Ask HN: How can I leverage a profitable Internet startup to get a US/EU visa?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9609004

by rayalez • 11 years ago

5 10 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hi! Suppose I have built a cool and profitable website that has a lot of traffic and makes a lot of money. I live in a 3rd world country and the dream of my life is to move to US.

Is there any way I can leverage a successfull online business to have a possibility to live in US?

pcunite• 11 years ago

Awesome, good for you. Others will be able to answer this question. I don't know.

siscia2• 11 years ago

Probably move to Europe will be simpler.

The tax are a higher, the wage lower, but if you will have a better social net if things go south.

Also I guess will be simpler to move from Europe to US.

A lot depends also from your background ?

Where you from ? What languages you know ? Do you have relatives/friend anywhere in the world ?

rayalez2• 11 years ago

Thank you for your reply!

Can you give me some advice on moving to Europe? Which country is easier to immigrate to? What are the conditions that I have to fulfill?

My situation:

I'm 24 year old single male, my English is not perfect but I have no problem speaking and understanding people. I don't have relatives anywhere outside of my home country. I have a bachelor's degree in a field that has nothing to do with CS or entrepreneurship(I'm mostly self-taught). I'm not sure what else is relevant.

siscia2• 11 years ago

I am not really an expert...

Anyway, the basic idea is that when you enter in the Schegen area you can move in any country.

Here I am talking about Italy, however you don't want to open a company there, remember that.

Basically you need to show that you can sustain yourself (and your family), also you need to show that you have an accomodation.

It sound harder than what really is...

Are you going to be self-employed ? Or you will need to work for somebody ?

Do you have cash for ~10.000€ ? (probably you need less, but I guess that have a big safe margin is desiderable)

If you know who you are going to work for (yourself is an acceptable answer) and have enough money emigrate in Europe is not difficult, the best thing you can do is to figure out which country you like the most and understand the procedure.

Anyway I would suggest you to read here:

http://italy.angloinfo.com/moving/residency/ http://www.poliziadistato.it/articolo/view/10717/

dpeck• 11 years ago

if any of your grandparents were from other countries you may want to look into citizenship being available via that route, for example I know Ireland will grant citizenship if a grandparent was an Irish citizen.

Something like that could, essentially, open up the whole of Europe for you.

kjksf• 11 years ago

If "lot's of money" means "$1 million or more" you can look into US investor visa (http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/eb-5-investor-who-qua..., http://www.h1base.com/visa/work/compare%20work%20visas/ref/1...).

But if you want to explore that further, better contact an immigration attorney (which I'm sure you can find on-line) for more specific advice.

That being said, US is not all roses (I live here) and most other countries have much more sensible immigration policy e.g. Canada, Australia, New Zealand all have easier and more rational paths for getting citizenship.

Also most countries won't kick you out so as long as you can easily get a traveller's visa to a given country, you can live there pretty much indefinitely by renewing the visa (which usually lasts for at least 3 months) when it expires.

The biggest question is where are you from - the exact details on visas depend on country you're from and some unlucky countries have it much worse than others.

Also some asian countries (Thailand, Singapore) are welcoming to (rich) people.

adventured• 11 years ago

Yes, you can buy your way into the US in several ways:

http://cis.org/north/aliens-guide-buying-american-visa-three...

Or you can pursue a green card on the basis of extraordinary ability:

http://www.bbcamerica.com/mind-the-gap/2012/09/13/how-to-get...

Alternatively, there's the slow, gradual process. If you were making decent money, you can also hire professionals to attempt to expedite your process as much as possible.

smartician• 11 years ago

In addition to the other options, if your country has an investor visa treaty with the US, you can qualify for an E-2 visa: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/fees/treaty.ht...

There is no explicit minimum investment required, I've heard of people getting in with five figure sums.

sidarok• 11 years ago

This Wikipedia article gives a good overview of the Startup visas countries have to offer : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_Visa

Ask HN: How can I leverage a profitable Internet startup to get a US/EU visa?

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