I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA
101 comments
·January 20, 2025legitster
Some family friends are part of a diaspora seeking asylum from Russia. Their hearing dates all fall inside 2026.
Part of their asylum plea is admission to activities that Russia criminalized during the invasion of Ukraine - draft dodging, dissemination information about the invasion, and sending aid money to their relatives in Ukrainian.
If they were deported back to Russia, their asylum plea would ostensibly be used as an admission of guilt.
With the change in administrations, there is a lot of consternation in the community that their hearing will go badly or be cancelled altogether. Is there any indication what will happen with these cases yet?
adrianpluis
Any tips or suggestions for a DACA recipient with a year left in Uni for Computer Science, here in the states? I am nervous about my career post-school and am wondering if you could shed some insight as to what my options might be. Thank you for your time.
justinpombrio
Any idea how the executive orders will effect trans people renewing their passports?
A trans friend already changed the gender marker on his passport, and it's expiring in two years. He's deciding whether to renew it ASAP or wait. Any guess how likely it is to come back with the wrong gender marker, or get stuck in a bureaucratic mess?
Thank you so much for doing these! No worries if this question is outside your wheelhouse.
lterrac
Hello, I am a computer science research engineer with 2 years of experience in a non-U.S. big tech company research center in Europe. Before that, I worked as a research fellow at the university. During that time I published 4 papers, and I was a reviewer for a CS journal (even though I actually reviewed only 1 paper). I actually have 60-70 citations of my works (if it might be relevant in any way). What are my chances to get an O-1 visa? Thanks in advance for your time
nand_gate
Thanks for doing this, Peter. What is a good route for an English national looking to move their profitable software business to the US? E-2?
hannibal529
Do you foresee Canadians applying for TN/H1-Bs facing more obstacles in the new administration?
kujin88
Hi Peter, thank you for doing this AMA. I am on H1B and I recently lost my job. I only have about 50 days left to get a new job but I have a spouse who is on his own H1B. I wanted to see and find out legal and smooth options to buy more time for myself to find a new job - If anything, it would be those options that do not need me to leave the country and get stamping, if at all. My country of citizenship is India, by the way. If you can help us out, it would be really great. Thank you.
proberts
The best and easiest option because your spouse is in H-1B status is to apply to change your status to dependent H-4 status using USCIS Form I-539. As long as this is filed during your grace period, you can remain in the U.S. while the application is pending/until it is approved.
amoshebb
Two Canadian cofounders want to start a company in the USA, is O-1 the only option? Is TN a possibility?
winter_blue
Recent amendments to work visa rules published in the federal register (and that took effect on January 17, 2025) enables being a founder of a company while on an H-1B, and perhaps might similarly allow that for a TN, but Peter Roberts or another expert would likely know best about it.
Tteriffic
Most posted job positions in the US, that I see, explicitly state they will not sponser candidates. But how receptive are they to TN visa candidates and do you see that attitude changing in the near future?
proberts
That's mostly a knee-jerk ignorant position since it's oftentimes very easy, fast, and inexpensive to hire a Canadian in TN status. So it's a process of somehow getting through to someone at the company to educate them not to pass on a good candidate simply because they're Canadian. Which of course is a lot easier said than done.
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cafed00d
I’m on an H1B visa since 2017. I extended in 2021 and again in 2023 (thanks to approved I-140). But my visa stamp in my passport is from 2017 which expired in 2020. I haven’t made efforts to get another stamp mainly because of the pandemic in 2020 and long appointment backlogs thereafter.
Is there a necessity to always keep a valid visa stamp in my passport? Apart from the ease of travel are there any other reasons to always keep a current visa stamp in my passport? I do have all valid I-797 documents of status and have kept my status current all the time.
initialg
I am on H1b visa now. I filed my PERM one month ago. According to some people, it takes 1 year and a half to get my PERM approved and it takes another month to get my I-140 approved. But I want to jump ships soon. If I leave my current company, I will have to start everything over again (Prevailing Wage Determination, Labor Market Test, PERM). I feel I'm stuck in this company. What are the things I could do?
smiley0687
Thank you for doing this. I don’t know if this is part of your expertise. I am planning of incorporating the holding of my start up in Delaware, the startup is located in Dubai (I am a resident there, German origin, my co-founder US passport holder). As we are planning on targeting US investors we decided to have the holding in Delaware. Now the question is, what are the potential tax implications for a company from the outside incorporating a holding in Delaware. (1) Is the operational business taxable in the US? Is there a threshold? Or would it only play a role once we would potentially sell the company? The feedback we are receiving is not very straightforward. (2) I am aware that my confounder obviously needs to report to the IRS, but would him holding an Us passport also have an impact on the company or this is completely separate?
I'll be here for the next 3 hours and then again at around 4 pm EST for another 3 hours. As usual, there are many possible topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with but as much as possible - because we've received so many questions about this the past few months - I'd like to focus on the impact of the new administration on U.S. immigration law and policy. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases for liability reasons 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. Thanks!