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

194 points proberts | 4 comments | 16 May 25 15:05 UTC | HN request time: 0.838s | source

I'll be here for the next 5-6 hours. As usual, there are countless topics given the rapidly changing immigration landscape and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and I'll try to do the same in my answers.

Edit: I am taking a break now and will return later this afternoon/evening to respond to any comments and answer any questions. Thank you everyone for a great and engaged AMA so far.

1. throwaway098490 ◴[16 May 25 15:56 UTC] No.44006949[source]▶
How common is it for pre-Series A startups to sponsor H1Bs? What's the process like for EB2 on the PERM route, and how difficult is it to be successful in that process?
replies(1): >>44007556 #
2. proberts ◴[16 May 25 16:52 UTC] No.44007556[source]▶
No issues whatsoever with respect to H-1B sponsorship but potential issues with respect to green card applications, particularly PERM-based applications because of the ability pay requirement and because of issues related to ownership/equity held by the employee.
replies(1): >>44007654 #
3. Valbeloru ◴[16 May 25 17:02 UTC] No.44007654[source]▶
What are those issues?
replies(1): >>44008563 #
4. proberts ◴[16 May 25 18:36 UTC] No.44008563{3}[source]▶
A company sponsoring an employee for a green card must show that it has the ability to pay the offered wage and this is more complicated when the company just has funding and no revenues or limited revenues. Also if the sponsored employee owns more than 5% of the company, USCIS could question whether recruitment process was done in good faith.