How did non US citizen founders funded by YC get allowed to work in the US?

I have been on 6 different visas, over 15 years, I have quite a bit of experience in the matter.<p>1. 90% of the answers in this thread are <i>bad</i> advice. Some of it really bad. A lot of it just misleading, bogus or exaggerated (on HN, it's bad form to criticize others, but when it comes to life-altering advice such as here, I can't let it stand).<p>2. It's too complicated to explain in a paragraph. It depends on too many factors.<p>3. The best lawyer site I have ever seen is <a href="http://usvisanews.com" rel="nofollow">http://usvisanews.com</a>. Read this weekly for 6 months, then you'll start having an idea of how it works<p>A few facts:<p>a. anybody can incorporate a US corporation. You don't even have to set foot in the US, by the way, to do so.<p>b. the main issue is living in the US while having some kind of activity for a company. It's usually defined as work, and that's when you must be very careful and have the right status.

I suspect that while the non-US teams are at YC, some of them are technically 'tourists' (i.e just on holiday). They don't need a visa to enter the country so it's a case of hear-no-evil, see-no-evil.<p>If they decide to stay in the US after YC, then they have to deal with the nightmare of immigration and get themselves proper work permits.<p>For those who need a tourist visa to even enter the US, I have no idea.

I am an Indian on H1B Visa, possibly the worst country to be from relative to the US Immigration System.<p>An immigration lawyer told me that I can register a company but I cannot work for it. But later when I find U.S investors who will own equity in my company I can ask them to sponsor the transfer of my H1B Visa to my own company.<p>This doesn't make me thrilled, but hey - it is something. Sitting on my hands is killing me, so I am moonlighting in the hopes that the lawyer is right, and that I can find investment using only my moonlighting efforts.<p>If anyone knows better please let me know.

I have a slightly different question: considering I have no interest in emigrating to the States, what if my hypothetical startup gets funded by YC or any other american early stage venture firm?<p>Would I be able to incorporate in US and pay taxes accordingly? Can I keep working from my home country? What are the real, tangible advantages of running your team in US, other then the favorable startup environment you can get in places such as the Valley/SF? Are investors much less inclined to funding foreign teams, does it makes it more troublesome?<p>Sorry for the loads of questions, but sometimes I fail at understanding why so many people think is a <i>must</i> to go to the states to get a startup off the ground.<p>And thanks to anyone who will take the time to answer.

Adioso (YC W09), originally Australian, "re-incorporated" in the US.<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1605659" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1605659</a>

I was planning to work for a company in the USA via Faculty (Java &#38; Database stuff), for 4 months - during the summer, and as I was reading, the applicant gets a J-1 visa (or it was J-2, I can't recall now), but I got another offer so I didn't go.<p>My point is, J-1 &#38; J-2 are visas for students, teachers, business trainees, certain specialists, and more... If YC wants you, maybe you're eligible for this kind of visa.

I've also been interested in how they get around this.<p>Technically on a business tourist visa (forgotten what it is called, but if you are from the right country you just tick a box on your way in) I think you are allowed to attend meetings and tradeshows. From an IT perspective I am pretty sure you are able to do analysis if the aim is then go back to your home country and do development. But I cannot see how a startup can go there and actively start a business (although I guess you could argue it is similar to sitting around a pool on holiday checking a blackberry - big argument, but there is a case there - it isn't like you are an employee of anyone there).<p>Entering the US is always a bit painful, but I think when you come from a country that they don't have a major overstayer problem with then you are probably OK.<p>I'd be interested in how people from countries that don't qualify for visa waiver get on.

I hope you will get some good answers. Just a short note: Please do not include HTML-tags in your posts. Thanks!

