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A comment on Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in the US?.

Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by phlux on Friday April 01, 2011 @01:51PM (#2397219)
Personally, I think that a good compromise is for foreign devs to become technical co-founders with others who are based in SV.

The issue is that all the devs here have a great job market to pick from - and there are a ton of startups looking for technical folks who cant compete with BigCo for devs.

Further, there is so much energy (money, interest, thought, etc) flowing in the startup space right now. Get into/form a company here - build an MVP, get funding, sponsor your own visa or at least regular visits (trust me, the living costs are really high here).

I know I am looking to connect with people.

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Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by turar on Friday April 01, 2011 @05:08PM (#2398082)
This is nearly impossible with current US immigration laws. You can be a founder of the company (i.e. an investor), but you cannot legally work for the company, or you violate your visitor immigration status.
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Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by ig1 on Friday April 01, 2011 @09:53PM (#2398865)
Not convinced that's true, what's the reasoning that your own company can't sponsor your visa ?
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Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by turar on Saturday April 02, 2011 @07:13PM (#2401232)
http://www.quora.com/Can-a-H1B-holder-work-for-a-startup-as-...
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Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by ig1 on Sunday April 03, 2011 @07:49AM (#2402478)
That would only seem to apply in the case where you own the majority of the company, so it wouldn't seem to apply to cases where >2 co-founders or 2 co-founders + investors exist.
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Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by phlux on Friday April 01, 2011 @05:35PM (#2398185)
Can the company license the code from you for a monthly license fee (Annual license fee + support and maintenance (e.g. beenfits) / into monthly mapyments)
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Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by turar on Friday April 01, 2011 @06:18PM (#2398332)
I suppose it can, but the code would have to be written prior to that and/or outside the US. The bottom line is that you can't work for money in the US, whether for yourself or somebody else, if you don't have a proper work visa. And you can't get a proper work visa, unless a company sponsors it for you. And you can't sponsor your own work visa.
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Re:Ask HN: Options for foreign hackers looking to work in th... by phlux on Friday April 01, 2011 @07:58PM (#2398625)
Of course the code was written prior, it says so right there in the comments

###Copyright 2009 Not-working-for-money-in-the-us

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