I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall themes

  • Thread centers on practical U.S. immigration strategy (especially for tech) and how a new administration might change things.
  • Many questions are case-specific; the attorney repeatedly urges individual consultations due to complexity and fact‑dependence.

Work visas & green card paths

  • Common work routes: H‑1B, L‑1, O‑1, TN (for Canadians/Mexicans), E‑3 (Australians), E‑2 (investors), plus EB‑1/EB‑2/EB‑3 green cards and EB‑5 investment.
  • O‑1 is highlighted as an underused but realistic option for strong tech workers and founders; criteria are often easier in practice than they look on paper.
  • L‑1 is favored by many large companies due to no lottery and strong employer control, but is harder to get for non‑“blanket L” employers and ties the worker closely to that employer.
  • TN is quick and cheap, but not dual‑intent and can be affected by policy changes; some fear tighter adjudication or process changes.
  • E‑3 is non‑immigrant but can be a bridge to a green card if immigrant intent wasn’t present at entry.

Timelines & backlogs

  • Employment-based green card backlogs (EB‑1/2/3), especially for India and China, are driven by statute and demand, not easily changed by the executive.
  • Marriage-based green cards have been relatively fast under waived interviews, but may slow if interviews return.
  • Premium processing on EB‑1A is widely used despite anecdotal claims it increases RFEs; no solid data supports that.

New administration impacts

  • Expected early moves focus on enforcement: travel bans (possibly reviving/expanding prior country lists), asylum restrictions, and programs like Uniting for Ukraine potentially being curtailed.
  • Concern that TN and some consular processes may become stricter; Canadians particularly worried about losing easy renewals at the border.
  • Some fear new rules around trans passports and LGBTQ applicants; details still unclear.

Birthright citizenship debate

  • Executive order attempting to limit jus soli sparks extensive legal debate.
  • One side: text, history, and precedent (Wong Kim Ark) make change “extremely unlikely.”
  • Other side: points to 14th Amendment wording, Slaughter‑House dicta, and modern politics to argue a non‑frivolous chance of reinterpretation.
  • Multiple commenters stress practical absurdities of treating U.S.-born children of non‑citizens as outside U.S. “jurisdiction.”

Economics & ethics of H‑1B

  • Disagreement over whether H‑1B suppresses wages or fills real shortages.
  • Critics emphasize abuse by outsourcing firms, weak domestic hiring practices, and constrained worker mobility.
  • Defenders note higher U.S. salaries vs. Europe and argue the U.S. must tap global talent (5% of world population) to stay competitive.

Status maintenance & fallback strategies

  • Common advice: use spousal status changes (e.g., H‑1B to H‑4), reentry permits, Day 1 CPT (if genuinely academic), NIW/EB‑1A self‑petitions, and careful planning around layoffs and grace periods.
  • Many edge cases (DACA, TPS, asylum, prior Iran/Russia travel) face heightened uncertainty under new policies and consular delays.