Wow. That's so nice to hear. Thanks!

The best and easiest option because your spouse is in H-1B status is to apply to change your status to dependent H-4 status using USCIS Form I-539. As long as this is filed during your grace period, you can remain in the U.S. while the application is pending/until it is approved.

The main advantage of the L-1 relative to the H-1B is that there's no lottery so the U.S. company can sponsor you for an L-1 at any time. The main advantages of the H-1B relative to the L-1 is that it's transferable from one company to another and can be renewed indefinitely if you are in the green card process. Regarding which one is better from a green card perspective, the response is that your underlying status has no bearing on your green card options so both are fine.

My personal experience, and I think the optimal case, is to come on L1 but apply to H1B via consular interview. This way, if you're ever fired from your job, you use the H1B to get authorization to work in a new company (need to leave the US and get a visa in a consulate), while keeping L1 benefits as possible (spouse can work and no lottery).

I assume L1B because you mentioned “engineer” instead of “manager.”

I’m currently on an L1B visa, which is a three-year dual-intent visa extendable for another two years. This should provide ample time to initiate and complete a Green Card application under Employment-Based 2nd preference.

However, I would consider choosing the H1-B visa for the following reasons:

It’s getting harder to get L1-B because USCIS are asking more questions about if a candidate has specialized knowledge to meet the requirements.

The processing times for Green Cards and PERM are increasing and five years might not be enough in the near future. In that case you would need a very cooperative employer to allow you to continue the application via Consular Processing from the UK.

My own Green Card application began in 2022, and I’m not likely to receive it until 2026 due to the substantial backlog for applicants from the Rest of the World (ROW) category, which includes British-born individuals.

On an L1 visa, you’ll be tied to your current job until either your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) arrives and you have portability under AC21, you’re approved for an H1-B visa with a different employer (which will reset your Green Card application timeline); or you’re approved for a Green Card.

If you switch to an H1-B visa, you have the flexibility to change jobs before your Green Card is approved. You can also retain your Priority Date (PD), which represents your position in the Green Card queue, although you’ll need to restart all the steps of the process again. Additionally, your H1-B visa is extendable indefinitely after receiving an approved I-140 petition.

This immigration system here is a mess and it’s getting worse. Not to discourage you but this is the worst time for Brits to move here.

You can come on L1B and then try to get into the H1B lottery (will be tough since you don't have a US degree - I assume). I decided to go with L1B since H1B was impossible to get back then and the timeline worked in my favor.

I came to the US via L1B but went straight into green card. Unfortunately EB2 ROW is backlogged at the moment so you might be looking at 2-3 years. And if your company does lay off, they'd have to pause the PERM process for 6 months, which will add further delays to your timeline.

It is grayish but during the past 20 years I've only had one instance where the Consulate pushed back on the issuance of an O-1 visa because the applicant had an approved I-140. That was over 10 years ago and even in that case, the O-1 was eventually issued. So, for all intents and purposes, the Consulates view the O-1 as a dual intent visa. Also, there's some preparation that you can do before applying for your O-1 visa and attending your O-1 visa appointment to minimize the risk if this issue is raised by the Consulate.

If EB1A is approved, my understanding is that the applicant becomes "current" and eligible for the green card at once without any waiting in the queue regardless of country of birth. Is that not correct?

Good question and I don't know the answer but this is sure to be a battleground in the coming years, states refusing to enforce federal law or to act as agents of the federal government.

That's mostly a knee-jerk ignorant position since it's oftentimes very easy, fast, and inexpensive to hire a Canadian in TN status. So it's a process of somehow getting through to someone at the company to educate them not to pass on a good candidate simply because they're Canadian. Which of course is a lot easier said than done.

The law firm I work for (as lead software engineer) did the TN thing for a Canadian software engineer hire for my team last year. [I was not involved in the paperwork but] my understanding is we got an immigration lawyer to help us write everything the right way, since we had not done it before (and lawyers specialize), and it was not especially expensive and it all worked out quite quickly.

Isn't the O-1 visa (in tech fields) mostly for PhDs with a strong research track record? I would assume you can get one if you have a bunch of publications and citations without a PhD, but isn't that the usual path?

Having a PhD is less important than the other stuff - publications, awards, etc. - so there's no need for you to wait until you graduate to start the process. As a first step, I would recommend that you get your qualifications evaluated now because it's possible that you could pursue an EB1A now or an NIW at a minimum.

That's a really good question and of concern to a lot of people. No one knows at this point but the concern is that the new administration will kill the program or at a minimum modify/restrict it.

I've heard about those concerns but there's really no clear indication yet how asylum applicants from Russia will be treated by the new administration.

Very high.

Definitely not H-1Bs (at least no different from non-Canadians). The TN could be impacted, however. My biggest fear is that the administration will limit TN renewals to filings with USCIS (and not allow renewals with CBP) like it did years ago to Canadian L-1 renewals. That change was a negative game-changer for Canadians in L-1 status. I am also concerned that the administration will simply make it tougher for Canadians to qualify for TN status.

Apparently all they need to do is wait for annexation.

