Ask HN: Can you get into YC while on an H1B? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Can you get into YC while on an H1B?

9 pointsthrwy108 comments

Most blogs that describe tips and best practices when applying to YC have one advice in common - "Get customers", "Prove that someone needs your product", "Get signups, email addresses" etc. And while that is a very valid and important point, for some of us though its harder than that. Even if one has a prototype, the companies they work for have strict policies that prevent doing business on the side, let alone the fact that the H1 visa also explicitly prevents you from having any other source of income or starting a corp. The only options would be to go all in and go to their home country to develop the product further, at which point they've abandoned everything they've worked hard for all this while, - or - wait for a green card, which is elusive if you are from one of the populous Asian countries. What other options does one have? Have any H1s successfully made it to YC? Could they describe their experience?

Also, please correct me if I'm wrong here, but despite assurances from YC folk and Sam himself that you can and should apply even if you have just an idea or prototype, blog after blog suggest you need to be much further than that to get through the tough competition.

I am on a H1 and I have been thinking of applying. Here are my thoughts :

- Somewhat illegal but less risky is to take an unpaid leave from your employer and as you build you own company, come back, resign and transfer visa to your own company.

- If you are married and your wife is working, you can transfer to H4 and once you have your own company, apply for a h1 again. The risk here is pretty huge as getting back on h1 is a lucky draw system especially if you are from India/China.

- Go back to school by transferring to F1 visa and take a semester off or you can work on OPT.

- People have also used travel visa which for some reason is illegal and risky, IMO.

- Can't think of other ideas. Maybe wait for the reform...

Wouldn't you need to be employed to stay legal?

If a foreign worker in H-1B status quits or is dismissed from the sponsoring employer, the worker must either apply for and be granted a change of status to another non-immigrant status, find another employer (subject to application for adjustment of status and/or change of visa), or leave the U.S. [1]

It would seem difficult to both be in YC and working full time for an employer.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-1B_visa

The question isn't about after getting into YC. For that, you could theoretically transfer your visa to the new company with the money YC give you.

To clarify, how do you do the ground work and launch / pre-launch while on an H1 so that your new startup can stand a chance among other applications to YC from people that are much futher along?

No you can't. An employer-employee relationship must exist between the sponsoring company and the employee. Not possible if you own the whole company or even a lot of the company.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memorand...

In any event, you should really ask an immigration attorney rather than the internet.

With 3 founders and YC taking 7%, it will be possible to show that the person won't own 51% of the company and can be fired.

Again, this is for after, and there are other options, like being on a B1 or dependent visa while doing YC. You can own shares in that company and not derive income and at completion move out of the US.

But the question here is, how do you go about doing the ground work to even have a product that is competent enough to stand a chance?

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6841113

Not completely the same question. The above discussion answers what to do after or when you are about to get into an accelerator.

The question is about before getting there, how do you even think about starting up and applying to YC while on an H1. How can you attract customers, when you can't legally do anything?

EDIT: To clarify, how do you go about doing the ground work for before applying to YC, while in the US, on an H1B.

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