[HN Gopher] I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does wor...
___________________________________________________________________
I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and
startups. AMA
I'll be here for the rest of the day. As usual, there are countless
immigration-related topics to discuss and I'll be guided by
whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't
provide legal advice on specific cases because I won't have access
to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your
questions and comments and I'll try to do the same in my answers.
Previous threads we've done:
https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts.
Author : proberts
Score : 137 points
Date : 2025-07-18 14:44 UTC (8 hours ago)
| trycatchthroawy wrote:
| I have a question for a friend who is looking to work at US-based
| companies either remotely and is open to relocating and moving
| there if required, but she is from the UK and a citizen there who
| just left her job as a software engineer at a startup in the UK
| recently.
|
| She is looking to be able to legally work for some of these US
| based companies and is also interested in US startups but when
| applying she cannot answer the US authorization question in the
| application (If she said 'No' it will get her an immediate
| rejection). So my question(s) are:
|
| What is the best visa for her to apply for as a UK citizen to
| work for a US company?
|
| How long will it take for her to get the visa so she can apply
| for US jobs?
| proberts wrote:
| U.S. work authorization isn't required to work for a U.S.
| company if the worker will be working remotely outside the U.S.
| Regarding her work visa options, they are limited. The only
| option immediately available is the O-1 visa, which is for
| people of "extraordinary ability," a high standard but
| attainable by many talented professionals. The H-1B
| "professional worker" visa is much easier to qualify for but
| it's only available once a year and via a lottery so it's not a
| realistic option. If she really wants to work for a U.S.
| company remotely or in the U.S., then she should have a
| consultation with an immigration attorney and have her
| background evaluated.
| quibono wrote:
| Thank you very much, I'm in a similar position as OP's friend
| and this is very helpful!
| ttul wrote:
| The O-1 can cost upwards of $100K to put together. It's a
| very high bar.
| ianhawes wrote:
| That is not remotely true. An O-1, EB2NIW, or EB1A ranges
| from $5K-$15K.
| proberts wrote:
| Correct. While there are some outliers, I think that that
| range is accurate.
| admissionsguy wrote:
| I am assuming this includes manufacturing the evidence?
| y-curious wrote:
| Hi there, love your little series. Are you seeing any clients
| face deportation while possessing greencards? If so, can you
| share some context as to why and what recourse they have?
| proberts wrote:
| Thanks. Not yet. But there are reports, as I'm sure you have
| seen, of DHS revisiting previously approved green card and
| citizenship applications with an eye toward revoking them.
| poki89 wrote:
| Hi Peter, My H-1B status is set to expire in November of this
| year, marking the end of my 6-year limit. My NIW (EB-2) petition
| is currently under review. In the event that my NIW is approved
| after my H-1B has expired, would my employer still be able to
| file for an H-1B extension on my behalf?
| proberts wrote:
| Yes, because the EB2 (NIW) green card category is "backlogged,"
| your employer will be able to file a 3-year extension (beyond
| your 6-year max-out date) once your NIW petition is approved.
| bumblebee331 wrote:
| I just got my green card but the category mentioned on it is
| wrong (E18 instead of E17). Is there an action I need to take?
| Separately, can I use the existing card to travel outside the US
| and reenter?
| proberts wrote:
| Since this was USCIS error, you should be able to get it
| corrected without paying a filing fee by filing a Form I-90
| application. You will need to mail in your green card, however,
| when you submit this application. Regarding travel on your
| green card before you get it corrected, I don't see any issue
| since it's still a valid green card.
| lazzurs wrote:
| What sort of people get O-1 visas? I assume it is people with
| multiple degrees and have decades of experience in a specific
| field?
|
| I am good at what I do, have done public speaking at major
| conferences on what I do but no degree and so assume that i've no
| chance of ever getting into the USA. Currently a UK citizen
| living in Ireland.
| morpheuskafka wrote:
| It's open to things like sport and entertainment, so definitely
| not everyone has many (or any) degrees. Assuming your field is
| somewhat science based I don't know how realistic it would be
| with no degree, but you can search some blogs about it, people
| have covered what they did to rack up publications and stuff to
| check all the boxes (if their work/field wouldn't have
| otherwise needed them).
|
| If you are starting your own business, the treaty investor visa
| could also be a good route. It doesn't require as much
| investment as the investor green card; it is a nonimmigrant
| visa similar to the O-1.
| fooker wrote:
| There's a list of qualifying criteria on the USCIS website. You
| have to satisfy at least three out of the eight or so.
|
| The issue is it's a bit subjective, a lawyer writes down how
| you qualify and some random government employee has to believe
| what the lawyer wrote.
|
| If you receive a RFE or rejection, all your dealings with USCIS
| will face extra scrutiny in future. So it's a bit of a gamble.
| mertleee wrote:
| It's beyond a joke. Recently spent some time at an accelerator
| and the partners of the VC firm were very open about purchasing
| "fake" research or presenting investments as if they were from
| more than one "investor".
|
| I still fail to understand how Dwarkesh Patel managed to "self-
| sponsor" an O-1 with a... tech podcast...
| crowcroft wrote:
| Podcasts are a very significant medium, and Dwarkesh is
| probably comfortably in the top 1% of podcasts. Isn't that
| exactly what O-1 is for?
| mertleee wrote:
| At the time he barely had 10k subscribers. The merits of
| the "genius" VISA should be for research and engineering
| endeavors.
| crowcroft wrote:
| O-1 isn't a genius visa, it is for [1] Individuals with
| Extraordinary Ability or Achievement, the government
| website specifically calls out categories that are not
| research or engineering.
|
| [1] https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-
| states/temporary...
| mertleee wrote:
| The jokes really do write themselves "Extraordinary
| Podcasting Ability".
|
| Would much rather that visa had gone to a researcher or
| engineer who's motto wasn't "not wanting to push pixels
| around at a FAANG".
| antonvs wrote:
| Melania Trump got an EB-1 visa as a model. That's the
| permanent resident version of the O-1, which is
| temporary.
| eitally wrote:
| I don't think so, personally, because I see that podcast as
| entertainment rather than education, and I don't think
| entertainers should ever receive O-1 visas.
| asadm wrote:
| i did o1 twice and then eb1. it's not a joke if you set
| expectations too high in your mind.
|
| all visas are just about fulfilling the legal criteria. if
| you do that, you get the visa. same is true for extraordinary
| alien ones.
| proberts wrote:
| The O-1 is a high standard but it's less about overall
| achievement or standing (like the EB1A green card category) and
| more about meeting specific criteria, which many talented
| professionals and founders do. I would recommend reviewing the
| O-1 criteria (they're listed on USCIS's website, www.uscis.gov)
| and then having an immigration attorney evaluate your
| background. People are often surprised that they meet the O-1
| criteria or with a bit of work will qualify.
| niteshpant wrote:
| One of the qualifications is "Evidence that the beneficiary
| has either commanded a high salary or will command a high
| salary or other remuneration for services as evidenced by
| contracts or other reliable evidence" How does a startup
| founder go about proving this? They don't have quite the
| "high salary" and get paid in equity. What have you seen
| here? How do founders quialify for this part?
| TheJoeMan wrote:
| My dance instructor, who has won an international championship,
| is here on an O-1B. However, his 3 year initial eligibility is
| coming due, and the processing times for the 1-year extension
| is looking like it's going to take longer than 1-year!
| According to Wikipedia, Justin Beiber is here on an O visa, I
| wonder how his gets processed.
| gregsadetsky wrote:
| You can request premium processing for the O-1s, which is
| roughly $3k and guarantees a response within 15 business
| days. [0]
|
| [0] https://www.uscis.gov/forms/all-forms/how-do-i-request-
| premi...
| square_usual wrote:
| Hey Peter! Thank you again for doing this series. Apologies for
| the broad question, but do you think it applying for PERM during
| the current administration is a good idea? My understanding was
| that in the first Trump administration, PERM denials went up
| quite a bit, and with immigration being an even larger concern
| for the second administration I'm wondering if it makes sense
| holding out for a few years if that's a possibility.
| proberts wrote:
| As odd as it might sound, there seems to be an effort on the
| part of the DOL to speed up the processing of PERM
| applications, which are now taking longer than ever. From an
| outcome standpoint, I haven't seen an uptick in denials or bad
| decisions.
| morpheuskafka wrote:
| Since it was coincidentally posted as a news thread today, it
| might be nice to clarify here when the new $250 nonimmigrant visa
| fee takes effect and who it applies to?
| proberts wrote:
| My understanding is that it applies to all approved visa
| applications and is billed when the visa is issued. I believe
| that it takes effect immediately but there was some confusion
| about this. I will try to confirm and advise on this thread.
| morpheuskafka wrote:
| Hmm, so it looks like no on really knows when it takes effect,
| the law itself specified a cost for the current fiscal year,
| but in addition to the usual time to implement the fee in the
| IT systems, there appear to be two issues: what rulemaking
| notices/approvals are needed to decide and impose it (the law
| allows the executive to decide the fee, it just sets a
| minimum), and the fact that DHS not State is supposed to
| collect it, which would greatly complicate processing.
