the best time to apply for a third extension of the reentry permit, given the pandemic situation.
Thanks.
Q1) No. Q2) You can only apply for a one-year renewal. There are different strategies here depending on how much longer you plan on living abroad and when you intend to travel to the U.S. next.
Peter, if someone is stuck on a tourist visa that is now expired but they cannot travel back to their home country yet due to travel bans, what else can be done other than waiting ? Extension application has already been filed for months since pandemic started but no communication from USCIS yet and the I-94 is now expired.
That really is the best option – filing an extension – and extension applications are taking a while, 3-5 months.
(Current green card holder) I was scheduled to have my citizenship interview in early April that got de-scheduled. On USCIS website it still says I’m scheduled to complete the citizenship process in August, which seems unlikely. Do you have any insight as to whats a realistic timeline to receive my citizenship?
I had a friend in NY who did the citizenship interview last week. I think they’re back to processing OK.
That’s right, USCIS is starting to schedule in-person appointments again and it’s first scheduling those whose appointments were cancelled.
Hey Peter! Former client, And used your firm for several employees. You’ve become an expert in this space. How do you think about scalability and succession planning? What motivates you to keep being so hands on? What has motivated you to become a leader in this field?
Hi Peter, thank you for your time.
I accidentally ripped my certificate of naturalization in half. How much of a risk is it to keep the halves and not get a new one? New one was $555 last I checked; is there any reprocessing or is it just law of supply/demand?
There’s really no need for it. You have a US passport, I assume, which is evidence of your US citizenship and I don’t think it’s any less valid because it was torn.
Mexican + Spanish national here. I dropped out off college to do my YC startup. I’m aware TN visas require a degree, but as far as I can see that’s not the case with O-1. Even if it’s technically not a requirement, would you say this will significantly affect my O-1 chances?
Education is really irrelevant in the O-1 context (and also not required for a few TN occupations) except to the extent (meaning PhD) that it might signify something else (such as publications or original work) but one can publish and do original work without a degree.
How could a potential trump re-election could impact the current working visas L1/H1B/O1 processings?
Hello! I have been running a survey to collect stories and data about immigrants and the companies they transformed, created, or funded.
If you are or have been a technology startup employee, founder, or investor, can you take a few minutes to complete this survey: https://lnkd.in/gSuxfUJ ?
Your answers will help produce a report about the role of immigrants in the tech startup ecosystem.
It matters to me, because over the past 15 years, I have been under a bunch of different visas (J1, F1, H-1B). I believe that I, like many other immigrants in the technology startup world, helped create thousands of jobs in the US. I want to get data to show it and ultimately share around.
(And sorry if it’s a bit off topic)
Hi Peter, Thank you for doing this. If you’re on a H1b visa and waiting for your green card to be come current, can you be the co-founder of a start up? What are the implications and is there a way to set up start up so that the US citizen founder can be the primary?
You are talking about being a founder on the side, I assume, but not filing anything with USCIS so that you can work for/get paid by this company? Then this shouldn’t compromise your green card process. The question is just whether what you are doing is permissible and as discussed above, the limits are a bit murky: at a minimum, don’t get compensated in any way.
Hello, I just got informed that I passed the interviews at google and got accepted by the hiring committee. I am a Mexican and I went to college and passed all my courses but I don’t have my title yet (a very common situation here in Mexico), it might take a year or 2 to do the paperwork to get my college degree. The recruiter told me I will start working remotely and then after covid move to the us, what are my options? I have been working as a software engineer in Mexico for two years. I know the TN visa from nafta would be an option for me but I am not very informed, could you help me?
Can a company file for a green card for a STEM worker without going through the H1B Process?
If so, what are the requirements and the chances. Note, that worker is not the citizen of a country of which there would be a ton of applications from (I think that matters)
Q1) Yes. Q2) No different from the sponsorship requirements for someone in another status. The issues are around the timing of the filing and international travel after the filing.
Hi Peter .. thx for taking time to answer questions on the weekend.
Curious what happens when someone with an H1B (say greater than 3 years used but less than 6 post-extension) leaves the US to go back to their home country? If that person is interested in working in the US again as an H1B, do they need to be subject to the lottery again or are they exempt since they were already “approved” for an H1B?
I heard it has something to do with the time when you re-file to go back? I’m specifically curious about the case when the person decides to go back after a few years (after when the H1B would have expired).
Canadian here btw.
Hello, I just got informed that I passed the interviews at google and got accepted by the hiring committee. I am a Mexican and I went to college and passed all my courses but I don’t have my title yet , it might take a year or 2 to do the paperwork to get my college degree.
The recruiter told me I will start working remotely and then after covid move to the us, what are my options? I have been working as a software engineer in Mexico for two years. I know the TN visa from nafta may be an option for me but I am not very informed, could you help me?
Google should have its own legal department that can help you. I would ask your recruiter to connect you to them.
When renewing an O1, how important is it to have “new” evidence? Can an original O1 case be sufficiently strong that it doesn’t especially matter how much publicly visible, groundbreaking work has been done in the time since it was granted?
Generally, for extensions, new evidence and arguments aren’t required (although we still usually provide what’s readily available such as new press). That being said, although still the exception, more and more USCIS is issuing RFEs on O-1 extensions.
Can you comment on how the EU travel ban on US citizens affects a US citizens ability to live/work in the EU under the umbrella of a non-lucrative visa? If a US citizen receives a non-lucrative visa, would they be able to immigrate to the EU?
I am a Canadian with a TN visa. Is there a requirement that I remain in the country (USA) during the time of this visa? I only ask because now it is tempting to go work from Canada for elongated periods, but I am not sure of the legality
No, you can remain outside; the only requirement is that when you enter the U.S. in TN status, you do your TN work.
