I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by dilippkumar on Friday March 18, 2016 @04:53PM (#11314923)

I'd love to apply, but I'm on a H1-b visa and I'm basically in prison. How did the other international founders you worked with get around the immigration mess to start a company?

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by sama on Friday March 18, 2016 @05:01PM (#11314990)

There's a lot of information on the Internet about how to do this, but obviously you should talk to an immigration lawyer.

It really sucks and I think it's a stupid system, but there will be far greater obstacles on your path to being a successful founder.

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by aakashnigam on Friday March 18, 2016 @05:28PM (#11315242)

Hi DilipKumar,

Some unsolicited advice. Starting company = solving lots of problems (product, market, tech, hiring etc etc.) See Immigration as just one of these.

Canada, with much easier immigration policies (Toronto/Vancouver) can be your base to build and validate your prototype and later move to valley.

In the age of Internet, geographical boundaries cannot prevent good ideas/products from happening.

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by TheSixCents on Saturday March 19, 2016 @01:17AM (#11317438)

Umm Why are you acting like Canada is just Toronto and Vancouver? Montreal is a better place for startups than Vancouver.

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by aakashnigam on Sunday March 20, 2016 @12:13PM (#11323428)

Sorry, my bad for missing it out. Montreal/Waterloo are equally great.

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by semerda on Friday March 18, 2016 @06:43PM (#11315841)

Find a great lawyer and have them use your startup Delaware corp as sponsor for your H1B. It's like moving employers. You may need to move $$$ into the company to demonstrate there is enough money to meet your minimum wage category and few other hoops. Alternatively apply for an investors visa but this will mean more capital injection into your US entity and more of those hoops to jump. Happy to talk offline. I'm no lawyer but have been through few Visas and similar scenario to yours. PS. There is no prison ;-)

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by RCra on Friday March 18, 2016 @06:52PM (#11315905)

Hey DK,

Just another entrepreneur here, but I'm a Canadian citizen and also need a VISA.

I've received excellent help from Julie Pearl's firm: https://www.immigrationlaw.com/

They work with plenty of startup founders and I was recommended her through fellow immigrant founders. :) Hope this helps!

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by pedalpete on Friday March 18, 2016 @10:22PM (#11316929)

As a Canadian, I'd suspect entering the US under a TN visa (Free trade agreement if you have an applicable university degree or 10 years experience) would probably do it. Anybody have experience with that when attending YC?

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by desdiv on Saturday March 19, 2016 @12:12AM (#11317265)

For TN you need a job offer. Specifically, when you try to enter the US on the TN status (it's not a visa technically), you'll be asked to show an offer letter from a US company that clearly states your intended role and salary.

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by pedalpete on Saturday March 19, 2016 @12:58AM (#11317386)

Oh, thanks for clarifying. I thought we could get the visa while looking for work if you were qualified.

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Re:I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA by d0m on Friday March 18, 2016 @07:27PM (#11316121)

For one thing you can move for the three months program without visa :o

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