|
| State already has a global cashiering system for visa fees that
| would have been easier to use, although DHS collecting fees is
| not without precedent. For one, the SEVIS fee (a surcharge on
| student visas) is paid directly to DHS by credit card. For two,
| the surcharge on green cards is paid to USCIS, but this one is
| not actually enforced before visa issuance or arrival (they
| will not mail you the card if you don't pay, but you still have
| the status).
|
| https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/18/visa-integrity-fee-what-to-k...
| Kanishka2025 wrote:
| Hi Peter, I wanted to know what all options are available other
| than H1B after F1 OPT visa expires to continue working in United
| States?
| proberts wrote:
| There are specific visas available to those from a handful of
| countries (Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Singapore).
| The other options are the O-1, E-2, and E-1 visas. One
| important point is that while the E-2 and the E-1 visas allow
| founders to get visas to build and run their companies, it also
| allows citizens of the same nationality as the company to get
| an E-2 or E-1 visa. The E-2 and E-1 visas aren't available to
| citizens of every country but they are available to most.
| kyawzazaw wrote:
| What's the fastest timeline to get green card under EB-3? What
| things does the employer company does that could speed things up
| like batch process, generic existing applicable job posting?
| proberts wrote:
| Country of birth is the most important factor. Certain
| countries, most notably China and India, have significant
| backlogs and the process can take many years. For those not
| from a heavily backlogged country, the ways to speed up the
| green card process are limited, including, during the PERM
| process, commencing recruitment when the prevailing wage
| request is submitted (and not yet approved) and using
| recruitment to cover multiple positions/employees. And then,
| once the PERM application is approved, using premium processing
| to accelerate the approval of the next step, the I-140
| petition.
| kchoudhu wrote:
| Wait -- is it country of birth or country of citizenship? If
| I was born in Switzerland but held a Bangladeshi passport
| could I possibly use the former's priority queue?
| potatolicious wrote:
| It is birthplace, so if you were a Bengladeshi national but
| were born in CH, you would fall into the Swiss queue (which
| is the "everyone else" queue).
|
| If this is you, congratulations, this is the shortest
| possible line. Though, if you were Bengladeshi-born I think
| you may actually be in the same queue? The queues are
| India/China/Mexico/Phillipines/Everyone Else.
| ronaldgperson wrote:
| i'm probably going to marry my american partner next year and
| thinking of moving to america. what are (generally speaking) my
| options for working? coming from the united kingdom.
| threway742 wrote:
| Hi there, I'm working in the UK on a work visa. I previously
| applied for a US position at Fermilab and NASA ADS. Although, I
| didn't get the position I was told the H-1B visa process for
| these positions was much simpler (not through lottery) as they
| fall under a special category.
|
| Can you advise other what other sectors offer these privileges?
| Also, if I get the H-1B through this process, am I allowed to
| switch to a different employer in the future?
| proberts wrote:
| Those organizations are "H-1B cap-exempt" organizations that
| are not subject to the annual H-1B lottery. Cap-exempt
| organizations include non-profit institutes of higher
| education, organizations affiliated with these institutes (like
| hospitals), non-profits primarily engaged in research, and
| government research organizations, like Fermilab and NASA. If
| you get a cap-exempt H-1B, you could transfer to another cap-
| exempt organization but you would not be able to transfer to a
| cap-subject private for-profit entity although you could get
| approved for part-time concurrent employment with such an
| entity.
| htrp wrote:
| > although you could get approved for part-time concurrent
| employment with such an entity.
|
| Can you elaborate on what you mean here?
| proberts wrote:
| You would continue to work for your H-1B cap-exempt
| employer but then get an H-1B through a private cap-subject
| employer that would allow you to work at the same time on a
| part-time basis.
| piker wrote:
| Thanks so much Peter - how do non-US people typically work in SF
| during YC?
|
| I am a US citizen but have a few non-US citizen friends who might
| join if accepted.
| proberts wrote:
| A distinction must be drawn between working during a startup
| program, which requires a work visa, and attending the program
| and not working. For the latter, there are several options,
| including, most commonly, the B-1 visa/status.
| admissionsguy wrote:
| Out of curiosity, what percentage of YC founders just go to
| the office hours and dinner and not work for the duration of
| the program? Is this encouraged?
| proberts wrote:
| I can't comment on that but the issue here is what
| constitutes work and actively participating in YC doesn't
| even if this participation results in benefit to a company.
| aprilthird2021 wrote:
| Participating in YC isn't work? Isn't it a startup
| accelerator for teams to grow their business? Isn't
| growing one's business work?
| aliljet wrote:
| What is the likelihood today that Trump and his allies in
| Congress may improve the ability for H1B holders to obtain green
| cards? This was repeatedly raised during his campaign and his
| first weeks in office and it sounded like this was going to be a
| thing....
| proberts wrote:
| I haven't heard anything about this since he's taken office and
| I suspect that if something like this is done that it will be
| limited to those in certain fields and industries.
| gdbsjjdn wrote:
| Only if you're a Russian model willing to marry one of his
| cronies
| Muromec wrote:
| That's O-1(BJ) type of visa, not h1b
| mertleee wrote:
| Given the newly (as of yesterday) appointed chief of USCIS was
| just confirmed and has a marked history of strong opinions
| against OPT in it's entirety and H1B - I'd assume it's not
| looking good haha.
| unhappy_meaning wrote:
| Hello Mr. Roberts,
|
| Thank you for doing this, as you know we've probably have seen
| some crazy news articles and segments of ICE agents arresting
| people all over the U.S. with some for good and some for wrong
| reasons. What is your advice or best practice for someone who is
| "wrongfully" approached by ICE agents but has legal status to be
| in the U.S.? (whether work visa or green card)
|
| I've read that someone should carry their green card with them or
| if they have some sort of REAL ID mark on their drivers license
| it may help.
|
| Thank you again for doing this!
| proberts wrote:
| The best defense so to speak is to carry evidence of your
| status whether that's a green card or foreign passport and I-94
| admission record, to have the number of a local immigration
| attorney whom you can call if you need to, and to be aware of
| one's rights. The ACLU has a good discussion of these rights:
| https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights.
| kjellsbells wrote:
| What would you recommend for foreign born US citizens worried
| about being approached by ICE? What are the basic ground
| rules for interacting?
|
| For example, some of us here look very much like we didnt
| grow up in an Iowa cornfield and have genuine concern that
| one negative interaction is going to result in being roughed
| up by untrained ICE agents at best and tossed into jail or
| worse.
|
| Do we just get used to the idea of carrying our passport at
| all times? Is an ICE agent authorized to demand it and take
| it from us "for checking", say?
|
| Bar two pieces of fragile paper - a passport and a
| naturalization certificate - it's not obvious that a citizen
| is a citizen.
| somanyphotons wrote:
| (I'm not Peter)
|
| I'd suggest also applying for a Passport Card, you can keep
| it in your wallet.
| smsm42 wrote:
| Carry a REAL-ID enabled state ID? Those are not available
| to illegals in any state. All newer state IDs AFAIK are
| REAL-ID enabled by default. And you probably will need to
| use some form of ID anyway pretty frequently.
| kjellsbells wrote:
| Thats a good idea, although it is not completely robust.
|
| REAL-ID only proves that the holder had legal presence at
| the time of issue, not that the holder maintains legal
| presence at the point of presenting it to the ICE
| officer. For example, holders of Temporary Protected
| Status would have been here perfectly legally and been
| able to get and hold a REAL ID. But their status has just
| been revoked. So an ICE officer could still refuse to
| accept it as proof of legal status.
| bc569a80a344f9c wrote:
| It's a legal requirement to carry your green card with you at
| all times. INA 264(e) has required this for as long as I've
| been in the US (which is since 2004).
|
| To be more specific:
|
| >> (e) Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at
| all times carry with him and have in his personal possession
| any certificate of alien registration or alien registration
| receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d). Any
| alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this
| subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon
| conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be
| imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.
|
| Where evidence of registration is an I94 or a green card or
| whatever.
|
| I'm constantly surprised how many permanent residents don't do
| this.
| smsm42 wrote:
| Many don't do this because they don't feel the need. I've
| spent about a decade in the US as a green card holder, and
| the only cases I ever been asked for it is either crossing
| the border or being hired. And I never heard about anyone
| being fined (let alone going to prison) for failure to carry
| the green card on them. Yes, the law says that, but I don't
| think anybody paid much attention to that, at least until
| now.
| TechDebtDevin wrote:
| You act as if the last 6 months are a continuation of the
| the last 9.5 years, and there is some status quo that
| hasn't changed. Maybe for an affluent SWE in his Tesla, but
| this isn't the case for many on their way to work in a
| construction work van.
| smsm42 wrote:
| > this isn't the case for many on their way to work in a
| construction work van.
