- You could enter on an ESTA, which gives you 90 days. If you leave the US (Can+Mex doesn't count) and come back, the counter re-sets. Note that you're not allowed to work on ESTA, which means that drawing a salary is a no no. But if you desperately wanted to, you could probably figure out how to get paid in your home country or whatever would work for you.
- E-2 visa. A lot of EU countries have a treaty with US which says that: if a company is A) majority (>50%) owned by people/groups from your home country and B) someone from the country (doesn't have to be you) has invested ~$50K-250K (equity, not debt) in the company, then the company can apply for an E-2 visa for their key employees. It takes 1-3 months to process from what I hear, and the investment is substantial, but it's at least one more route that is available.
If anyone has more info on the two above, please feel free to correct me - I feel like I learn new things about the E-2 every time I speak to a new lawyer.
Approach 2 doesn't make sense. It seems to be more work (time and money) than the likely benefit from joining this incubator.
Approach 2 makes sense for some. If you're just setting up a company to be in this incubator, then I 100% agree with you. But if you're working on something, and you think it'll have a better chance at succeeding if you're in the US, then it might very well make sense for you to get that kind of a visa. Many people (not involved with this incubator) do : )
> Applicants do not have to be United States citizens, but should be able to stay in California for at least three months for the program.
> It will be the responsibility of each applicant to ensure their team members have the proper paperwork in place to join.
> Do we have to be U.S. citizens?
> No, as long as you are legally permitted to operate your company and physically participate in the program (not virtual).
> Can you get us work visas?
> No, we won’t be able to handle any immigration related matters. If you need help, we can refer you to legal and immigration services teams.
Can someone decode this one for an EU citizen?