ASK YC: How does a non-American entrepreneur get into the US?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=115590

by omakase • 18 years ago

23 28 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm a Canadian about to graduate from engineering. I'm well into my first startup, but I need to get to a startup hub where I can iterate faster and be around the right people. I don't want to spend 3+ years working for a company to get a green card, I want to focus on starting companies and failing as fast as possible. Is there any way I can get into the US?

amohr2• 18 years ago

Get a travel visa and a sham marriage. As the spouse of a US citizen, you are entitled to a nonimmigrant visa while you wait to be processed to become a permanent resident. Then, you can apply for citizenship.

Actually, your best bet would probably be to send out a boat load of emails to half the valley explaining your situation and see if any will hire you. You can come in for interviews on a regular travel visa. Then, whoever you're working for just has to fill out some form and you can stay pretty much indefinitely as long as you're still employed and file an extension every two years.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f...

konsl• 18 years ago

What do you mean? I think he means he _doesn't_ want to be employed.

amohr2• 18 years ago

that's what plan a (sham marriage) is for.

But as long as you find somebody to incorporate with, they can technically be your 'employer' for these purposes, I assume. Bear in mind that this is all a little shady and really the only other way without an in (fake wife/employer) is through the presumably arduous process of just straight up applying for citizenship. Otherwise, grad school? :\

DaniFong3• 18 years ago

The sham marriage is technically illegal, and vaguely dangerous. Though in fact it is indeed a common occurrence. You can, however, get a TN visa for part-time work, that is completely allowed. Also, the letter of the law seems to indicate that you're allowed to get a TN visa for a company you own partially, provided you don't have a controlling share (i'm not sure if this holds up in court, though). If it does, (i'd talk to an immigration lawyer to make sure), find three other Canadians, split a company equally, and nominate each others visas.

omakase3• 18 years ago

Just found this: http://www.naftatnlawyer.com/nafta-tn-blog/2008/1/14/tn-visa... << Looks like "controlling" doesn't just refer to shares.

davidw• 18 years ago

I knew an Italian dude that had a fake marriage in order to stay the US - he was a video game programmer making 100K+ in the early 90ies, but didn't have a college degree, so obviously wasn't qualified or some such tripe. He said that they are pretty thorough in their investigations of your marriage, especially if there are no kids.

If it were me in charge, the customs/immigration/etc folks would be the first ones up against the wall:-)

iamelgringo2• 18 years ago

Yeah... I wouldn't tempt fate by doing the sham marriage, thing. Doesn't really go over well when it's found out.

imsteve• 18 years ago

> Get a travel visa and a sham marriage.

It's difficult for me to say that I support this but immigration regulations are so rediculous and I have seen this technique used very successfully several times so I must say that I agree.

This isn't unique to the US' immigration regulations either.

samwise• 18 years ago

short answer. MEXICO...... j/k

raju2• 18 years ago

I am on an immigrant, and to answer your question, I don't think there is an easy way to accomplish this. Your best, and most legit option is to wait out for the green card.

There might be a way to spin off a company with a citizen, but even then, to work with them on a H1-B visa, the company needs to show some revenue so that as to convince the INS that it may potential need additional employees, especially immigrants.

Please take what I say with a grain of salt. I looked some into this, and from what I understood, this is the only safe route. Good luck, and I will be interested in knowing if you find something that disagrees with me...:D

white3• 18 years ago

You can't be employed by the company you own. And you can't share the ownership to avoid this restriction. As far as I know, they don't care are you 1% or 100% owner. So, this means neither H1B or EBGC are possible. And yes, among with solid revenue stream, ability to prove that you're not "one man shop", and that you're not trying to make your business of solving other's immigration problems, the company also needs to be able to pay competitive salary within the market range. So, if you're getting H1B for Software Developer, I'm pretty concerned that you'll ever get approved if your company is stating your salary is less then 65K annually (in CA). And, as far as I know, the companies and visa applicants are getting audited very often to assure that they keep the salaries not lower then stated.

ojbyrne3• 18 years ago

My experience is the thing about ownership isn't true, and I can think of plenty of people who are counter-examples. Me (own shares in digg.com), Daniel Burka (digg, pownce), Tara Hunt (Citizen Agency). All three in the US on TN visas.

ojbyrne3• 18 years ago

Having been through this experience, I think the best way is to try and get a job in the US with a visa, then work on the startup on the side. If you can get funded, everything gets a lot easier. Unless of course you're wealthy to start with.

petesmithy• 18 years ago

Check this chain out.. Drop me an email (pete at songkick dot com) if you want any info, looked into this pretty extensively..

