The Internet is full of articles on the topic of moving to the United States, but for the most part, these are rewrites of the pages of the American Migration Service website, which are devoted to listing all the ways to come to the country. There are quite a few of these methods, but it is also true that most of them are not available to ordinary people and the founders of IT projects.
If you do not have hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in developing a business in the United States to obtain a visa, and the terms of stay on a tourist visa are too short for you, read today's review.
1. H-1B visa
H1-B is a work visa that allows foreign specialists to come to the United States. Theoretically, not only Google or Facebook, but also an ordinary startup can issue it for their employee and even the founder.
There are a number of features in obtaining a visa for the founder of a startup. First of all, it is necessary to prove the relationship of the “employee-employer” format, that is, in fact, the company should have the opportunity to fire an employee, despite the fact that he founded it.
It turns out that the founder should not have a controlling stake in the company - it should not exceed 50%. There should be, for example, a board of directors that has the theoretical right to evaluate the work of an employee and decide on his dismissal.
A few figures
There are quotas for H1B visas - for example, the quota for fiscal year 2019 was 65, while 2018 were applied for such a visa in 199. These visas are drawn in the course of a lottery. Another 20 thousand visas are issued to those specialists who were educated in the United States (Master's Exemption Cap).
Life hacks
There is a small life hack that is advised from time to time in discussions about the H1-B visa. Universities can also hire employees on this visa, and for them, as well as for some other non-profit organizations, there are no quotas (H1-B Cap Exempt). Under this scheme, the university hires an entrepreneur who gives lectures to students, participates in seminars and informally continues to work on the development of the project.
Here such work of the founder on the project while being an employee of the University of Massachusetts. Before trying to go down this path, it is worth consulting with a lawyer about the legality of such work.
2. O-1 Talent Visa
The O-1 visa is for talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds who need to come to the US to complete work projects. Business representatives are given an O-1A visa, while the O-1B subtype visa is for artists.
In the case of startup founders, the process is similar to what we described for the H1-B visa. That is, you need to create a legal entity in the United States - usually C-Corp. The founder's share in the company should also not be a controlling one, and the company should have the opportunity to part with this employee.
In parallel, it is necessary to prepare a visa petition, which contains evidence of the “extraordinary” employee whom the startup plans to hire. There are a number of criteria that must be met in order to obtain an O-1 visa:
- professional awards and prizes;
- membership in professional associations that accept extraordinary specialists (and not everyone who can pay a membership fee);
- victories in professional competitions;
- participation as a jury member in professional competitions (clear authority for evaluating the work of other professionals);
- mentions in the media (descriptions of projects, interviews) and own publications in specialized or scientific journals;
- a significant position in a large company;
- any additional evidence is also accepted.
To obtain a visa, you must prove compliance with at least several criteria from the list.
A few figures
I haven't been able to find any up-to-date data on what the percentage of approval and denial of O-1 visas is. However, the network has information for the 2010 fiscal year. The USCIS then received 10,394 O-1 visa applications, of which 8,589 were approved and 1,805 were denied.
How are things today
There is no evidence that O-1 visa applications have significantly increased or decreased. However, it is important to understand that the ratio of approvals and denials published by USCIS cannot be considered final.
Obtaining an O-1 visa is a two-step quest. First, your application is approved by the migration service, and then you must go to the US embassy outside this country and get the visa itself. The subtle point is that the officer at the consulate can refuse to issue you a visa, even if the petition was approved by the migration service, and such cases happen periodically - I know of at least a few.
Therefore, it is worth preparing well for an interview at the embassy and answering all questions about your future work in the United States without hesitation.
3. L-1 Visa for the transfer of an employee from a foreign office
This visa may be suitable for entrepreneurs who already have an operating and legally registered business outside the United States. Such founders can start a branch of their company in America and move to work in this subsidiary.
It also has its subtle points. In particular, the migration service will require you to justify the need for the company's presence in the US market and the presence of physical employees who come from abroad.
Important facts and statistics
The local office must be open before you apply for a visa. Among the supporting documents, migration service officers will also be interested in a detailed business plan, confirmation of an office lease, etc.
In addition, the employee must officially work in the foreign office of the parent company coming to the US for at least a year.
On USCIS has issued more than 2000 L-100 visas each year since 1.
Conclusion
In this article, we have listed three types of visas that can be called the most suitable for startup founders who do not have significant resources, but who are going to live in the United States. Investor visas and B-1 business travel visas do not qualify.
An important final tip: before taking any action related to the move, collect as much information as possible and, ideally, find a migration lawyer who helped someone you know personally move to America in the way you need.
My other articles about doing and promoting business in the USA:
Source: habr.com