Ask HN: I have 150 USD in savings. How to to get a “proper” visa to the US? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I have 150 USD in savings. How to to get a “proper” visa to the US?

21 pointsnewuserHN20 comments

I thought about E-2 Investor Visa and opening a company in the US. Does anyone has experience with this?

I had a management visa linked to opening a company in the US in 2010. It sucked, because the company was so successful we sold it (for a nice profit), then I became aware that the US basically treated me as an illegal immigrant 10 days after my job finished. This is normal there - you have no stability in the US as an immigrant worker unless you go the green card route, which was never something I wanted to do personally (as an AU/DE/NZ citizen).

My first question would be why do you want to go to the US as this is a more important question for figuring out an appropriate strategy.

IMHO, honestly there's not much point in going to the US these days. You can get superior access to capital in China, superior access to far cheaper western education in Australia, New Zealand or Europe, and equivalent earning potential jobs in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK.

Do you believe the part about access to capital in China for startups? I might have been barking up the wrong tree all this time :) (rejected by YC, not mature enough for 500 Startups)

Yes, I wouldn't be living in China if that weren't the case. I've been there on/off for 15 years, and IMHO it's very straightforward to get access to capital right now. Depending how much you want to raise, you may not even need to approach proper firms, but I have a database of them if you're interested. On the other hand, looking at Keveo, I am also assisting another startup in video edtech who you might be able to collaborate with. Send me an email.

Thank you very much, I will definitely contact you.

Not sure about the other places, but there's no comparison in tech salaries between the US and UK. The UK greatly undervalues it's technical talent.

(source: http://www.itworld.com/article/2947616/careers/developers-ma...)

Not really... I made marginally more in the US than UK but it wasn't a great deal. That said, I had a good gig in the UK. Worst case, it's not order-of-magnitude different, and besides: proximity to Europe and a culture of realistic holidaying makes up for it (and ... cheeky as it may be to say it ... co-working with people from around the world wins hands down on being stuck in an office 355 days a year with Americans).

You have to work on most weekends and don't get any vacation days?

In the US, 10 days/year is standard. Everywhere else is way more, save perhaps Japan.

I'm in the US, we usually get weekends off as well, which comprise of almost ten days off in a month, let alone a year.

I've wondered how this gap persists. It seems like UK companies would be competing in the same global market as the US firms. In many cases, the US companies have offices in the UK. Does Google's London office pay 30% less than Google's New York office?

There's always Canada which can act as a backdoor into the US via the TN visa. Although it's awesome here in Canada you probably won't want to leave.

It is tied to NAFTA though and in the current climate this may not last.

I thought you had to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to get TN-1 status.

You need to be a citizen. Which takes 3 years if you come to Canada as PR.

There's a ton more variety in the US tech jobs. If you want to work in an interesting niche, such as computer vision, rendering, self-driving cars etc., I think US is the place to be. Not only there are many more positions, but they also pay decently (whereas in Europe if you want to do interesting stuff, you'll be making a third of what your Hadoop friends make).

Perhaps, though the only computer vision specialist I know personally works in Japan and is well paid, and the only rendering specialist I know (codes custom plugins and leads VFX teams on major global films like LOTR) is Australian, based in Australia, but frequently relocates on a project basis. You are right that continental Europe generally pays poorly, however this is not necessarily the case for highly specialist niche jobs and is offset by other benefits (eg. medical services are cheap or free, superior education for children is ~free, government social commitments to retirees/sick/young have real value, etc.). You can also live in mainland Europe and work remotely on a global gig... you don't get it if you don't ask!

I think parent commented is saying whatever aspect you're into you're likely to find renowned experts in the US, not that they are only in the US. It's a big country with a diversified industry, so by nature you'll find lots of opportunity. That does not mean you can't have experts elsewhere. You can find experts at something you only find in Russia or only India, but overall they are less diversified.

That said, work where you feel is best for you, given your capabilities.

Is there a typo ? Did you mean 150 USD or 150 K/M USD ? 150 USD won't even buy a regular visa.

Guessing you mean 150k. I came to the US on an E-2. The process is extremely poorly documented and arbitrary - the decision is at the discretion of the immigration clerk who reads your file on that day and the laws don't mention any specific dollar amounts that are required. 150k is likely enough to get you in. However, do your research and ask if that's really what you want to do.

You are supposed to come over, invest your money, then leave the country and wait for a decision (?!). However you can come over on a B-1 (business) visa and change status to an E-2, but then you're landlocked and unable to leave the US without losing your status and having to re-apply.

You have to renew every 3-5 years (again the duration is discretionary) and if you're denied you have a matter of days to sell up and get out.

There is NO route to a green card or citizenship. You are a non-immigrant alien. Every 3-5 years you have to hope you get renewed. You can be here for decades and if your renewal doesn't go through, out you go.

The E-2 is a very poor visa program to come in on if you plan to build a life here. If you don't really, really want to 1) invest everything you have in a business and 2) do it in the US and 3) leave again once you're done, it's not ideal.

Alternative routes I'd recommend looking into as a single individual with tech experience are:

1) Get a job with a US company who will sponsor your visa to come over on an H1-B, or, if you're a published expert in your field, an O-1. You don't have to be as famous/expert as you think - I have friends on O visas who are Senior tech people who have a few conference talks and published articles under their belt who have qualified. Both have a route to green card/permanent residency.

2) Get a job with a multinational company who can transfer you under the above visas. With companies look for larger orgs with in-house counsel who regularly handle immigration matters. Small companies are not well equipped to handle sponsorship and the delays/expenses may cause them to get cold feet at inconvenient times.

3) Fall in love with a nice American and get married.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions! Happy to share my experience. (Above isn't legal advice and is based on my own experience so may be wrong - talk to a US immigration attorney with E-2 experience if you are serious!)

What country are you coming from? You have to be on the treaty list.

I don't think the savings are enough, but it depends on the type of business/where you will be located. If that is the extent of your savings you have to consider living expenses/relocation in addition to the amount you will put into the business as an investment.

I would also look into consulting with a laywer that has experience in this field.

Do you mean $150k USD?

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