|
| How many of those van-traveling green card holding
| construction workers have been fined or imprisoned for
| failure to carry the green card lately? I don't mean
| brief detention - anybody can be detained by the police,
| especially when not having any identification - I mean
| actual conviction under 1304(e) and court-assigned fine
| or jail time. How many such cases do you know?
| klipt wrote:
| Immigration law enforcement is at the discretion of the
| Executive (President). If the President decides they want
| to pump up the numbers of deported criminals, doing
| anything that's technically a crime as an immigrant is a
| risky proposition. Even saying you do it on a public forum
| is risky.
| dalyons wrote:
| Personally I don't carry my GC, because I'm far more likely
| to lose it than for anyone to ever ask for it. And it's kind
| of a nightmare to replace, takes awhile and you can't travel.
|
| To put it another way, the $100 fine is less expensive to me
| than the consequences of losing it.
| xmprt wrote:
| They can also put you in jail for up to 30 days if they're
| feeling like it. Seems crazy to me but also perfectly legal
| for them to do.
| unsui wrote:
| There are a lot of things that are "perfectly legal" to
| do. Doesn't mean that, in practice, law enforcement would
| necessarily take the most extreme legal action possible.
|
| This is a new development (well, new-ish for many
| communities... I imagine predominatly-black communities
| have always experience this) whereby LE is explicitly
| instructed to look for any legal course of action to
| punitively enforce the law (rather than using a more
| judicious interpretation, which was more in line with the
| spirit of many of these regulations).
|
| So yes, technically, law-abiding citizens should always
| xxxx. Does that mean that, in real life, folks always do
| this? Only if they are in a paranoid state whereby LE
| maliciously enforces the law for any minor violation and
| enforces overwhelming (often illegal) responses to these
| infractions.
| haiku2077 wrote:
| > Only if they are in a paranoid state whereby LE
| maliciously enforces the law for any minor violation and
| enforces overwhelming (often illegal) responses to these
| infractions.
|
| ICE operates in every state. e.g. US citizens are being
| jailed in California (https://apnews.com/article/us-army-
| veteran-immigration-raid-...)
| amanaplanacanal wrote:
| It sounds like the current administration is specifically
| targeting democratic stronghold states, but I don't know
| if that means you would be any safer in Republican
| majority states.
| lazyasciiart wrote:
| Generally no, because those are more likely to have state
| or local government employees working on ICE's behalf.
| For instance in Florida a weigh station employee said
| they were calling ICE on people who looked (and sounded?)
| Hispanic.
|
| https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/07/09/at
| tor...
| aylmao wrote:
| If I understand the comment above correctly, one can carry
| an I94 too and those you can just print on the website [1]
|
| I'm guessing there's no size requirements? If so it might
| be a good idea to just print four on an A4, and have one
| folded in your wallet, one tucked in your bag-pack, one in
| the car, etc.
|
| [1]: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/search/recent-search
| ghostly_s wrote:
| Are you user proberts?
| vFunct wrote:
| Are non-US citizens banned from working on <2nm GAA technologies?
| What are the ITAR limits on non-US citizens from working on these
| tech? Can we incorporate in another country to allow hiring on
| non-US citizens to work on <2nm GAA technologies?
| KK7NIL wrote:
| No, at Intel Foundry we have plenty of non-citizens working on
| sub 2 nm technology (me included).
|
| I haven't seen any ITAR restrictions on logic nodes, only on
| 70+ GHz RF and adjacent work that obviously has a direct
| application to radar.
| mindwok wrote:
| I'm Australian and have always wondered about how easy it is to
| get an E-3 visa. What does it take from the sponsoring companies
| side to actually do it and get me over there?
| proberts wrote:
| We handle a lot of E-3 visas and it's arguably the easiest U.S.
| work visa to get both from a company standpoint and an
| applicant/employee standpoint. The company requirements are
| minimal. For example, startups with limited or no revenue and
| limited or no funding can sponsor an E-3 visa. That being said,
| there is a prevailing wage requirement so a company - while it
| doesn't need to demonstrate to a U.S. Consulate its ability to
| pay a specific wage - in the end has to be able to pay a
| specific wage.
| mindwok wrote:
| Wow, that is unexpectedly relaxed given what I've heard about
| US immigration. Thanks for the info!
| somanyphotons wrote:
| Anecdotally, the E-3 is very easy compared to other options
| AnotherGoodName wrote:
| Australian who's been in the USA almost a decade in 4 different
| roles, each requiring a new E3 as well as multiple E3 renewals;
|
| I've found that companies are pretty eager once they hear that
| you only need an E3 visa. Unlike H1B the quota for E3 visas are
| never hit. Companies view it as a very straightforward and
| guaranteed process.
|
| Assuming the company files their side of the paperwork in a
| timely manner, From accepting a role you can be working in the
| USA within 2 months end to end. The consulate appointments in
| Syd/Mel are the biggest pain point. It takes some refreshing
| since they are booked out for months at a time and you need to
| look for cancellations each day. That's literally the biggest
| pain point though, everything else is painless.
| mindwok wrote:
| Great info, thank you. How's working there compared to Aus?
| Do you enjoy it?
| AnotherGoodName wrote:
| West coast climate and culture is the same as East coast
| Australia so that part is straightforward. Easy to make
| friends and a good life in that aspect.
|
| For work-life balance I will acknowledge the biggest boom
| times are over. It was ridiculous at one point and the best
| move of my life. Nowadays though all big tech are starting
| to adopt some form of stack ranking and demands and
| pressure are going up while benefits are falling so it's
| not nearly as good as it once was.
|
| Big tech is still ~5x take home pay though. I see a stint
| of working in the USA as necessary given Australian house
| prices. Do it for as long as you can stand, don't live up
| to the lifestyle of the wages. The net result is a big win
| for your life. As in if you work here for a year and get
| hit with layoffs? You'll still have 5x in savings for that
| year as you would have had in Australia.
| dalyons wrote:
| warning you might end up with an american partner and get
| stuck there, ask me how i know :). But yeah, the comp
| difference is crazy, if we ever move back to aus we will
| have set ourselves up for a very nice life with our US
| earned savings.
|
| Plus, far more interesting companies to choose from.
| poohonbreak1 wrote:
| Hi Peter, I am on a H1B visa; Is it allowed to run a company by
| myself if I never take out the revenue off the company bank
| account (so, effectively unrealized gains).
| proberts wrote:
| The analysis is nuanced and the answer (which can be Yes or No)
| depends on a variety factors, such as what "running" the
| company involves, whether there are multiple founders, what the
| corporate structure of the company is, whether the company is
| generating revenues, whether the company has clients, whether
| the company has received funding, and whether the company has
| employees. To state the obvious, before embarking on such a
| venture, get a consultation so that you understand what's
| possible and what you can and can't do. There's also the option
| of getting a concurrent part-time H-1B to actually work for
| your startup.
| kwar13 wrote:
| Can you convince YC to have programs outside the US by any
| chance? It's not exactly easy getting into the USA these days and
| by no means a smooth experience either.
| whoamii wrote:
| After you convince Europe to make it easier to have such
| programs.
| roncesvalles wrote:
| Good news, Canada exists!
| CalRobert wrote:
| To be fair they've done it a little. There are European
| accelerators (tech stars is here for one) but they're
| comparatively rinky dink.
|
| As an American in the Netherlands the ecosystem is dire by
| comparison.
| tombert wrote:
| So, I have a wife who just got her citizenship. We're very happy
| about that.
|
| Concerning, though, is the current presidential administration's
| talk of trying to do large-scale denaturalization of citizens.
|
| I know you don't have the ability to read minds, but would you
| care to hazard a guess to much of this is the president just
| blowing smokes or how worried I should be?
| AkshatM wrote:
| (Not Peter, not a lawyer)
|
| It is hard not to be moderately worried, since the
| administration has already made concrete attacks on citizenship
| pathways, immigrants and legal residents. Most notably, it's
| targeted birthright citizenship via executive order, tried to
| push through the power to unilaterally revoke green cards, and
| arbitrarily cancelling the ability of universities to host
| foreign students.
|
| More importantly, successful legal challenges to these efforts
| are being vacated or reversed by the Supreme Court. That means
| the administration's attempts aren't being fully checked by
| balances.
|
| You should take the rhetoric fairly seriously. There is no
| good-faith explanation for this pattern of attacking people who
| have gone through the process faithfully, and no credible
| ongoing efforts to prevent those happening.
| sterlind wrote:
| (not Peter.)
|
| she can only be denaturalized if:
|
| 1. she lied or concealed any past convictions (or maybe other
| information) on her visa/GC/citizenship application. in the
| past they only went after serious omissions like felonies, but
| now they'll go over any minor mistake with a fine-tooth comb.
| courts have held in the past that such omissions must have
| material significance to the decision (e.g. lying about a
| degree obtained, but not a typo about graduation year.)
|
| 2. she joins the Communist party or another totalitarian party
| within 5 years of becoming a citizen. expect them to interpret
| this broadly (e.g. supporting causes rather than officially
| joining, counting DSA as "totalitarian.") she should keep her
| head down, unfortunately.
