
Ask HN: What visa do foreign YC founders use to stay in US beyond 3 months? - tophernash
Is there a minimum funding they need to raise to qualify for a long term visa ?
======
yurisagalov
Regardless of whether you're a YC founder or not, in general unless you're
Canadian/Mexican and can qualify for a TN, or Australian and can qualify for
an E-3, your only viable real option is an O-1 (Alien of Extraordinary
ability). It's not an unachievable visa, and there are many founders who use
it, but the requirements to demonstrate extraordinary ability are onerous.

From USCIS:

* Receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor

* Membership in associations in the field for which classification is sought which require outstanding achievements, as judged by recognized national or international experts in the field

* Published material in professional or major trade publications, newspapers or other major media about the beneficiary and the beneficiary’s work in the field for which classification is sought

* Original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field

* Authorship of scholarly articles in professional journals or other major media in the field for which classification is sought

* A high salary or other remuneration for services as evidenced by contracts or other reliable evidence

* Participation on a panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or in a field of specialization allied to that field for which classification is sought

* Employment in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation

Additional info on the O-1A can be found here: [http://www.uscis.gov/working-
united-states/temporary-workers...](http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-
states/temporary-workers/o-1-visa-individuals-extraordinary-ability-or-
achievement)

I'm specifically ignoring H-1B as an option because it's only a viable option
between April 1st and 5th of a given year, and the odds are very much stacked
against you at this point (from a pure statistics perspective).

There are a few other visas that may be an option, such as the investor visa
(E-2), and intra-company transfer visa (L-1), but these are highly situation
specific visas.

Also, this is not legal advice, I'm not an immigration lawyer, and you really
should talk to an immigration lawyer :)

~~~
rdtsc
Calls for O-1aaS startup.

Setup an organization that will:

* Generate awards and prizes in computer science and its sub-fields.

* It will have a journal that will be populated by a deep learning nn. Seeded by a few areas of interest a user will put in, it will then auto-generate articles.

* Setup a contracting service where you invest in it initially, then it pays it back to you as salary for whatever minimum amount of periods O-1 requires. (Bonus, use also for money laundering).

* Have a number of "critical" position and can only be filled by <firstname.lastname> person.

This is of course a joke. But that how some PR organizations works. There is
of course the classic book "Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and
the Public Relations Industry" how the word sludge turned to biosolids. One of
the techniques was to create a fake scientific journal and start publishing
fake papers to it. Then convinced the dictionary publishers that biosolids is
now a word and it is used by "scientists".

~~~
anigbrowl
I'd advise tempering your sense of humor on this topic, since attempts to do
more-or-less what you're talking about above tend to culminate in long prison
sentences for both operators and customers of such a service, unless it's
based in a jurisdiction that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US.
since 'securing the border' is one of those fundamentally unattainable
political goals prosecutors tend to throw the book at anyone they find engaged
in this kind of activity because it plays well at oversight hearings. If you
want to make money by disrupting the immigration system, set up a fake law
firm to scam immigrants with paperwork problems - you can run that one for
ages because your erstwhile customers are afraid of the police and you won't
get too heavy of a sentence if you do get caught since the lives you ruined
don't belong to registered voters.

Read a lot of immigration law news and you too can develop a jaundiced
attitude! Seriously, it seems like things may be improving somewhat under
Loretta Lynch's administration of the DoJ but it's a bit early to tell.
[http://trac.syr.edu](http://trac.syr.edu) is probably the best resource that
doesn't require some sort of professional or academic subscription.

~~~
marcoperaza
> since 'securing the border' is one of those fundamentally unattainable
> political goals prosecutors tend to throw the book at anyone they find
> engaged in this kind of activity because it plays well at oversight
> hearings.

It's not a political ploy. If you try to make an end-run around the law,
they're going to go after you to defend the rule of law. The law isn't a
computer program that you can find a bug in and circumvent (well, most of the
time). The law is purposefully broad and fuzzy, and is interpreted by human
judges who will see through your little scheme.

It's not the prosecutor's or the judge's role to pass political judgement on
the law. Their job is to uphold the laws that the people's representatives
have passed.

~~~
hackuser
> If you try to make an end-run around the law, they're going to go after you
> ... It's not the prosecutor's or the judge's role to pass political
> judgement on the law.

