Ask HN: Green Card as a founder/CEO/CTO of early stage startup
Immigration is a big blocker for many aspiring founders in the US. Many experienced engineers like myself wait for years in the queue for employment-based green cards, thus making it a blocker for quitting full-time jobs. This is especially true if you are from a backlogged country like India/China.
One potential workaround is to get into the EB1 green card category which is not backlogged. Apparently, being a co-founder/CEO/CTO could help with this, at least from what I have heard anecdotally. This is a bit of a chicken-egg problem though, as you need a valid status first to start a company.
Either way, I am looking to understand how realistic it is to hope to apply for EB1 green card/O1 visas as a founder of an early stage company. Has anyone here successfully navigated this as a founder? Or know someone who has?