|
| Source: https://immigrationforum.org/article/denaturalization-
| fact-s...
| tombert wrote:
| I don't think she'll join a party any more radical than
| "Democrat", and we were extremely thorough with the lawyer to
| make sure everything on the application was completely
| honest.
|
| If what you're saying is true, then I maybe shouldn't worry
| too much.
| proberts wrote:
| The President isn't blowing smoke - denaturalization efforts
| are going to increase - but there still has to be a reason,
| such as fraud or misrepresentation in getting her green card or
| citizenship or her failure to disclose a material fact in one
| of these processes. But absent something like this, I wouldn't
| worry at all.
| abafterratic872 wrote:
| Hi Peter, thanks for doing this.
|
| For myself as a UK citizen, what are the most realistic options
| for obtaining a visa to work in the US? The H1B is the main one
| I'm familiar with, but with the lottery and the one year
| application cycle it doesn't seem an easy route. The other option
| I'm aware of is the L1, do you know how realistic it is to obtain
| one of those? I don't currently work for a multinational company
| but would look to move jobs if an L1 visa was a possibility.
|
| Are there any other realistic routes available?
| proberts wrote:
| The L-1 is very easy through a large multinational company
| after a year of employment with that company outside the U.S.
| and is attainable although more difficult through a small
| multinational company. The other options are the E-2 (treaty
| investor visa), which could allow you to work for a British-
| owned company in the U.S., or the O-1 (extraordinary ability
| visa), which requires a relatively high level of achievement
| but is often attainable by talented professionals.
| abafterratic872 wrote:
| Thanks Peter, all very useful to know. I wasn't aware of the
| E-2 visa. How does one justify extraordinary ability for the
| O-1, if pursuing that route? I can see it varying a
| signifcant amount between applicants, but what (if any)
| successful justifications have you seen?
| proberts wrote:
| Yes, it varies significantly from applicant to applicant.
| Justifying extraordinary ability is more about checking
| certain boxes/criteria than extraordinary ability per se
| and so, in the end, it's usually pretty clear whether or
| not someone qualifies.
| kappi wrote:
| why is ycombinator promoting immigration thru H1B when so many US
| born CS grads are finding it hard to get job. In 2023, American
| colleges graduated 134,153 citizens or green card holders with
| bachelor's or master's degrees in computer science. That same
| year, our federal government handed out work permits to at least
| 110,098 foreign workers in computer occupations through just
| three major guest worker programs. That's equal to 82% of our
| graduating class who are guaranteed jobs even before any
| Americans walk across the stage for their diploma.
| https://ifspp.substack.com/p/data-on-how-america-sold-out-it...
| mertleee wrote:
| It's disgusting.
|
| Many VC firms outside of YC flagrantly promote what is
| basically fraud. There are literally YC companies that provide
| pseudo visa fraud as a service.
|
| Following the law and having respect for the immigration system
| is simply seen as an "inconvenient challenge" to these people.
|
| I myself am a person of color, but in the cohort I was in (of
| 30) maybe three individuals were native born Americans of any
| race. The rest were exclusively Canadian immigrants largely
| from India and China (not actually born in Canada). It's also
| quite common in the US for people to work on visitor VISA's
| while applying for O1s.
|
| To name a few...
|
| https://extraordinary.com/ (promulgated by
| https://x.com/0xsigil?lang=en)
|
| https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gale
|
| https://www.deel.com/paid-lp/immigration/
| ge96 wrote:
| On my LinkedIn saw some guy saying "Hit me up if you want
| EB-1 I know a guy" not sure what it entails but was weird to
| promote that. Guy is a hustler/grinder though in general.
| mertleee wrote:
| Some of these "visa as a service" startups offer incentives
| and pseudo cash (or even cash) referral incentives. Which
| is actually illegal both in CA and Federally.
| AkshatM wrote:
| That's not an apples to apples comparison. You don't know if
| the foreign workers were senior-level employees, for example,
| or whether there were specialized requirements they might have
| been hired against that entry-level grads won't qualify for.
|
| I agree there should be more entry-level roles. But this is not
| an indictment of the system. You should ask what percentage of
| those foreign workers were hired into entry-level roles.
| AkshatM wrote:
| I'll also point out that it's actually harder for entry-level
| foreign workers (read: international students) to get jobs in
| general. F1 visa students are limited to one year of OPT,
| _unless_ they have a STEM degree, in which case they can work
| for two more years for an e-Verified employer only in a field
| related to their major. There are significantly fewer
| e-Verified employers in the country. So you have a
| concentrated labour pool vying for a much smaller fraction of
| jobs than the general population - remember, we can 't even
| be employed at McDonald's on STEM OPT.
|
| Another factor that complicates the analysis is that foreign
| students do not necessarily represent the same cross-section
| as US students. The high cost of US education tends to
| bifurcate the sample size into a bimodal distribution: you
| have rich foreign students who can afford tuition rates, or
| you have scholarship students who earned their scholarship
| quite fairly thanks to merit. Neither population can be
| fairly compared against the average US citizen in terms of
| hiring likelihood - either you're pitting the top 1% of
| someone in the home country to the median US student, or
| you're comparing someone who's got the resources to find
| opportunities in ways US students can't.
|
| Finally, it's been my experience, seeing others though the F1
| -> H1B pipeline, that most people pursue that pipeline
| through a master's degree rather than a bachelor's degree.
| This is because both immigration law and tuition rates
| incentivise shorter programs for advanced education. If
| you're comparing the hiring rates of master's students to
| bachelor's students, naturally you're going to get a revealed
| preference for master's students.
|
| tl;dr the simple statistic cited needs critical questioning.
| tears-in-rain wrote:
| Hello! I may not be as knowledgeable about immigration as
| previous speakers, but could you provide me with a bullet-point
| list of the latest legal requirements? I'd like some guidance as
| someone currently outside the U.S. who wants to work in your
| country. Thanks.
| proberts wrote:
| The options will depend in part on this person's countries of
| citizenship and qualifications. There are a handful of
| citizenship-specific visa (the countries are Australia, Canada,
| Chile, Mexico, and Singapore), which usually are relatively
| easy to obtain. If the person doesn't qualify for one of these
| citizenship-specific visas, then the options will depend on his
| or her qualifications.
| HiHelloBolke wrote:
| Im a Canadian, I want to expand my business to US - what's the
| right way to do that and use that for green card?
| proberts wrote:
| There are a lot of options. In the end, creating a successful
| business in the U.S. is the best path to a green card but more
| specifically, assuming that you have employees in Canada whom
| you are managing, opening an office in the U.S. and
| transferring yourself to this office and then growing the
| business is a great way to get initial work authorization and a
| green card. Another option, if you have strong credentials, is
| to come over on the O-1 and then pursue an extraordinary
| ability green card then or after you have built up the company.
| codybontecou wrote:
| Hey Mr. Roberts!
|
| I'm a US citizen and my wife has a green card. We like to travel
| extensively, but feel limited by the need to be in the US for at
| least 6 months out of the year.
|
| In an ideal world, we could get a digital nomad visa in Portugal
| and my wife and I could live and work there while we wait out
| some of the chaos that seems to be occurring in the US.
|
| But, we're not sure if we can live/work in Europe while
| simultaneously fulfilling the green card requirements. Do you
| know if there's an exception for cases like this?
| proberts wrote:
| There's no requirement that a green card holder spend 6 months
| in the U.S. during the year. You and your wife can and should
| travel freely. And you could live outside the U.S. for several
| years and still keep your green card. If you decide to move to
| Portugal for a period of time, for example, you should consult
| an attorney but the solution to protect your green card status
| (for at least 5 years) is to get a document called a reentry
| permit, which is easy to get.
| testfrequency wrote:
| I'll spare a new thread and just ask here as we are in the
| same situation (sorry OP!).
|
| My understanding is we at least need to be in the US once
| every six months in order for my partner to maintain their
| green card status while we live abroad.
|
| We were not aware of the reentry permit, does this avoid the
| requirements of needing to enter the country periodically? We
| are of course concerned about losing their green card status.
|
| Lastly, how realistic is the timing in obtaining the permit?
| We have our move planned for next month.
|
| Thanks you as always for these threads!
| anu7df wrote:
| Re-entry permit is granted for 2 years and the only
| requirement is that you apply for it while in country.
| Usual processing time nowadays is around a year so in
| effect you need to apply once every 3 years for it. They
| have the option of sending it to a us embassy abroad for
| pick up but we have always had it sent to a friends address
| in US and picked it up while visiting US.
| codybontecou wrote:
| You didn't have any issues re-entering the US prior to
| picking up the permit from your friend's address?
| testfrequency wrote:
| Thanks for sharing your experience. A year is a very long
| time..I am also curious about the pickup options and
| address.
|
| My partner will be updating their address to have mail
| sent to a family member's address in the US, but we will
| also be living in a country that has a US embassy easily
| accessible.
|
| My partner is Mexican, so as you can imagine, they almost
| always have awful experiences with immigration in the US.