They don't have the resources to prosecute more than a minority of violations,
and their choices many times are based on politics.

~~~
marcoperaza
I agree, politics does definitely have a hand, especially at the state level
where prosecutors are often elected officials. Judges too. I think that's an
abomination to justice, but it's the unfortunate reality.

Even at the federal level, we see the Justice department "deprioritizing"
enforcement of drug laws in states that have legalized marijuana. I agree with
the outcome in that particular case, but it's definitely pushing the limits of
the intended separation of powers.

------
dotBen
Technically it isn't clear what visa foreign YC founders should use to stay in
the US _during_ the 3 months.

Visa waiver[0] only allows for meetings, attending a conference, attend short-
term unpaid training or negotiate a contract. Anything that really is
'working' \- such as performing software engineering for a company (even your
own) - is arguably outside of the visa waiver.

I'm assuming YC doesn't want founders to be outside of the law so I'm curious
what their legal advisors have advised them.

[0][http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-
waiver-p...](http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-
program.html)

~~~
hugh4
If challenged I would stick it under "negotiating a contract".

"Yes, I am negotiating a contract for investment. The work I am doing is part
of the negotiation"

~~~
dotBen
I wouldn't. Why would you have paperwork to be in the US for 3 months to
'negotiate a contract'.

Its a serious crime to lie or misrepresent to a Federal DHS Officer

~~~
hugh4
I'm not suggesting lying, I'm suggesting using a broad definition of
"negotiating"

~~~
dotBen
yeah, I don't think you've had a lot of interactions with Dept Homeland
Security.

------
LukaAl
If they are from a "treaty country"[1] they could apply for an E-2[2] investor
Visa given that at least 50% of the company is owned by entities from the
treaty country (easy at that stage) and you could demonstrate a substantial
investment in the company (if you are after the prototype stage shouldn't be a
problem for a good visa lawyer).

On your specific question, from feedback of my lawyer, if they have invested
(read: spent) more than 100K in the company they are good to go. No
requirement on how much you have raised (but obviously at least 100K).

So should't be a problem for a typical YC company.

[1]
[http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/treaty.html](http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/treaty.html)

[2] [http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-
workers...](http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-
workers/e-2-treaty-investors)

~~~
hkmurakami
Having gone through this process, the stage at which you can apply for an E2
visa is after you have raised your Angel/Seed round. (to clear the 100k~300k
bar. We talked to several people about this and the most commonly cited number
was 300k investment, already residing in a US bank account)

Note that if you have a founding team with mixed US-foreign residency _and_
you have convertible notes involved, you may have to write a convincing letter
of explanation to the embassy representative demonstrating why the convertible
notes are effectively equity, and how the ownership breakdown would
materialize under various "future funding event" scenarios.

~~~
LukaAl
> Having gone through this process, the stage at which you can apply for an E2
> visa is after you have raised your Angel/Seed round. (to clear the 100k~300k
> bar. We talked to several people about this and the most commonly cited
> number was 300k investment, already residing in a US bank account)

My experience on the process is that you have to demonstrate a commitment in
the business through the money you spent. When we got the Visa we was in the
process of raising our seed round and the money in the bank account were
pretty low (but we've already invested).

I've no experience on your point of mixed founding teams but there's something
to be considered, when the percentage of ownership from foreign citizen goes
under the 50% the E-2 Visa is no more valid. If you are already near the limit
and you plan to raise in the US better save money and check other solutions
(e.g: H1B, J1, O1).

Anyway, better to have a Visa Lawyer assisting you, the only important
information is that there are a lot of opportunity.

~~~
hkmurakami
> My experience on the process is that you have to demonstrate a commitment in
> the business through the money you spent. When we got the Visa we was in the
> process of raising our seed round and the money in the bank account were
> pretty low (but we've already invested).

Yes, sorry I basically handwaved over this as a given that tangible business
commitment spend (office lease, furniture, etc.) is a prerequisite.

------
maccman
I wrote a long guide about this a while back.

[http://blog.sourcing.io/visa-guide](http://blog.sourcing.io/visa-guide)

~~~
haje
Awesome, thank you!

------
titomc
US immigration system is broken & is a joke. H1B "skilled" visas are based on
your luck (lottery) and not on your skills (surprise). They change the rules
every now and then and its a nightmare to be on H1B worrying whether you are
in legal status and the fear of being deported. Now LCA is not enough to
change your work location. H1B amendment is needed which is another nightmare.

You can go for an investor visa option but it has it own quirks. With the
current immigration system, foreign investors or founders should exercise a
lot of caution as far the immigration system of US is concerned.