I lived in the US for 7 years, did both degrees there and worked in between.<p>Thoroughly familiar with the immigration system.<p>The short answer is, without making a 'large' investment (i.e. $500K min) + showing that you can provide at least 10 jobs in 2 years - you have a steep climb to be able to stay in the US.<p>That being said, anyone can register a company - from any country. You can have the company in the US, register a bank account, get a tax ID, pay taxes, etc....but unless you are doing a certain amount of business and creating at least 10 jobs, you can't actually live here.<p>People will say you can register a company on a student visa (F1), that's BS. Don't do it. You might not get caught immediately, but it violates the intent of the student visa - which is a 'non-immigrant student visa'. i.e. you have no intention of staying in the US. You are just there to work.<p>The same applies to H1-B, and other work visas. All of those visas are non-immigrant visas, which means you don't intend to migrate to the US permanently.<p>Some people have successfully started a company on F1, but if you ever get audited by the US Immigration service, there is a very high probability that you will get deported.<p>All of that being said, don't worry about it. You can travel to the US on a visitors visa, or a business visa, for a few months (for e.g. to participate in YC), and then go home - while still having your company operating in the US. Once you are big enough, if you sell to a large company, like Facebook or Google or something, they can do an internal transfer (I believe it is a J-visa).<p>Also, there are paths to a green card (family, marriage, or investment) that given your situation the best would probably be investment once your company grows enough for you to open an office in the US.<p>All of that being said, make sure to see an immigration attorney and get good advice. But more importantly, read the various requirements for yourself - from the links others have posted here.<p>Some attorneys might tell you they can get you a green card through an F1 or H1-B....make sure you know your stuff, and be suspicious.<p>I have many friends that have told me that they have spoken to attorneys that assure them they can start a company on an F1 visa. I have spent hundreds of dollars and visited at least 4 different attorneys (including a past immigration judge) and they all tell me the same thing. By doing that, you violate the intent of the law.

What about the EB-5 visa? (The Entrepreneur's Visa)<p>The specifics of the visa are: 1. Each year 10,000 entrepreneurs allowed into the US. 2. The entrepreneur has to attract investment of 1 million. 3. In which after he attains this, he is granted with a 2 year period of 'probation'. 4. In these 2 years, he has to create at least 10 full time American jobs and make a revenue or attract an additional 1 million dollars. 5. If this is achieved, he will be granted a green card. If not, he has to go back.<p>So my questions are:<p>A. I know it seems impossible, but how many foreign entrepreneurs actually can achieve this? Are there numbers of how many get this type of visa each year?<p>B. When is the EB-6 visa coming out? (Same visa but only with 1/2 requirements)

If you enter the US on a B2 business visitor visa, after being in the country for 60 days you can petition in writing for an Adjustment of Status to change your visa to another type. You can remain in the US under the terms of the B2 until you get a reply to your petition, even if it is after the 90 day expiration of the B2.<p>Note that the above is true for canadians. Ymmv for other nationalities.

Surprised nobody has mentioned the O-1 visa for "aliens of extraordinary ability":<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-1_visa" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-1_visa</a><p>AFAIK, a couple of non-US citizens have gotten them to work in the US on YC (the Auctomatic guys). I know DHH was on one to work for 37S.

non residents can open company in most if not all states. once entity is created - anyone can fund it. you just can't be hired by this company and be US resident in the same time. But you can be on US territory to sign contracts, or you can work for company while being out of US land.<p>but after going through work visa i can say it's doable, but really complex if you are not from "good" country, like canada, australia, etc. =)

This site has some info <a href="http://startupvisa.com/about/" rel="nofollow">http://startupvisa.com/about/</a>

apply for a hsmp visa in UK or canadian permanent residence.<p>Most of the advice in this thread - except for the first two - alain and tololRon - is very very dangerous - it'll get you barred from US forever if you try some of the stunts recommended.

Does YC consider funding an idea for a startup with non-US resident founders?

So thus we have a good reason to have more women founders - immigrant hacker-startup guys are usually male. Thus, they can just marry their US-citizen startup cofounders.

I am not YC founder, so i dont know how YC do that. But technically everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it. Its YOUR company, so no prob here.<p>Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so.<p>Edit: Surprised to see so many comments and and downvotes from "experts" for that. Get business/tourist (b1/b2). You are not working you are considering investing in US- one of the simples rules to remember when crossing border- and there are many others.

Okay, first things first. Apply for a greencard. I know it's a long process, it's expensive, and it's very invasive but do this first. People assume they don't qualify and don't even bother asking. But the US still has the highest immigration of all countries, only the UK is a distant 2nd. So obviously, people are getting in everyday.<p>Now, contact the US embassy in your country. Get all your paperwork together, set an appointment, pay the fees, and wait. Depending on the country you are coming from can be the difference between success and failure. Each country has quotas and some are filled immediately (Mexico, for example) and some go unmet (Switzerland, because no one ever leaves switzerland)<p>So do all the paperwork, fill in the envelope and mail it, and wait. That's all you really can do.