| proberts wrote:
| Yes, a year is a long time but evidence of having applied
| for a reentry permit in the form of a receipt notice is
| usually enough to reenter the U.S. without issue even
| with absences of more than 6 months.
| jonpurdy wrote:
| That is useful to know. We were expecting a 5-month wait
| (as of January 2025) and recently learned it could take
| over a year. Since we've been out of country since
| applying (no biometrics required) we were concerned about
| being out of country for over a year with just a receipt
| notice and permit in pending state.
| testfrequency wrote:
| Thank you both for the responses and sharing, crazy
| helpful.
|
| I admittedly haven't done my research today on the
| permit, but reading your reply now and seeing you can
| apply while abroad...that's great news. I suppose my
| partner can start the process while we are still here,
| but glad we have the option it seems to do this once we
| are slightly more settled abroad.
|
| Hope your family gets the permit soon.
| codybontecou wrote:
| Interesting. Thank you for the response. If this is true,
| that's amazing!
|
| Do you know where the 6-month requirement (rumor?) is from?
| Reading over https://www.uscis.gov/policy-
| manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter... section C states
|
| "...there are two ways outlined in the statute in which the
| continuity of residence can be broken:
|
| The applicant is absent from the United States for more than
| 6 months but less than 1 year; or The applicant is absent
| from the United States for 1 year or more."
|
| Is this only for citizenship/naturalization and not to
| maintain a green card?
| manusachi wrote:
| Yes "the continuity of residence" is required for
| naturalization.
|
| > An applicant for naturalization ... must have resided
| continuously in the United States after his or her lawful
| permanent resident (LPR) admission for at least 5 years
| prior to filing the naturalization application and up to
| the time of naturalization.
| rsstack wrote:
| My time to apply for citizenship based on my EB green card is
| approaching (4 years and 9 months, right?). Is it still advised
| for employment-based cases without children to file the N-400
| without a lawyer?
|
| Additionally - I will be getting married, to a US citizen, after
| filing the N-400 but likely before it will be approved or before
| the oath ceremony. Does that change the answer? In theory, she's
| not benefiting my case and not benefiting from my case, but I'm
| not sure if USCIS has a different opinion.
| proberts wrote:
| Your impending marriage doesn't change the answer and the
| answer is that naturalization applications are very easy and
| don't require the assistance of a lawyer unless there's an
| issue, specifically, a criminal record, a history of
| immigration violations/non-compliance, or extended absences
| (more than 6 months) from the U.S. while a green card holder.
| rsstack wrote:
| Thank you! Luckily none of those issues apply :)
| hansvm wrote:
| Thank so much Mr. Roberts.
|
| The status quo looks dangerous in the US even for born-and-raised
| citizens. With ICE targeting people based on skin color, what
| should a citizen do to protect themselves?
| proberts wrote:
| These are unprecedented times where green card status and even
| citizenship can be taken away. I think that all that one can do
| is to know one's rights and have the name and number of a
| lawyer handy who can be contacted in the event the worst
| happens. The ACLU has some very clear guidance regarding the
| rights of U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens when questioned
| or detained by ICE (or another immigration agency).
| zacqu wrote:
| Hi Mr. Roberts, Thank you for doing this.
|
| I was adopted as a child by my uncle in my home country, where
| record-keeping is poor. As a result, all my official documents,
| including my birth certificate, list my uncle and aunt as my
| parents. I used this documentation when I obtained U.S.
| citizenship. I now want to petition for my biological parents to
| immigrate to the U.S. My uncle still lives in my home country and
| has never received any immigration benefits from me. Is it
| possible to petition for my biological parents under these
| circumstances, and how complex would the process be?
|
| Also, could you recommend a reputable immigration attorney in
| Washington State or the West Coast?
| proberts wrote:
| This is a very interesting question but too complex to answer
| in writing. Please email me and I can share the names of good
| immigration attorneys near you.
| dilyar85 wrote:
| Thanks for being here and taking the time to answer questions.
|
| I'm currently on an L1B visa with company A. I have an approved
| H1B (consular processing, not yet activated) for company B. If I
| get an offer from company C, is it possible to switch directly
| from L1B to H1B with company C while staying in the U.S.? In
| other words, can company C file a change of status to activate
| the H1B?
| proberts wrote:
| Yes, this is possible but it the petition has to be prepared
| the right way to avoid USCIS responding with a request for
| evidence saying that company C needs to go through the H-1B
| lottery before it can employ you.
| turtle_samurai wrote:
| Hi Peter, when i went to Hacker news this morning and saw this
| post i thought, that's a bit unusual, an attorney??, so i think
| its cool that an immigration attorney visits channels like this.
| Anyways, me and my soon to be wife (we get married next Friday)
| have consulted an immigration lawyer regarding my status, i
| overstayed my tourist visa, so now im out of status, the lawyer
| mentioned that i have a pretty good chance to adjust my status
| since i came here legally and i don't have any felonies or
| anything bad on my record, however my concern is this, should we
| and my future wife wait a bit longer to apply for this change of
| status until we have more hard evidence? we live together and
| have a joint bank account, in which i deposit a certain amount
| each month so she can pay bills etc, thing is she is not
| regularly using the card, she just uses a big portion on the rent
| or she just transfers it to her personal, we will also get our
| phone and car insurance bills together, we have joint Costco
| membership too, what other evidence do you recommend we should
| work on or is there a resource online i can use as a guide to
| build an excellent case? thank you!!
| iambvk wrote:
| Peter does this every few months on Hackernews.
| dang wrote:
| Yup: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts
| donohoe wrote:
| Not a lawyer, but this is similar to my situation.
|
| I personally would not delay. It will be awhile before you get
| to the interview stage so you also have that time to show your
| relationship is genuine and collect proof of a life together.
|
| I don't know of a list; but my wife and I had things like:
| - wedding photos! - mobile phone family plan -
| joint tax filings - sample of letters/postcards sent to
| us (separate and together) at same address (xmas cards
| etc. and even some junk mail) - name on utilities -
| photos at different events, weddings, birthdays, sports, etc.
|
| We didn't need most of it in the end but you never know - and
| this was over 15 years ago.
|
| Congrats!
| proberts wrote:
| Assuming that your wife is a U.S. citizen, you should be fine;
| the law forgives overstays and unauthorized employment for
| those pursuing green cards based on marriage to a U.S. citizen.
| Of course, I haven't reviewed your background but on the face
| of it, I don't see any reason for you to wait to file but I
| would recommend that you defer to your lawyer since he or she
| will have all the facts.
| AdventureMouse wrote:
| Hey Peter! What are some of the most common legal mistakes you
| see startups make and how can they be avoided?
| proberts wrote:
| I'm not a business person so I'm not really in a position to
| comment but one mistake I've made - I have my own firm so I'm
| not too different from a startup founder - is not putting
| administrative/human resources infrastructure in place from the
| beginning and not hiring a chief of staff early on.
| AdventureMouse wrote:
| Interesting - how would it have helped you to have HR in
| place earlier/what problems did not having it cause?
| loteck wrote:
| Hi Peter - do you have any specific thoughts for people posting
| about immigration scenarios here, to help keep themselves safe?
| Given that it was recently revealed that ICE is monitoring these
| comments.[0][1]
|
| [0] https://www.404media.co/the-200-sites-an-ice-surveillance-
| co...
|
| [1]
| https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VyAaJaWCutyJyMiTXuDH...
| TechDebtDevin wrote:
| Why are they monitoring Zillow...
| ghostly_s wrote:
| because securing housing is a big part of residing somewhere?
| TechDebtDevin wrote:
| I'm more so wondering what public data on these sites is
| really useful for finding/building deportation cases. It
| looks to me they are wrapping a bunch of scrapers into a
| product and selling it as "intelligence tools".
| haiku2077 wrote:
| Zillow has rental management services - i.e. there are people
| who pay their rent though zillow.com
| haiku2077 wrote:
| (not peter)
|
| It is absolutely wild that people are posting about the ways
| that they have broken the letter of immigration law on here
| using their regular accounts and identifiable IP addresses.
| Spivak wrote:
| Serious question, does anyone actually care about immigration
| law at this point? Because on the surface it doesn't seem to
| matter if you followed the law exactly or you completely
| ignored it if you're someone targeted by ICE. They seem to
| find their target and then work backwards on how to deport
| them. Is anyone who wouldn't normally be in the sights of an
| ICE agent getting targeted by some HN comment?
| nonethewiser wrote:
| So how are Abrego Garcia and Mahmoud Khalil not deported?