It's in the Constitution (14th Amendment) I would say extremely unlikely.

I've read a few different standards for revoking birthright:

1. Probably the weakest notion is to revoke birthright going forward on children born in US to parents without legal status.

2. A stronger notion seems to be the revocation of birthright going forward on children born in the US to parents with green cards but not yet US citizenship. This seems to be a popular form of jus sanguinis in some EU countries.

3. I'm not sure how serious is the talk about revocation of birthright retroactively for all those born on US soil but to parents who at the time only had green cards.

Does anyone have an idea of the momentum behind the stronger forms of revocation?

Not a lawyer, but I'd suspect the prime target would be "anchor babies", e.g. children born to parents here illegally.

1. The EB1C has the additional requirement that the applicant's employment abroad also must have been managerial or executive (which at the end of the day means people management). This is where those who move from L-1B to L-1A sometimes fall short. 2. This requires a discussion unfortunately because if you look at the websites of 10 different schools, you will get 10 different views on whether an F-1 can get STEM OPT through their own company. My reading of USCIS guidance is that STEM OPT can be obtained through an F-1's own company as long as there is a supervision/training component to their employment.

Not much, unfortunately, other than by applying for a green card on your own, one that's not tied to a specific employer, such as a national interest waiver (or NIW) green card application or an extraordinary ability (or EB1A) green card application. Because there's no way around losing the PERM if you leave now.

If you are currently employed abroad by a related company, then the L-1 visa might be an option. If you are not, then - assuming that you are not from a country with its own visa, such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Singapore - the potential options are the E-1/E-2, H-1B, and O-1.

What industry, size of company, and role(s) are you targeting?

We just have to keep our eye on this because almost certainly there will be changes whether to the application process or to the application/interpretation of the regulations.

Without knowing all the details, it looks like you should have a solid O-1.

If you're being serious, you should sign with an agency as a first step.

The nonimmigrant visa applications of those who get day 1 CPT tend to be scrutinized more closely but as long as the program is real, the visas eventually get issued. And the same for green card applications. While this might result in greater scrutiny, green cards get issued if the program is real. So if you go this route, just make sure it's a legit program (classes, homework, tests, etc.). The other option is the O-1. Of course I don't know your background but the O-1 is one option those who don't get selected in the lottery look at.

We represent a lot of DACA recipients and the options of moving to another status are very fact-specific, depending on their status at the time of entry, their qualifications, their country of citizenship, etc. A year isn't a lot of time as we all know so I would recommend scheduling a consultation with an immigration attorney soon.

I'm not a lawyer, but worked in the US for 6 years as a Canadian TN. The green card eligibility is the big differentiator between TN and H1B. Other than that, there isn't much difference that I could tell. One difference between Mexican and Canadian TNs is that Mexican TNs can switch employers without renewing TN, whereas with a Canadian TN you have to reenter the country when you switch employers.

When I was switching jobs I encountered a handful of companies that would consider H1B holders but would not consider TNs because they simply had no experience hiring TNs. I didn't fit their hiring pipeline.

I had some banks give me a rough time when seeking financing for buying a house, who were not familiar with TNs. Wells Fargo were willing to work with me.

Another issue I experienced (I think, my memory is fuzzy on this one) is because various members of my family had passports that expired on different dates (kids get a 3 year passport only), the TN and TD (dependent) were only granted up until the expiry of the passport, so less than 3 years that a TN could be granted for. To avoid costly plane flights I used to drive down to the Mexican border where the border folks were nice enough to renew my TN/TDs.

The US/Mexico border folks don't get many Canadians entering there so they aren't really set up for it. One time they erroneously gave me a Mexican TN authorization which I didn't learn about until I went back there to renew after switching jobs and the border person basically told me to get lost because I had a valid visa. I had to do some quick talking because even though I had a stamp, the visa was invalid because it is up to me to ensure I have valid work authorization.

The website for Canadians entering the US for TN purposes is clearly geared to Canadians entering from the Canadian side of the US, but doesn't explicitly say Canadians shouldn't enter from the Mexican side. It worked out in the end but no guarantees.

My advice: if the company is offering to switch you over to H1B, take them up on it. My employer originally said they would apply to switch me over to an H1B, but when it came time to actually do it, they no longer had budget to do it. This eventually became important because in Texas it affects the ability of your kids to apply for (state?) student loans (I'm fuzzy on this one). I ended up moving back to Canada to be with my kids while they go through university.

All the time and there's no explicit revenue or funding requirement. In the O-1 context, the company-related requirements are minimal; it's much more about the applicant's/beneficiary's qualifications.

I don't think so. She's already an LPR and during his last time in office, other than some processing delays, in my experience, applications that were supposed to get approved got approved.

No worries. These aren't really immigration companies but I know from experience that founders/employees living abroad can get paid directly by U.S. companies (this is a payroll issue, not an immigration one) or through third-party entities, oftentimes referred to as Employers of Records (or EORs), like Deel or Remote.