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=67268

iamelgringo2• 18 years ago

Wow, great thread on this topic, petesmithy.

My experience is with Nurses moving here to the States from the Phillipines or Canada. And, they all say that it's a royal pain. The Immigration service, or to those in the know, "La 'migra" has been very crabby since 9/11. It pays to know what you're doing and know what your options are.

A friend of a friend is on a temporary visa from Hungary (don't know exactly what type). He went to San Diego for a weekend, crossed the border into Mexico for the afternoon, and on the way back in, got a very crabby talking to by the Customs official, and then had to spend several days talking to immigration officials, and explaining why he had violated the terms of his visa, and why they shouldn't deport him.

All that to say, is don't taunt "La 'migra". Don't do something foolish like try to get a faux marriage. Don't get into trouble with the law while you're over here, trying to get your visa.

Perhaps a better question might be: Does anyone know a really good immigration lawyer that I could talk to for an hour or two to see what my options are?

raju2• 18 years ago

Hey petesmithy! Do you mind if I took you up on that offer too? I have a few questions of my own...

icky• 18 years ago

> I'm well into my first startup, but I need to get to a startup hub where I can iterate faster and be around the right people.

I think you might want to examine your assumptions. If you need to hire people (or are desperate to get funded or acquired ;-), then said startup-hub is important. If you have a way of bootstrapping on your own ("I only bus tables as a day-job; I'm really an actor^Wstartup founder!"), and a plan for getting actual revenue, then don't overlook the potential of a certain global computer network that can reach across borders much more easily than you can.

matthewpjw• 18 years ago

I've worked in the US on J1 status, the process was pretty painless, but the sponsoring company does need to produce a Training Plan that includes US social events and evidence of US only experience to be gained and how that experience will then be used in your home country.

You can then try for a H1-B and hope you get one of the very limited number available.

foonamefoo• 18 years ago

You can't. Thank Lou Dobbs.

alexsolo• 18 years ago

I am also really interested in a way to start a startup in the US. Also Canadian.

Currently, I am working on a TN visa for a big tech company in the US. The TN is a 1 year temporary work permit. Currently, I'm on my second TN; last year, I tried to upgrade to an H-1B, but my application was not randomly selected. The TN visa is quite easy to obtain if sponsored by a company. It's the H-1B that poses a problem; you might get one after 1 year, or it might take longer (like in my case). Once on an H-1B, you can start applying for a green card. You can find more info about the TN and H-1B on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TN_visa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1B_visa

It is also possible to go straight from a TN to a green card if you have a good immigration lawyer. This procedure is risky: if your green card application is rejected, you'll never be able to obtain a TN again. Take a look here for more info:

http://www.immigrationportal.com/archive/index.php/t-123851....

I do plan to start a startup later this year, in the US if possible. I don't really want to wait 3-5 years (or even longer) to get a green card. In my research, I also came across the Treaty Investor visa status that petesmithy mentions in his thread. Here are some links:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1273.html

http://toronto.usconsulate.gov/content/content.asp?section=v...

I would be really curious to see how this goes for you omakase. I've only recently started to do some research into this. You can contact me at (alx dot solomon at gmail dot com).

white3• 18 years ago

You don't have to get H1B to apply for EBGC. The H1B period is 2 years. Although it's not guaranteed to be approved for next two years, you'll pretty likely be. The maximum period of H1B is 5 years from what I remember (2 + 2 + 1).

ASK YC: How does a non-American entrepreneur get into the US?

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