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| When the cost of failure is high, and the cost of
| mitigation is low, I think it's reasonable to use
| throwaways and VPNs whenever you might comment something
| that might unknowingly increase your risk exposure.
| Admittedly, this is going to be a pain for forum anti abuse
| systems.
| haiku2077 wrote:
| Yes, ICE put out RFIs in the last month for companies to
| provide AI and other analysis for mass lead generation.
|
| ex
|
| https://sam.gov/opp/83693d33244e424191f58271c7faf72b/view
|
| People who previously "flew under the radar" will now
| become investigation leads.
| proberts wrote:
| Everyone has to weigh the pros and cons for themselves but I
| think that being well-informed is the best defense so to speak,
| that is, to know what one's rights are and what the law is, so
| I think these open forums play an important role.
| nonethewiser wrote:
| Attorney status confirmed
| sophia01 wrote:
| I'm graduating from my PhD and starting a FAANG research role.
| I'm Australian and about to start in F-1 OPT status.
|
| I am interested in an EB-1 or EB-2 (possibly NIW) visa, but am
| concerned about a long period where I can't travel (aka re-
| enter).
|
| What's the practical difference between E-3 and F-1 OPT (with
| STEM extension) in my case? Is it easy to switch from F-1 to E-3
| at the same role?
| proberts wrote:
| Your green card process will have two steps, the I-140 filing
| and then the green card application, either in the U.S. with
| USCIS (known as an I-485 application) or outside the U.S. with
| a U.S. Consulate (known as an Immigrant Visa application).
| During the I-140 stage, there is some risk traveling on an F-1
| or an E-3 visa (with the F-1 riskier), but this risk is
| relatively low and can be mitigated. One way to reduce this
| risk to zero is to switch to O-1 status, which as a PhD grad
| you probably would qualify for but your employer would need to
| support this. At the second stage, with an I-485 filing,
| whether you are in E-3, F-1, or O-1 status, you should expect
| to be unable to travel for at least 6 months unless you have a
| family emergency. With an IV application, you will be able to
| travel on an O-1 visa but there will be some risk traveling on
| an E-3 or F-1 visa (again, with the F-1 riskier).
| sophia01 wrote:
| Thank you Peter, this is super helpful!!
|
| Does your firm do immigration law consultations or do you
| have any that you would recommend to ask some more questions?
| proberts wrote:
| I'd be happy to answer some questions gratis and then refer
| you to another immigration lawyer for paid assistance.
| sophia01 wrote:
| Thank you!
|
| I am wondering how narrow the focus has to be for an
| EB-1A. I have been involved in a wide variety of
| projects, some receiving a good amount of media publicity
| (100+ mentions across various media), others adding up to
| a good number of citations (100+ total citations), and
| I'm also involved in a startup venture that while not yet
| a breakaway success, is growing quickly (60k+ users,
| growing 50% yoy). I'm unsure if these can be molded into
| an appropriate form given they don't necessarily make a
| coherent story.
|
| I'm also wondering what the bar is for "command a high
| salary or other significantly high remuneration in
| relation to others in the field". Is a solid salary
| within the usual bands at a big tech enough? Or does it
| have to somehow be significantly higher in relation to
| others in a similar job position at the company?
| proberts wrote:
| All interesting and good questions requiring a
| consultation. Schedule a call with me and I can give you
| an initial assessment and then refer you to a good
| immigration lawyer.
| proberts wrote:
| Thank you for the great questions and comments. I will be taking
| a brief break and will return shortly.
| r_thambapillai wrote:
| Should I hire a lawyer to fill out the form to apply for
| citizenship as a Green Card (marriage) holder
| proberts wrote:
| Unless you have an issue (that is, a criminal record, a history
| of immigration violations/fraud, or extended absences from the
| U.S. while a green card holder), it's an easy application and
| process and doesn't require assistance from a lawyer.
| gc-pain wrote:
| I'm on a L1B and my labor market test just failed for the PERM
| process.
|
| I found my job ad on LinkedIn and it had over 300 applications
| within a few days of going live.
|
| I have a suspicion that due to the ATS we use for our company it
| showed the job application on many different channels
| unnecessarily.
|
| What do you suggest I do next?
| proberts wrote:
| The issue is that it's completely up to the company how it
| conducts its PERM recruitment and you can't have any say or
| role in this process. One option, to take control back, is to
| look at self-petition options, such as the NIW or EB1A. To be
| clear, however, the EB1A is a very high standard and I would
| argue getting higher and the NIW, while easier than the EB1A,
| is much harder now but still worth looking at.
| tk90 wrote:
| Hi Peter! Thank you for doing this. Are you seeing any
| issues/concerns with Green Card holders traveling internationally
| and returning to the US in the past few months?
| proberts wrote:
| Only that even with green card holders, we have seen instances
| where CBP is asking to see electronic devices and reviewing
| their social media accounts. But we haven't had a green card
| holding client detained or denied admission.
| tk90 wrote:
| thank you!
| wallyrabbitbun wrote:
| Hey Peter,
|
| I'm still waiting for my family based GC to be approved. It was
| applied for in March 2023.
|
| I've tried contacting my senators to see if it can be expedited
| but USCIS replied to say that it's still within "normal
| processing times" and that there is not yet an immigrant number
| available as my priority date is not earlier than the final
| action date.
|
| I've been keeping a close eye on the USCIS Visa Bulletin final
| action dates and have noticed that they don't always move forward
| each month. I.e. there has been no change between July and
| August: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-
| law0/v...
|
| Is this normal? Or due to the current administration?
| hibikir wrote:
| You don't need peter for this one: The action date is
| indicating the place in the queue of the application they are
| currently working on. Every month they don't deal with 1 month
| worth of applications: Sometimes it might take 6 months to go
| through a single month of applications, other times it can move
| much faster. Either way, it all depends on what was submitted a
| long time ago, their maximum speed, and the number of visas
| allotted: It's possible for USCIS to run out of visas for a
| country and just process nothing more for the rest of the year.
|
| So its all normal, it's been happening for decades, and there's
| been no significant action in the legislature to speed things
| up. As things are right now, there are specific queues where
| the delay might as well mean 'forever', because it's going to
| take many decades for the current processing speed to reach
| July 2025.
| wallyrabbitbun wrote:
| So just SOL here, and nothing that can be done but wait? :(
| klipt wrote:
| If your spouse is a green card holder and they become a
| citizen, then you're no longer subject to quota/queue
| nixgeek wrote:
| Bringing siblings to U.S. as a citizen is currently about a
| 15-17 year backlog for most countries (fourth preference),
| so yeah, there's often some or a lot of waiting in these
| processes.
| onepremise wrote:
| Immigration is actually directly related to how CEOs and VCs
| intend to change the landscape for all things government related,
| and democracy as a whole. There is very much a subjective intent
| to tear down the rule of law, the rights that safeguard Americans
| as a whole, starting with immigration. IT's an entry point, a
| target to whittle away basic rights of the average American.
| Peter Thiel touches on this need for a tech revolution in his
| paper "The Straussian Moment",
| https://www.hoover.org/research/peter-thiel-straussian-momen...,
| who also funded JD Vance's rise to VP, and DJT.
|
| These guys, "Tech Bros", love the concepts written in
| Srinivasan's book "the Network State", and want to replace our
| current government with distributed monarchies. Srinivasan,
| Thiel, Andresen, and Curtis Yarvin actually have a documented
| plan to achieve this which is being executed, to a "T", which
| involves attacking immigration, not just as a distraction so they
| can attack the courts directly, but also cause it's part of their
| vision. This plan is referred to the butterfly revolution, by
| Curtis Yarvin, which states the following:
|
| 1. Reboot ("full-power start") Suspend or bypass existing
| constitutional limits; concentrate absolute sovereignty in one
| new organization--analogous to Allied occupation powers in
| post-1945 Japan/Germany. Eliminate checks and balances that block
| rapid change.
|
| 2. CEO-Monarch model A single executive (chosen like a corporate
| CEO) rules; the former president becomes a figurehead "chairman
| of the board." Treat the state as a firm run for efficiency, not
| democratic representation.
|
| 3. RAGE strategy "Retire All Government Employees" by mass-firing
| the civil service and replacing it with loyal appointees. Remove
| institutional resistance ("the Cathedral") and ensure obedience.
|
| 4. Parallel regime Build a fully staffed shadow government in
| exile before inauguration; unveil it on Day 1 to take over
| agencies at once. Prevent the bureaucratic slow-rolling that
| stymied Trump's first term.
|
| 5. Media & academia clampdown Defund or shutter universities and
| independent press seen as hostile. Break what Yarvin calls the
| Cathedral's cultural dominance.
|
| Curtis Yarvin's writings include pointed attacks on immigration,
| both as a policy and as a reflection of deeper systemic problems.
| He uses immigration as an example to argue for the failure of
| democracy and to advocate for his preferred model of
| authoritarian governance. He also frames immigration debates as
| distractions from what he sees as the real issues-namely, the
| incompetence and self-serving nature of current elites and
| institutions.
|
| Do you understand why the current administration would want to
| attack immigration? Altman, Theil, and others(Tech Bros) that
| manage YC, Palantir, OpenAI. A16Z prescribe to these beliefs. It
| is no secret, no conspiracy, they publicly talk about this. How
| do you feel about their approach, and YC's involvement, to
| changing governance and the future of our country? How do feel
| about Immigration as a tactic to attack the judicial branch as
| well assault innocent legal civilians with ICE, which is part of
| their reboot strategy?
