
Ask PG: Does YC have experience with founders who were employed on H1b visas? - josefswann
The H1b work visa can be transferred to another employer, however, my read is that it does not allow one to start/found a business. Given that there is a very substantial hacker population in this category, I was wondering if YC/others have already solved this problem. It can't be that all the folks on skilled work visas are locked out of playing, can it?
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pg
Unfortunately I'm not the one to ask. Harj is the visa expert, and he's on
vacation.

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josefswann
Thanks, can you help get this question to him when he gets back? At a first
glance, it seems that a substantial population of potential entrepreneurs are
unable to participate, as the permanent resident/green card process is
backlogged by many years. The new JOBS act
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpstart_Our_Business_Startups...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpstart_Our_Business_Startups_Act))
might help, but it might require somebody with the clout and resources of YC
to push the envelope and unlock a world of possibilities.

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pg
It's not that we haven't tried (<http://paulgraham.com/foundervisa.html>), but
you're overestimating our clout if you think we can get laws passed.

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pclark
The problem with the H1b is two fold:

* You have to pay yourself market rate, and thusly have to demonstrate capital in your business bank account. This is near impossible to do with YC and StartFund capital. Think: $100k per H1B employee. (and you need to demonstrate other parts of your business, such as an office lease - but these are hackable compared to raw bank statements.)

* You cannot be "the boss" what this means, specifically, is that you must be able to be fired. Have 3 co-founders? probably okay. Have 3 board members? probably okay. Having 2 co-founders is awkward. Good immigration attorneys can guide you through this, it's a reasonably hack-able problem to solve if you're smart.

Most people ignore the visa problem during Y Combinator. After demo day, they
throw capital at the problem and fix it. Hire a good lawyer, push for an O-1
or H1B. Explicitly: once you've raised seed funding getting immigration sorted
is _fairly straightforward_ \-- getting immigration sorted before raising seed
funding is _very very challenging_.

What I mean by "ignore the visa problem" is they simply enter the USA under
the visa waiver program once or twice. 99.99% of people have no problems being
(but not working nor living, wink wink) in the USA for 6 to 9 months under
this.

(speak to a lawyer. in fact, speak to a few. and have money. lots of money.
and patience.)

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RuggeroAltair
The first * isn't necessarily true. For a small startup I know several people
with H1Bs that are paid just slightly above $50k, but yes, I think you do need
an office address, since the H1B is usually tied with a specific
branch/office/address, even within the same organization/company (it's not
like it can't change, but modifications have to be submitted).

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kodeshpa
This is a serious problem and unfortunately there is no straight forward
solution.

For transfer, You have to raise at-least 75k+ per founder so your start-up can
demonstrate funds for your salary.

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nanijoe
I don't believe someone on an H1B is allowed to have significant equity in a
company he works for.. <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2619088>

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taurussai
It is possible to get an H1b and start a company. There is a good number of YC
founders who are internationals and have gone through this process (& know
some of the hacks). In short, you need a board of directors (could be other
founders/advisors etc.) to show the USCIS that the board can hire/fire you.
Also, you need to pay yourself an estimated market rate.

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xoail
I am also very interested to hear the answer. One of the big reasons I have
refrained from applying to yc or any incubator is the fact that I am on h1. I
am in that unfortunate situation where I have been hacking since 8 years but
cant start my own startup because of my visa.

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vbv
May be moving your startup to Canada after YC graduation would work. Need to
check details on this.