~~~
garethsprice
Not sure why this is getting downvoted, as someone who came into the US under
an E-2 visa I can attest that the system is horribly flawed* & foreign
investors/founders definitely should exercise extreme caution.

* - for example, rules of the E-2 state you have to invest your capital, _then_ apply for the visa, which may or may not be granted. If you do it 100% by the book you also have to leave the country while it's under consideration (and leave your investment to run itself). They don't give any guidelines for specific dollar amounts. It then has to be renewed every 2-5 years (again, arbitrary decision) and does not lead to any permanent residency.

It's a mess and I would not recommend it as a long term path to living in the
US.

------
HistoryInAction
Yeah, take a look at the USCIS Visa Guide: [http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-
guide/](http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/)

There are lots of different options and none are all that good a fit for
founders.

If you've got a year advance notice, you can set things up for the L-1. If
you've got the ability to generate old media press and can raise $500k (rule
of thumb), then O-1 is a good fit. If you're from the right country with
$50k-150k, then E-2. If you're from Australia, E-3.

For the O-1 in particular, the three criteria we tend to use are media
coverage, mentorship/conferences, and high salary for those who have been
employed previously to becoming entrepreneurs.

YC asked the White House to make some tweaks to the O-1 to be a more
straightforward path for founders, but the White House went in a different
direction with something yet to be announced.

We have the Global EIR program which might be of assistance. Our flagship
program in Boston: [http://masstech.org/innovation-institute/projects-and-
initia...](http://masstech.org/innovation-institute/projects-and-
initiatives/global-entrepreneur-residence-pilot-program)

We have a pathway that takes advantage of cap-exemptions built into the H-1B
program and partnerships with universities. It's pretty straightforward, and
in exchange for a few months of part-time work, you'll draw a runway-extending
salary and be sponsored for a work visa, after which you'll have a visa runway
to raise capital more easily and then switch over to 100% startup time.

www.globaleir.org will have more in a short while.

~~~
mananm
We've partnered with UMass to scale the Global EIR program --
[https://www.umb.edu/news/detail/unshackled_and_global_entrep...](https://www.umb.edu/news/detail/unshackled_and_global_entrepreneur_in_residence_program_partner_to_serve_im)

------
mananm
Hope this doesn't sound like a shameless plug, but this topic is really why
Unshackled exists and why we are on a mission to enable as many immigrant
founded companies in the US as we can.

As one of the founding partners of Unshackled (www.unshackled.co) I hope that
we've been able to help immigrant founders build towards their dreams. It's
still early, but in the past 7 months, we've supported 30 founders, across 13
teams, secured sponsorships of 5 different visa types and are working on 2
more (cap-exempt H1-B and H4 EAD). We are optimistic our model is good for
teams with immigrant founders. Our next application closes on Oct 23 and hope
that we can continue to support the best our country attracts.

More on our structure can be found here: [http://unshackled.co/a-bigger-and-
stronger-unshackled-is-her...](http://unshackled.co/a-bigger-and-stronger-
unshackled-is-here/)

~~~
mikekchar
This may be a stupid question, but why are people so keen to work in their
start up in the US? My background is IT, so perhaps that colours my
perception, but I can't actually see comparative value for working in the US.

Of course you can create a US company. You can travel to the US to make
connections and try to raise money, but for actually doing the work, the US
seems like a pretty poor choice. Salaries are higher than pretty much anywhere
else on earth. There is a shortage of good talent. Real Estate is expensive.
Visas for foreign workers are practically impossible.

Obviously, some people live in countries where the infrastructure is not set
up to really be successful. But there are _lots_ of easier countries to start
a business in (and get a visa) than the US.

Is there something I'm missing, or are people just buying into the "American
dream" thing and assuming that they will be successful in the US?

------
alexro
So, after reading all of the comments and some of the links and not being a
lawyer, nor YC founder and residing outside of the US and just been there once
on B1...