I came on a TN visa and now have a E37 green card sponsored by my company where I work as a software engineer. The GC was issued 1 year ago but I would like to look at changing companies while still being in an SE role.
Is there anything I should be aware of with regards to citizenship if I should apply in 4 years?
Anecdata: I have a couple of friends that switched companies as soon as they got their green cards that are US Citizens now.
What are immigration-acceptable ways for a person on a H1-B to start a company and work for it? For someone who is Indian, are there options to found a startup and spend the majority of their time on it?
I’m moving to the US on an H1 the first time with my wife and daughter, and interested to bring my nanny as well.
1- My wife wants to be able to work shortly and my understanding is that she won’t be able to on an H4 until my I-494 is approved). Is it feasible for her to do a J1 if an employer is willing? Are there other options?
2- I’m working on getting the nanny a B2-domestic, but consulates around the world are closed which puts a very long delay on the process. Is it possible to bring the nanny on a tourist/business B1/B2 and do the change within the us? Are there other options?
Your wife can’t apply for work authorization while in H-4 status unless and until you are the beneficiary of an approved I-140 petition (which is a step in the green card process) and the only way for an accompanying nanny to work in the U.S. is to apply for work authorization while in the U.S. in B-1 status.
> and the only way for an accompanying nanny to work in the U.S. is to apply for work authorization while in the U.S. in B-1 status.
My understanding is that we can get the B-1 visa for domestic employee outside the united states. Some counsel has told me that entering the US with the tourist /Business B1/B2 is could be risky.
Do you work on the B1 nanny cases or have a referral of a lawyer to work with such a case? I’m interested in hiring counsel to make it happen.
I’m a PhD from Bio background who became a data-scientist in a health-care related (but not biology research) company. I have been reasonably successful in this job, but because of the change in fields I lost my H1B to a failed RFE the one time I passed the lottery. Now I’m thinking of doing an O1 application, but my assumption has been that all my expertise must now be demonstrated in this new field of health-care data analytics and not from my PhD times, and I’m working on it.
My question is, has the difficulty of getting O-1 visas gone up significantly in the past year or so?
Not really. It’s gone up a bit – or more sideways I should say with USCIS raising different issues – but really we haven’t seen much of a change in the approval rate.
Canadian citizen here, working at a late stage startup. I could not fly out to renew my visa due to the pandemic, so we went through USCIS. My visa appeal has gone into an RFE, and there is a chance it could get denied. I have a couple more months left.
Do American companies have to do anything special immigration-wise for an employee to work from Canada (either temporarily or permanent)? Or is it just a matter of me moving back to Canada and invoicing the company as a sole proprietor (contractor)? Is that a simple solution I could pitch my company?
Really, the company doesn’t need to do anything since US immigration doesn’t apply. What’s the job and what’s your educational background?
My educational background is a Canadian Bachelor’s in an unrelated engineering branch (chemical). I took a few CS courses, got some experience, and have been working in the US for the past 5 years as a software engineer on TN at multiple places. I’m now getting RFE pushback on my latest renewal (same job – backend engineer) that I do not fit the software engineer designation, so our team is seeing what they can do.
I thought there would be major accounting/tax headache for my company to have employees in Canada, although it wouldn’t be an immigration issue for me. If it was as easy as flipping a switch, I’d make the move. I also have another US job offer that is going through the same issue (RFE), so I’m sensing a pattern here.
Hi Peter, can you comment about rumblings that this administration is working on a rule that revoke/resets I140s after a certain number years and make everyone do perm and labor processes again?
Hi Peter, wondering if you seen any changes (due to pandemic and political climate) regarding enforcement and interpretation of “continuous residence” requirement both in terms of naturalization and maintaining permanent residence for green card holders.
Specifically do you think whether there a risk of losing a green card or N-400 being denied on those grounds for a person that has been staying outside the US (in different countries) for 5-7 months per year for the past 3 years, but not exceeding 6 months at any time and maintaining ties to the US?
Thank you!
I can’t comment on your specifics – a careful analysis of the facts would be required – but I haven’t seen any change in the way USCIS is interpreting residence for green card maintenance and naturalization purposes.
How much of a legal trouble am I in if my company shuttered its physical office because of the pandemic? My H1B visa is tied to that address. The company still has another office in another state.
That depends in part on whether you are working from home and whether your home is in the same MSA as the company’s former physical office. But you should check with the company’s attorney.
Does the current COVID restrictions/situation, present a challenge to justify someone’s re-entry into the US for work, as employees can technically ‘work from home’ which is technically possible from abroad? (Asking as a TN holder, Mexican national, visa sticker valid for various months still).
Planning to travel to be back in (flying, commercial), to reduce uncertainty and be ready for an eventual return to office, although no specific date has been given by the employer but I continue to work for them remotely.
Your ability to reenter on your valid TN shouldn’t be impacted by your time outside the U.S. even if extensive; you might just need to provide proof that your employment in the U.S. still exists when you return.
In this comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23940448 you mentioned that self employment is prohibited on H1b.
Can you comment if working on H1b (also have EAD from I485 filed based on employer) and (a) consulting for another firm (in Canada/non-US) is allowed?, (b) consulting for a US firm (1099) is allowed?, and (c) being a youtuber who earns money through ads is allowed?
If you have an EAD, then all is allowed; the question/issue is whether such an activity could negatively impact your pending I-485 application – and it could.
I on EB1B queue working at a uni, and was planning to consult for a Canadian firm, and the scope of work is related to my research area. This is not much info, but at a first glance, does it seems like it would negatively impact? Also my PD recently became current (not sure how long it will take to get the green card).
