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How Tech Startup Founders Are Hacking Immigration

30 points| salmonet | 10 years ago |bloomberg.com | reply

19 comments

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[+] timewarrior|10 years ago|reply
This article has an interesting point. I am from India. Built the biggest social network from India, sold a startup to Dropbox. Not sure if this is sufficient to get an EB-1 green card. With EB-2, I won't get Green card for another 5-8 years.

My next option is to invest a million to get EB-5, which is a waste of time. Or move outside US :(

[+] sremani|10 years ago|reply
1. L1 - EB1 is probably your best shot.

2. Do not disqualify EB-5, with a right connection or contact, it can be painless, since you get GC in 3 years. Also if you invest in what is economically distressed area 500,000 would suffice. (especially since you have start-ups with exits 500K may not be out of your reach).

[+] ones_and_zeros|10 years ago|reply
You'd most definitely qualify for an O-1. You basically need 1 of 8 criteria, and the most common for software engineers coming in on O-1 are 1) High salary 2) press coverage of your transaction with Dropbox 3) being a judge at a hackathon.
[+] karanbhangui|10 years ago|reply
Saw some previous posts of yours as well as this one. Please email me (in my profile), will recommend the right immigration lawyer. I think you have a good shot at O1/EB1 (INAL)
[+] dirkdk|10 years ago|reply
The inertia of the US government on immigration in general and particular for startup founders is astonishing. Once a place like Vancouver or Berlin gets enough traction combined with money for investments, international founders will stop trying to get into SV
[+] neptunespear|10 years ago|reply
An optimistic comment about Vancouver on Hacker News that doesn't have anything to do with brain drain due to Chinese investors buying up real estate? Is it opposite day?
[+] timewarrior|10 years ago|reply
Agreed on Canada. I have seriously considered moving to Canada. Only barrier is that I need to give and English written test and I haven't used pen and paper in a while. If EB-1 doesn't work, Canada here I come.
[+] Nanite|10 years ago|reply
The author could have do a bit better research, "research schools & universities" do not use H1B's they use J-1's for PhD's & Postdocs. Also a "rockstar visa" would be an O-1 visa.
[+] ones_and_zeros|10 years ago|reply
As others have pointed out H-1B is very popular on college campuses as they are cap exempt and come in on the lower end of the "prevailing wage" scale (because they are typically young and inexperienced)

An interesting/alarming trend is that education institutions are "hosting" private companies as a sort of satellite office, where the developer is an employee of the university (to get around the H-1B cap) but all work is directed and owned by the company. So Acme Co. pays the PCU $20/hr and PCU pays the H-1B $15/hr and pockets the $5.

Ah the tangled webs we weave when at first we aim to deceive.

[+] atria|10 years ago|reply
..and they use H1Bs, and those H1Bs aren't counted against the cap.
[+] HistoryInAction|10 years ago|reply
Yep, Craig here with Global EIR. As the other commenter says, research universities use cap exempt H-1Bs for their full-time faculty and also lab technical staff.

Now that all of these universities have entrepreneurship centers, certain options opened up for founders.