| mertleee wrote:
| My girlfriend is an immigrant from the UK. I support
| immigration but only if it respects the rights of US citizens.
|
| Frankly I'm stunned this post hasn't been flagged by one of
| HN's moderators yet.
|
| Truly sad to see YC clearly play favorites with non-citizens
| claiming what can be found within the U.S. isn't good enough.
| onepremise wrote:
| YC does try to bury this topic, but it needs to be discussed.
| Developer and engineers need to be aware of the intent some
| of these corporations have in mind for their temporary
| employment. I say temporary as they intend to automate away
| the whole workforce and build utopias in their name. This
| isn't secret or a "deep state", they've plainly stated this
| agenda publicly and have written material online selling this
| agenda to other billionaires. Look at
| https://www.praxisnation.com. This is also referred to as
| Freedom Cities in Trumps presser:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJA_GBhCGgE Many people will
| die in the pursuit of this :/
| mertleee wrote:
| Yep, I would've voted for Bernie and it's important for the
| greater population to understand that Trump and the GOP
| have basically done nothing to curb abuse of the LEGAL
| immigration system. Elon and Big Tech WANTS Trump to import
| infinity foreign labor to continue driving wages and
| opportunity down for American tech workers.
|
| The fact that only a 3.5% remittance tax on non-digital
| payments was barely implemented is pathetic.
| proberts wrote:
| That's all very interesting. I will give this some thought and
| respond later.
| hertzthrowaway wrote:
| Hi Peter, thank you for doing this on a regular basis!
|
| In the event of a company-sponsored EB1A with an approved I140
| but with an I485 pending for less than 180 days, is it possible
| for the company to rescind the approval? Or does the approval
| belong to me even though it is company-sponsored?
|
| If the approval can be rescinded, could I lose my priority date
| and my I485 as well?
| proberts wrote:
| That the I-140 petition is an EB1A petition (which can also be
| filed by an individual) doesn't change the analysis. If the
| employer-filed I-140 petition was approved more than 180 days
| ago even if the I-485 has been pending for less than 180 days,
| while an employer can withdraw the I-140 petition (thus
| requiring the employee to get a new approved I-140 petition to
| get a green card), the individual still would keep his or her
| priority date.
| morajabi wrote:
| Has YC rejected applicant because of possible visa issues due to
| country of origin because of travel bans? Should those still
| apply for YC?
| proberts wrote:
| These questions should be addressed to YC. All I can say is
| that I have seen founders from just about every country around
| the world accepted into YC.
| morajabi wrote:
| Right, apologize about misunderstanding.
|
| My question is in fact is there a chance to request waivers
| about founders seeking O1 visa that are affected by the
| recent travel ban on certain countries (with Iranian
| passport)?
| proberts wrote:
| I see. Yes, waivers are possible but the standard for them
| is high and reports so far are that the vast majority of
| such requests are being rejected.
| morajabi wrote:
| Thank you for your answer
| TNWin wrote:
| Hi Peter,
|
| Thank you.
|
| What should my next steps be if my employment-based green card
| renewal is denied?
| proberts wrote:
| That's incredibly rare by the way but next steps would depend
| on the reason for the denial.
| taesu wrote:
| Hi Peter, thanks for doing this. Wife and I are both Canadians.
| Wife is on a H1B and I'm on TN - separate employers. My 9089 is
| being reviewed, while she is on labor market test. What is the
| best path forward to getting GC for the both of us while working?
| Should we keep going forward with this setup and whoever can file
| for I-485, add the spouse to beneficiary?
| proberts wrote:
| That's exactly right, have two sticks in the fire.
| tnthrowaway wrote:
| Hi Peter!
|
| There's a lot of confusion and uncertainty around a June policy
| update regarding TN visa (some related links in
| https://www.reddit.com/r/tnvisa/comments/1lerikw/nonengineer...).
| At least one big tech (my personal anecdote that I don't feel
| comfortable sharing) temporarily paused new TN applications for
| software engineers with a CS degree, citing this change.
|
| This seems to have always been a fuzzy area on paper, and some
| people in this category apparently still got their TN in the past
| month after this change. Is this a material change in your mind?
| If so, how are employers responding to it?
| proberts wrote:
| Recently I heard of an instance where CBP denied a TN
| application by an applicant with a CS degree for a software
| engineering position. While this is of course concerning, this
| has always been a potential issue - I've seen this happen
| several times over the years - and there are ways to mitigate
| the risk (by, for example, highlighting the applicant's
| engineering courses or getting a letter from the school or an
| expert in the field). We have continued to pursue TNs for
| software engineers with CS degrees and have not had any issue
| yet.
| usr402 wrote:
| Hi Peter, I'm from Europe and currently in the US on a B2 visa
| (I've traveled frequently between the US and Europe over the past
| year, so we chose B2 over ESTA to be safe). I'm preparing my O-1
| case to legally work on my startup here. I would love to
| participate in an accelerator here. This would also strengthen my
| application for the membership/awards criteria but I am not sure
| if I am even legally allowed to participate in these programs
| (e.g. YC) on a B2 before officially having the O-1? Thank you!
| proberts wrote:
| First, while acceptance into and participation in an
| accelerator, particularly a well-known one, definitely moves
| the needle with O-1 petitions, this can't be counted on as
| evidence of membership or award. While B-1 status is
| appropriate for participation in an accelerator, B-2 is not.
| asadm wrote:
| is E2 still an easy option for (small) investors to buy/start a
| business with ~100k capital?
| proberts wrote:
| The E-2 is very much a check the box type of visa but whether
| $100k is enough would depend on a number of factors so you
| should consult with an immigration attorney. One relative
| advantage of the E-2 is that spouses can work and that it is in
| large part a company benefit that makes it relatively easy to
| bring over talented people from the founder's/owner's home
| country.
| kingstoned wrote:
| If you want to get a visitor visa to attend an incubator like YC,
| is it better to:
|
| 1) wait to be admitted into YC and get B1 visa for 3 months. Do
| you get some kind of invitation letter from YC that increases
| your chances of approval?
|
| 2) get a normal tourist visa now and specify you will go to the
| US for a week or two like a normal tourist and later use that to
| go to incubator training.
| proberts wrote:
| There's no need to get a new B-1/B-2 visa to attend YC if one
| already has such a visa. But when to try to get such visa if
| one doesn't have it already, whether before or after getting
| accepted into YC, will depend on a variety of factors specific
| to that person, such as his or her countries of citizenship and
| residence, current employment/student status, U.S. immigration
| history, etc.
| techdragon wrote:
| Is it legal to rehearse or practice how to interact with border
| guards?
|
| I don't need to explain why someone could be deeply anxious
| interacting with US border officials... it should be obvious to
| anyone with half a brain. And since looking anxious is a sign
| that you could be concealing things, thus drawing more attention
| from border officials... Coaching on how to handle an experience
| and avoid that anxious spiral and minimise the risk for such
| travellers... But I'm curious if this is legal. Or if it is
| legal, would it be construed as evidence of intent to deceive
| should a traveler do this and wind up being investigated in such
| a way that it turns up that they have undertaken such practice?
| proberts wrote:
| It's 100% appropriate and in fact highly recommended to prepare
| oneself when seeking admission since the admission process can
| be stressful. Preparation here doesn't mean deceit; it just
| means being truthful but well prepared, not being caught off
| guard.
| hdivider wrote:
| Hi Peter,
|
| Asking for someone else: is the NIW category still backlogged? If
| the goal is to get a green card within the STEM-OPT extension
| timeline of 2 years, for someone who has very high achievements
| that fit either NIW or EB1A categories, which of these is likely
| a better option? I'm hearing some rumors that NIW can happen
| faster these days.
|
| Thanks!
| proberts wrote:
| The NIW (EB2) category is still backlogged and the standard as
| applied by USCIS has changed significantly and I would argue
| now isn't much easier than the EB1A, which used to be one of
| the reasons to pursue an NIW. With the changing standard and
| the worsening backlogs, the EB1A is the much better option,
| although a higher standard, and probably worth aggressively
| pursuing.
| rsp1984 wrote:
| A bit "off topic" but this is called AMA, so why not:
|
| To which degree do you see your own profession (law practice)
| changing with AI? As an outsider it looks like most of the
| legwork, research work or basically anything a non-senior
| attorney would spend their time on could soon be done by LLMs.
| How accurate is that impression? What future do you envision for
| law-related professions?
| proberts wrote:
| I can only speak about immigration law and AI is changing it
| significantly. This might also change but right now I think a
| lawyer is still needed to understand the nuances of the law, to
| understand the risks of different approaches, and to determine
| the best strategy, but more and more, initial legal research
| and initial drafting are being done by AI.
| yegortk wrote:
| Would licensed lawyers' monopoly on the right to give legal
| advice in the US survive a First Amendment challenge if it ever
| reached the Supreme Court?
| proberts wrote:
| I believe that it already has reviewed this question and to be
| clear, it's not the right to give legal advice, anyone can do
| that, it's the right to represent others in legal proceedings
| and before government agencies and to charge fees for the
| provision of such services.
