←back to thread

I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

183 points proberts | 1 comments | 17 Oct 24 16:01 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

I'll be here for the few hours and then again at around 1 pm PST for another few hours. As usual, there are countless possible topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases for obvious 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!

Previous threads we've done: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts.

Show context
abixb ◴[17 Oct 24 16:58 UTC] No.41871410[source]▶
What has been -- in your personal experience as well as in the experience of some of your lawyer colleagues -- some of the 'hardest' cases wrt employment authorization for US-based startups and YC? And why?

Also, how are you anticipating the immigration landscape to change especially if President Donald Trump returns to the White House in January 2025? I'm asking this in the context of the 2017-2021 Trump administration's massive clampdown on Specialty Occupation visas through executive orders. [0]

[0] https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/tr...

replies(1): >>41871595 #
1. proberts ◴[17 Oct 24 17:19 UTC] No.41871595[source]▶
Those who are in YC and who previously were in YC almost always can get work authorization, whether it's an O-1, E-2, H-1B, or country-specific visa. Relatively speaking, the harder cases are those involving those who don't have at least a bachelor's degree. While lots of experience sometimes can fix this, not always, which means that an O-1 visa is usually the only option. Regarding the impact of a change in administration, I just touched on this in response to another question/comment.