Ask HN: Practical ways for a Malaysian to set up business in the Valley?

Re:Ask HN: Practical ways for a Malaysian to set up business... by patio11 on Monday August 15, 2011 @06:26AM (#2886205)

There are multiple issues here. Likely the stickler is going to be immigration status, since without a work-capable visa you can't meaningfully participate in a startup. This is totally orthogonal to joining a tech incubator at the moment: YC matters in the Valley but being accepted into YC will not magically grant you a visa.

Depending on how rich "quite rich" is, you may be able to qualify for an investor visa in a US company. If this is the high percentage option for you, start talking to an immigration lawyer ASAP.

If that is not an option, suffice it to say that the difficulty of getting a legitimate visa into the US is probably the biggest single challenge you'll face up to Series A or so. (Believe me, I sympathize.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Practical ways for a Malaysian to set up business... by fezzl on Monday August 15, 2011 @06:28AM (#2886209)

I believe that you need US$500k for an investor visa. Has it changed?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Practical ways for a Malaysian to set up business... by patio11 on Monday August 15, 2011 @06:39AM (#2886224)

AFAIK the current standard is low to mid six figures, depending on circumstances and the whims of the examining officer. It has been a while since I needed to be up on this, though, so don't treat that as gospel. (I used to deal w/ US immigration peripherally on behalf of Japanese clients. These days the geta is on the other foot.)

[ Parent | on HN ]