The plan:

* get to the US first on B1, quite easy to get and relatively applicable for YC

* while there, set up a US company and open a branch in your own country and make it to employ you officially

* continue to investigate your options and if young file for J1 (internship) or if older file for O1 (achievements) with references from other founders/VCs

* don't mess with H1B

* worst case scenario if you didn't apply for other kinds of VISA - leave the US and come back periodically on B1 if need be and continue to be employed in your home country by a branch of your company in the US. after a year or so apply for L1 (inter-company transfer) which is almost automatic to get and allows the spouse to work too.

~~~
adrianbg
[http://unshackled.co/](http://unshackled.co/) is working pretty well for me.
YC's attitude toward foreign founders didn't inspire much confidence.

------
Finbarr
If you have been running your company for a year or more outside of the US,
you may have some luck with the L-1 Visa for intra-company transfer[1]. The
visa is for managers/executives who are coming to the US to work for a US arm
of a foreign company. Seems like it can be used for establishing US based
offices as well.

[1] [http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/l-1-intracompany-
transfe...](http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/l-1-intracompany-
transferee/understanding-l-1-requirements)

~~~
sparkzilla
I was on this visa. You must have been running the business in your home
country for at least one year, and you must continue to keep the business
running in your home country while you are in the U.S. (The U.S. office is
supposed to be a branch). You also need sufficient funds (at least $100K, but
$150K is safer). However once you get it, you can renew it for up to seven
years, and, unlike the E-2, it has a path to getting a green card

~~~
braindead_in
How long did the L1 application take for you? I filed my petition 2 months ago
and am still waiting to hear back from USCIS. Keeping my fingers crossed;
50-50 chance that it'll be approved I guess.

~~~
sparkzilla
We did express processing. It took about seven weeks.

------
rachellaw
I have an O-1 visa, it's not impossible and it's a great visa to have since
you can reuse the same documents for your initial application for subsequent
renewal. The key is to get _as many_ peer references you can get in your
industry.

While getting letters from your advisers and investors is great, it's a common
mistake to _ONLY_ do people in your startup. You want to get recommendations
from your previous employers and also academics who write about the industry
you're in to justify your extraordinary ability. You don't want to put
"founder" in your application (unless you're IPO'ed), you want to put "founder
+ professional skill".

The reason is that an O-1 is really meant for talent or skilled professionals.
Being a founder is not necessarily a skill, it's just an indication that
you've started a company. By applying as a founder, you miss the main purpose
of the visa and that gets your application rejected.

 __edit: not a YC founder, just a founder.

------
adrianmacneil
Since no one has pointed it out yet, I'll also mention the Diversity Visa
(a.k.a. Green Card lottery). This allows you to gain permanent residence in
the US (if you are eligible).

It opens every year in October, and is free to apply. There are lots of scam
sites that will offer to enter you in the lottery for payment, but you can do
it free here:
[https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/](https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/)

If you get accepted, it takes around 18 months from entering the lottery to
actually entering the US, so you have to not be in a hurry.

The allocation of visas is quite odd, a bunch of countries are not eligible to
enter (including UK, Canada, Mexico). Other countries have different quotas
based on their region. As a result, those applying from Australia/NZ have a
much higher chance of winning than those applying from Europe or Africa.

~~~
jacques_chester
> _The allocation of visas is quite odd_

It's based on a formula. Regions which saw _fewer_ immigrants are granted
_more_ visas.

Because Australians have access to the E-3 visa, relatively few of us who live
and work in the USA become immigrants for the purpose of the Diversity Lottery
calculations.

------
surfmike
I've had two cofounder friends (both non-American) who sponsored each others'
H1B. Seems like a loophole but it seemed to work :)

~~~
sinatra
Considering H1B visa only allows you to work for the company that sponsored
your visa, what you're describing sounds illegal, not just a loophole. I'm not
saying they shouldn't do so. And I'm also not saying anything about whether
the H1B requirements make any sense. I'm just saying that hopefully they're
aware that what they're doing is illegal and may hurt their companies at any
moment.

~~~
Joky
H1B is transferrable any time, even before you start working for the company
that sponsored it.

~~~
sinatra
I'd imagine transferring H1B to your own company will have the same issues
that applying H1B for your own company will.