| sfd17 wrote:
| The sex designation on my birth certificate has changed since the
| last time I got a work visa. Am I at risk for trying to enter the
| US on a new work visa as an engineer, or on personal travel?
|
| https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/marco-rubio-may-have-just...
| proberts wrote:
| Where there was no risk, there now is some. I'm not saying
| don't travel but absolutely consult with an attorney before
| doing so because this is an evolving issue.
| sfd17 wrote:
| Thank you
| dee_s101 wrote:
| Have O1 visa approvals slowed under the current administration,
| and what steps can individuals take to address this?
| proberts wrote:
| I haven't seen that - nearly all our O-1 petitions are still
| getting approved - but my view like everyone's view on this is
| anecdotal so I don't really know. The major changes I've seen
| are in the NIW context and to a lesser degree in the EB1A
| context.
| jnsaff2 wrote:
| What are the changes you have seen regarding EB1A?
| jackall wrote:
| As a Canadian on an L-1B visa, approaching the 3-year mark and an
| upcoming renewal, is it recommended to process it within the US
| or travel outside and re-enter for the processing at the border?
| OptionOfT wrote:
| Came in to USA from Belgium with L-1B. Renewed twice outside of
| the USA based on lawyer's recommendation that outside has a
| higher chance of success.
| proberts wrote:
| If you are eligible for a blanket L-1B, then absolutely do it
| outside through a U.S. Consulate.
| SteveVeilStream wrote:
| If someone is coming from China or India and is equally
| interested in working in Canada or the US, which way would you
| point them?
| proberts wrote:
| Unfortunately, my knowledge of Canadian immigration law - and
| life in Canada - is very limited so I can't give an informed
| response.
| aussieInSF wrote:
| Thank you for doing this Peter!
|
| I am Australian, working in tech using an E-3 visa in the Bay
| Area.
|
| My wife is considering moving forward with an EB-2 NIW
| application, she is currently in F1 OPT. She doesn't have a very
| strong profile currently, but is willing to work on it.
|
| I am concerned that this might complicate me being able to renew
| the E-3 in the future. My understanding is that an approved or
| even denied I-140 from a spouse potentially signals immigrant
| intent for both, and it is at the discretion of the CBP agent to
| make this assessment.
|
| More generally my understanding is that even if her I-140 was
| approved, and we stayed in the US until the I-485 was filed, that
| would permanently make me not eligible for any future E-3.
|
| Is this accurate?
|
| I previously was thinking of following the E-3 -> EB-3 -> GC
| route myself, but I don't see how I can do this if I'm
| sacrificing the E-3 if anything goes wrong.
| proberts wrote:
| First, the NIW standard has changed significantly recently so
| it might not be a good option for your wife to pursue if her
| profile isn't very strong since the standard as now applied
| looks more and more like the EB1A standard and focuses more on
| the applicant's individual qualifications and achievements
| rather than end-purpose of the applicant's work. While one
| spouse's immigration actions can impact the other's immigration
| status and options, the real risk isn't until the I-485 stage.
| We've had many E-3 visa holders renew their E-3 visas without
| issue when their spouses have pending or approved I-140
| petitions and even when the E-3 visa applicants have pending or
| approved I-140 petitions. Now, to be clear, the world has
| changed so what held true before might not hold true now but
| historically - and during the past 6 months - we have not had
| any issues with Australians traveling or renewing their E-3
| visa under such circumstances.
| aussieInSF wrote:
| Appreciate the response.
|
| Just in case you circle back, assuming I go the EB-3 route
| via my employer, am I correct in thinking that an I-485
| application or even going the consular processing route makes
| the E-3 unobtainable in the future if either fail?
| proberts wrote:
| Not necessarily but you will have some explaining to do
| when you apply for a new E-3 visa again.
| aussieInSF wrote:
| Thank you, I will look into it more.
| anonymoushn wrote:
| Hello, a friend of mine is a strong systems programmer from
| Poland but has not graduated from college. Is he basically unable
| to get a work visa for the US?
| proberts wrote:
| If he has a lot of experience, then he might have the
| equivalent of a bachelor's degree, which would make him
| potentially eligible for an H-1B visa. Also, if he's very
| accomplished and talented, even without a degree, he might
| qualify for an O-1 visa; education is not a requirement for the
| O-1 visa.
| proberts wrote:
| I will be taking a short break. Please keep the interesting
| questions and comments coming. Thanks.
| albystein wrote:
| Hi Peter,
|
| Thanks for hosting this AMA. I've an immigration issue related to
| status transition. So I came to the U.S on an F-1 visa about 6
| years ago. However, during the course of my undergraduate study,
| I found out that I qualified for TPS. So I applied and received
| it. Afterwards, I decided to take a leave of abscence from school
| to work on a startup because TPS allows me to. I was also made to
| change my status from F1 to TPS. And my I-20 status period
| expired a few months after I took the leave at the beginning of
| 2024.
|
| Owing to the recent TPS terminations of various countries, I'm
| afraid that my TPS will be terminated once it's up for review in
| a few months. My question regards transistioning back to F1
| status. I'm wondering if I can change status back from TPS to F1
| without having to leave the country. This is because a visa ban
| is currently in place for the country for which I hold TPS. As
| such I can't risk traveling outside the country as I won't be
| able to get back in because of the visa ban. Btw the ban anpplies
| to all visa categories including F1 and O1.
|
| Thanks!
| proberts wrote:
| If you worked pursuant to a TPS EAD, then I believe you cannot
| change your status to F-1 in the U.S. Definitely schedule a
| consultation with an immigration attorney. If you need a
| referral, email me.
| kreeWall wrote:
| Hi Mr. Roberts;
|
| Thank you for doing this, yet again - your insights are always so
| valuable. I am on an H1B, and my company applied for a Greencard,
| and I have received a Priority Date with my i-140 (sorry if I'm
| not using the correct terms here, this process confuses me). When
| am I able to leave my current employer without losing my priority
| date? Would I need to get my new employer to apply for an H1B
| transfer and extension for me, or how does that work? Thank you!!
| proberts wrote:
| The priority date is your property and only in very limited
| circumstances can you lose it after leaving your employer. The
| general rule is that the beneficiary of an I-140 petition - you
| - needs to wait at least 180 days after the approval to protect
| the priority date. I'm not sure what you are asking about a new
| employer.
| serg16 wrote:
| Hi Peter, Thank you for taking your time to do this.
|
| I currently hold J-1 research scholar visa. I would like to
| better understand what visa options I have after my J-1 ends. I
| am considering applying for O-1 but I need a professional advice
| on that. Can you recommend any immigration lawyers that can help
| me with that?
| proberts wrote:
| Schedule an initial consultation with me and then I can refer
| you to a good immigration lawyer to execute the plan. The O-1
| is probably your best - and only - option.
| serg16 wrote:
| Thanks, I emailed you.
| lawstudent967 wrote:
| I'm a midlife career changer about to start law school at 45
| after 20 years in tech, and right now I am trying to figure out
| if criminal defense or immigration is the field I want to pursue
| since I have relatively equal passion for each but neither keeps
| me up at night so to speak. What would you say I should be
| thinking about to reach answers that I am more likely to be happy
| with in terms of the choices that will determine the major
| contours of my career as an attorney? Or am I asking the wrong
| question and should instead be asking something else entirely?
| proberts wrote:
| That's funny because those were my two areas as well. The way
| that I look at it is that criminal law is much more
| intellectually challenging and interesting while immigration
| law is pretty straightforward but the application of the law to
| an unending variety of facts is incredibly interesting and
| challenging. I'd be happy to speak with you about this choice.
| matt_opmistro wrote:
| Hey Peter, thanks for doing the AMA.
|
| Kind of a high-level question... but what is the typical process
| of hiring someone to work in the US who isn't a US citizen?
|
| i.e. what steps does the potential employee need to take vs the
| company, & in what order?
|
| Thanks!
| rkovashikawa wrote:
| I have a g-4 visa as a dependent and I'm afraid that many
| startups won't be seeing my EAD as a competitive candidate for
| employment.
|
| What do you think about this kind of employment and is there a
| fast way to earn a green card in my situation?
| tz18 wrote:
| Hi Mr. Roberts,
|
| How hard/slow is it for an American citizen to bring their non-
| American wife over these days? My friend is a dual citizen
| considering taking a job in the USA but he's a little concerned
| about whether his non-American wife and kid could join him. She
| has a B1/B2 visa already. Is there some strategy to it? I heard
| the process is super backed up.
| RWuwm wrote:
| Hi Peter, appreciate for hosting the AMA. I am a Chinese and
| holding a L1B visa and now just submitted PWD with paralegal's
| help, how long would it cost to get a green card?
| devxpy wrote:
| Hi Peter! Heard your name from a couple of friends who have
| gotten their visas from you! Nice to see you here.
|
| What kind of travel restrictions apply for someone on an O-1 visa
| (potentially looking to file for EB-1A)? Is there a recommended
| minimum period of stay in the US?
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