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

183 points proberts | 3 comments | 17 Oct 24 16:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.502s | 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.

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CactusBlue ◴[17 Oct 24 20:21 UTC] No.41873363[source]▶
I'm an Australian citizen running a bootstrapped startup (and would prefer to stay bootstrapped, but would raise if there was no other way of immigrating). What is the best way to immigrate to the US? I have a computer science degree from an Australian university.
replies(1): >>41873758 #
pnw ◴[17 Oct 24 21:02 UTC] No.41873758[source]▶
E3 is absolutely the best way for Australians in my experience. It's more flexible than a H1B and the process is much simpler. The only downside is there is no simple path to a green card like H1B, but I managed to get one anyway.

You'd need a US entity to apply on your behalf. In my case they never asked about assets to pay the salary but that may be an issue.

https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary...

replies(1): >>41873969 #
proberts ◴[17 Oct 24 21:24 UTC] No.41873969[source]▶
All correct. The E-3 visa is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest U.S. visa. But it does require a sponsoring employer. The only downside relative to the H-1B is that an E-3 visa is not a dual intent visa like the H-1B so this needs to be managed if and when the E-3 visa holder is in the green card process.
replies(1): >>41874155 #
1. CactusBlue ◴[17 Oct 24 21:48 UTC] No.41874155[source]▶
Can I self-sponsor an E-3, if I'm the founder of the company, with no other shareholders?
replies(2): >>41874377 #>>41874568 #
2. ashconnor ◴[17 Oct 24 22:19 UTC] No.41874377[source]▶
No it's like TN in that regard.
3. pnw ◴[17 Oct 24 22:43 UTC] No.41874568[source]▶
There must be an employee-employee relationship. Difficult to pull off if you are completely solo but possible for most startups with more than one founder where you are not CEO.