------
adenot
Although the visa discussion in this thread is healthy, nobody has yet
answered the question. OP wants to know what visa do founders currently use,
not available options.

~~~
adrianmacneil
The top comment in this thread is pretty accurate. Most founders (YC and
other) I know came on a visa waiver originally, and moved to an O1 visa to
stay long term.

------
peterjlee
I heard about a seed fund for foreign founders that will invest by hiring the
founders and paying them salaries while sponsoring the founders' visa. So the
salary is basically the seed fund. I can't remember their name so I'm not sure
if they're still around or if it's even legal but I thought the idea was cool.
Maybe YC can look into something like that?

EDIT: found it. [https://angel.co/unshackled](https://angel.co/unshackled)

~~~
mananm
We are very much around. Hope to help more immigrants build great companies in
the U.S.

------
zallarak
Hopefully someone from the government is reading this, and realizes it's time
to simplify this bureaucratic process.

------
Void_
Is the 3 months in the US while working on your OWN company legal?

What do you tell the immigration cop if they ask you if you're going to work
in the US? Would you explain that you're going to work on your own company?
Would they accept it? Or would you just say you're going for a vacation?

~~~
dirkdk
working on your US company, or your foreign company, is not allowed when you
visit the US on a visa waiver. You are allowed to represent your foreign
company, look for partners/customers, do marketing, visit conferences etc. But
not be "productive"

~~~
alexro
If I write open-source code while on the tourist trip to the US does it count
as 'working'? I understand you're not giving advice, just curious

~~~
tricolon
Doing anything for which one would normally expect to be remunerated counts as
work. If you volunteer for a project for which no one is paid and will not be
paid (and no one ever expects to be paid), that's not work. But "working for
free" is work and so is volunteering if others in a similar role are paid.

At least that's how it's been explained to me.

------
schappim
For the Australians in the audience... Geoff McQueen has made an awesome "How
to"[1] on getting an E3 Visa.

Quite a few Australian Startmate[2] founders have done this.

[1] [http://geoffmcqueen.com/2011/09/28/e-3-visa-for-
australians-...](http://geoffmcqueen.com/2011/09/28/e-3-visa-for-australians-
how-to/) [2] [http://www.startmate.com.au](http://www.startmate.com.au)

------
haje
It's an extremely good idea to lawyer up sooner rather than later, because
visas are a huge pain in the backside, and getting it wrong can end up causing
a lot of cost and stress.

I was lucky; my wife is from the US, and we've been married for longer than 2
years, which is the magical combination that makes it a lot easier - although
obviously, that isn't particularly helpful if you aren't / aren't planning to
get married to an US citizen.

------
Pyxl101
What would be the downside of allowing anyone to immigrate to a country as
long as they have qualified employment with compensation greater than a
certain amount per year? (Let's say $75k or $100k or whatever makes a person
an obvious net-bonus to society rather than net loss.) They can stay on that
visa as long as they retain employment with any firm for that amount.

If a person has demonstrated merit justifying a six figure job, why prevent
them from entering your country and staying? They'll be a net win for your
economy. It seems like this would solve a lot of immigration problems in high-
skill fields.

I'm not saying we should casually make this possible without deep thought, but
as an immigration idea it seems appealing to me. Simplify the system and
reduce it to an issue of whether the person can pull their weight. I suppose
the downside is that any rich person who owns a company can allow virtually
anyone they want to immigrate, as a "fake employee" of the firm. There should
be oversight. Full time employment required, and proof of compensation in the
way of wages, IRS review.

I suppose it wouldn't help YC founders. Maybe another visa for founders of
companies that have raised above a certain minimum amount, above a certain
valuation?

(I haven't settled how I feel about immigration, so please don't take this as
a statement of my stance one way or another. Just seems like a neat idea to
explore.)

~~~
netheril96
For one, many locals will oppose it because the influx of additional workers
may lower their compensation due to increased competition.

------
ottoid
B1/B2 visas are for business and pleasure - so I could see that working for
you at the local interview.

I believe B1 is pleasure and B2 is business or vice-versa.

IANAL but I would recommend having a good source of funding and having an
incorporated company and not having taken any kinds of exams such as TOEFL or
SAT etc.

------
raymondgh
This is a question I've seen asked so many times. The answers are always long
and varied. I'd wager it's been this way for much longer than I've known. Is
it because of unpredictable legal changes, or is it really just an underserved
need? Or something else?

