I am going to sign off now. As always, it was a pleasure and honor to correspond with everyone. If I missed your question or if you have a question not asked, either post here - I'll be checking in over the weekend - or send me an email (my email address is in my profile). Have a great weekend.
Thanks for taking the time Peter! In case this question catches your eye on the weekend: Suppose, as an Indian citizen working in the US on an H1-B for a large tech company, I want to start my own company, but don't plan on having funding soon. Would the path be to incorporate a company, get some people to serve as a board of directors for it, and then file a concurrent H1-B? If so, some questions:
1) Can the new startup, with a competent immigration lawyer, file a concurrent H1-B petition with sufficiently high chances of success? Or can the USCIS apply discretion to choose not to approve the petition since it's a tiny company?
2) The concurrent H1-B application wouldn't require me to go through the lottery again, right, since I've already gone through it for my primary one?
3) Is ceding control of the company as simple as electing people you trust to the board of directors, and giving them the power to hire and fire you? While still maintaining 100% ownership with a co-founder?
Also, unrelated question: have you been seeing trends in the acceptance rates for L1A applications? I'm currently working outside the US for a large tech company as a Product Manager, and while I don't directly have people reporting to me, I do have executive-level responsibilities. PMs from my company previously had no trouble getting L1As, but I'm hearing rumors now of things getting harder and slower and more rejections happening on the basis of people not being "manager" enough with the new administration.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for taking time. You mentioned earlier that people on H1B can file for a part-time/concurrent H1B with the start up that they are founding. I have couple of questions with this approach 1. Can I register the company with 100% ownership while working on H1B full time? Can this company make money?
2. What will be the requirements for this new company to file for concurrent H1B
3. Any recommendation around which type of company (LLC, C-corp, etc)
4. Is there a minimum requirement around the number of employees, funding amount and VC investment for this new company's H1B petition to be successful?
Thank you for answering all of our questions, Peter!
I am currently on an L-1B and in the process of obtaining the GC (EB-2). My I-140 just got approved, and my lawyers said that my case should take 12 more months.
I have been with my employer since mid-2015 (1.5y in an European office, since beginning of 2017 in SF office).
How long would you recommend that I wait before I switch employers after I receive the GC? I hear conflicting advice, so I would really value your opinion!
I won't be applying for citizenship later but don't want to risk losing the GC.
