

Ask HN: YC European Alumni - brianmac

Hi we were wondering if there is a list of YC Euro Alumni? Trying to get the Euro perspective about applying to the program, the experience itself, and solutions for work visas. Thanks in Advance.
======
sim0n
I'm from England and took part in YCS11 - I'd be happy to answer any questions
you have.

~~~
brianmac
Hi Simon, Thanks for responding so quickly. Well one of the questions we had
being from Euro (Norway based) is around the turnaround time from say
interviewing end of April till starting in June. Such a short time frame must
be tough to sort out visas and a place? Any advice on visas?

We are going to start getting some feedback on our application as well (have
some friends in SF with friends from YC that are going to review), and there
is tons of competition for the program, it would just be a shame to get in and
not be prepared/able to go to SF. From what I understand Visas take awhile to
process and T1 is difficult to get.

~~~
sim0n
No problem, I was in the same position roughly a year ago and so I know it's
tough to figure things out in time.

Most people don't actually apply for visas during YC and instead only once the
3 months are over (that is, if they want to stay in the US). This is because
most western countries are a part of the Visa Waiver Program (I'm 99% sure
Norway citizens are eligible for the VWP) which allows you to visit the US for
up to 90 days at a time for business or pleasure (this means you'll have to go
back to Norway for 1-2 weeks during the program and then just fly back).
Whilst it's somewhat up for debate whether it's legal to use the VWP to do YC,
most people do.

As for a place to stay, there is a fair bit of rental accommodation in the
surrounding area of the YC office (Mountain View, Palo Alto, etc) and if you
twist the arms of landlords of the properties (i.e. pay X amount of rent
upfront), they'll generally let you get a place sorted pretty quickly. The YC
network itself can also be a big help (we actually rented our first apartment
in San Jose from a startup in our batch).

Airbnb is also a great resource to find a place to stay during your interview.

~~~
brianmac
That's great to know, I guess it is a matter of get over there and deal with
the visas afterwards once you get more traction on what direction you are
going.

Do you know of any cases where people were accepted into say YC summer, but
were able to postpone until winter?