------
rrecuero
I started a previous company on F-1. If you graduate from a STEM degree, you
have 12 months of OPT + a 17 month extension (under review). So you have 2
years and a half to create something valuable enough so you can sponsor your
H1B (which I did)

------
car
According to my lawyer, the funding amount for an E2-visa has to be
appropriate for the planned business. So no clear minimum, but the ultimate
decision is in the hands of the official who reviews the application.

------
postila
O-1 w/o lawyer is not only impossible, it's the way I recommend to everyone
who already achieved smth in homeland country.

I received O-1 visa in February 2015 and I did it without lawyer. After I id
it, I helped a couple of my friends and they received O-1 as well. Again,
without lawyers.

All you need is: 1) learn USCIS docs (law itself and directions on the
official site) 2) learn as many examples as possible (in my case I found some
"DIY O-1 visa" zip in the internet and bought it – it was smth like $150, and
although it didn't contain examples from tech, it helped a lot to get proper
understanding) 3) examine all your professional life and recall all possible
achievements. It cannot take 1 week or so. It _should_ take at least month –
because otherwise there is a chance that you miss something that could improve
your application.

I have now a deep belief that lawyers in case of O-1 can be really helpful
only to those founders who are too lazy. No lawyer will do the most important
work on O-1 application for you: it's you who should recall your achievements
(prizes, your articles, articles about your and your project, etc), it's YOU
who should ask YOUR connection for reference letters, and so on. In many cases
lawyers even can be a reason of failure of application: for example, they can
miss something important in writing reference letter for you, or even make
some fact errors. Or even worse, they can be reason of delay in delivering RFE
response from USCIS to you, what can automatically lead to failed application
since you then have no time to prepare a good answer. (All examples I mention
here are from the real life...)

So my advice – don't be afraid to DIY, save $3-8k (SF lawyers' prices for
O-1), learn the law and examples and DIY! Yes, this process is not really
simple but it's definitely doable, and since nobody know your life better than
you, nobody can prepare O-1 application better than you.

Of course here I should place disclaimer that I'm now professional lawyer and
cannot give professional advice in legal areas:) And don't forget that for O-1
you should have a company that will hire you (actually in terms of law, it's
the company who officially files the application for you -- the company is a
petitioner in this process) – this may be the most difficult point for those
who work for themselves.

A couple of additional comments:

\- RFE process ("request for evidence" – when USCIS asks you to provide more
information) always occurs, and you should carefully read eveyr USCIS's
comment and respond to every comment very clear, this is the key of success.

\- Once you file your application, if you're in US on your B1/B2 and don't go
outside, you receive "pending" status which means that now you're purpose of
stay changed and if it is needed, you are able to stay in the country more
than the stamp in your passport indicates – you can stay until USCIS's
decision on your application. And when you get RFE answer from USCIS, they
give you a couple of months to prepare your response. So technically you can
enter on B1/B2 and stay more than 6 months without breaking of any law. I
stayed 7 months and it is ok (however, on my next travel to US, I had to wait
for additional "clearance" checks in JFK – but it took 15 minutes or so).

\- Visa != status. Visa is used only for entrance. You can enter on B1/B2,
then get O-1 _status_ and live on it. But once you leave US, you cannot return
to the US. Because you need visa (stamp in your passport) which can be made
only by US embassies outside the US. So you should go to US embassy in your
country and get O1 visa (based on USCIS decision made previously – but be
aware that here, once again, additional "clearance" checks can wait you).

Hope it will help somebody.

I wish good luck for those who try to DIY O-1 visa. In case you do it, it's a
double-victory!

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jaksmit
"RFE process ("request for evidence" – when USCIS asks you to provide more
information) always occurs"

this is not true. I got my O-1 visa without any RFE.

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postila
Thanks for correction, I should say "occurs very often"

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kilimchoi
I would like to get in touch with you and ask for your advice on filing for
O-1 visa. Mind sharing your email address? or you can contact me via my email
address as shown on my profile.

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sprite
If you can afford it EB-5 is probably the most straightforward one, but it
still takes forever. If you started the process now you probably won't have
your visa for 2 years.

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dsavinkov
I agree, that without a lawyer it's almost impossible. In my case, I applied
for L1 visa. Initial investment was around 50k.

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pySSK
An L1 Visa is a cheap and easy option. It provides a relatively
straightforward path to permanent residency as well.