In my experience, because of the competition for talent, startups often are more open to employing foreign nationals than many large, established companies. The terms EB-1, EB-2, etc. refer to green card categories and the green card process takes a while so that's probably not the initial path toward working in the U.S. The likely visa options will be the L-1 (as a transferee) or an O-1 and oftentimes founding engineers or early stage employees qualify for the O-1 or can take steps to qualify. Both the L-1 and O-1 require company sponsorship.

There's no requirement to maintain a valid H-1B visa but under certain circumstances having a valid H-1B visa stamp can make it easier to change H-1B employers.

This is a moving target but at a minimum any country on Trump's soon-to-be travel ban list might cause problems down the road.

Yes, it still persists and can result in visa processing delays of more than one year.

All good questions but outside my limited area of expertise (US immigration). You should consult an international tax expert.

It is an option but it's complicated and not easy so consult an immigration attorney.

There would have to be a visa that you qualify for that the company could sponsor you for, such as an O-1 or a country-specific visa, but given how long such a process likely would take, even if you qualified for another visa, you probably wouldn't get it much faster than the J-2 work card.

The EB-5 is still an option although the process largely depends on the regional center/entity that you are going through and requires that you do real due diligence like you would any major investment. The EB-5 is also an area that at various times has been shut down or delayed because of government concerns about fraud and criminal activity.

This depends on the reason for the 221g. Security-related reasons can take a while but often 221gs these clear quickly. What's the reason?

It's possible but there are a lot of factors to consider/issues at play which are impossible to go through in this forum so you and he should consult an immigration attorney.

In 2011, we hired someone on an H1B at the startup where I worked. It was a straightforward process. The paperwork added a couple weeks to the process, and IIRC it cost $10k or so in legal fees, but for a great hire, it was definitely not a meaningful barrier.

We were already incorporated as a C corp. I would imagine that some sort of incorporation will be pretty much a requirement.

(IANAL)

For founders, the two options are EB2 national interest waiver and EB1A extraordinary ability and which path to choose will require an analysis of your background and the company. EB1A is much faster but the bar is much higher although many founders who've created "successful" companies qualify.

Adjudications vary considerably from land crossing to land crossing and from airport in Canada to airport in Canada but as a very general rule, it's easier to get a TN through CBP at a land crossing or airport than through USCIS but this also depends in part on specific TN occupation being applied under and the applicant's background. It's rare but not unheard-of for CBP to deny entry to a Canadian with an approved TN petition. Again, the risk varies by land crossing and airport with Pearson probably the worst and to be avoided if there's any concern.

Unfortunately, these very important tax questions/considerations are outside my area of expertise.

I've heard good things about LighthouseHQ from friends. The founder agreed to look my case over but then ghosted me. Unclear why, but I followed up and didn't hear back so

Unfortunately, I can't provide that advice since I'm not representing you and your wife and don't "own" the case and know all the facts. All I can say generally is that it's important to provide financial documents (such as tax returns and W-2s/1099s), evidence of the bona fides of the marriage, and evidence of past and present immigration status.

With all due respect, the firm's data is 100% anecdotal and I would say meaningless. There's no reliable data on this question since there's no control studies (and can't be) on the relative merits of filing EB1As with or without premium processing. We file 99% of our EB1As with premium processing because most of our clients don't want to wait 6 months to hear back from USCIS.

Recent amendments to work visa rules published in the federal register (and that took effect on January 17, 2025) enables being a founder of a company while on an H-1B, and perhaps might similarly allow that for a TN, but Peter Roberts or another expert would likely know best about it.

H-1B visa holders are tied to their sponsoring employer. Do you mean what they can do outside their H-1B employment? What other things are you interested in doing?

I'm not a fan but I haven't really analyzed the constitutionality of these provisions although the arguments I've heard regarding their unconstitutionality make sense to me.

There's not much that an administration can do to impact the delays because they primarily are the result of statutory backlogs and demand. So, unless there is a significant change in the law or a significant drop in demand, these delays are likely to persist.

That's a complete unknown, unfortunately, but to be clear, short of changing the green card law, there's little that an administration can do to impact the movement of the cutoff dates.

It's very difficult to get past this issue. We have Iranian citizen clients and non-Iranian citizen clients who have visited Iran whose visitor and work visa applications have been pending for more than a year. One option is for your colleague to ask his federal representative to reach out to the Consulate. This is done all the time but to be clear, it usually doesn't help but there's really nothing else to do. In the non-tourist visa application context, some people file mandamus actions, which oftentimes help but I think such an action would just accelerate the denial of the visitor visa application.

An initial O-1 visa is valid for up to 3 years and can be renewed indefinitely in 1- or 3-year increments.

Whether a new or amended TN is required depends on the job duties, not the title, so it appears that your TN should remain valid. But you should speak with your company's attorney about what you should carry with you when you travel and how you should respond to questions about your job. The same is largely true for your PERM application unless possibly the promotion puts you in a significantly higher comp bracket or significantly changes your place in the company's hierarchy.

Who/what are you referring to? Perhaps you know more than I do but that does not sound accurate to me.

are there any publicly available datasets that can be observed to verify this quantitatively? or does homeland not publish any data

Also, feel like specifying how its collaboration has been "eager" or how it in any relevant way is related to the plight of migrants, instead of just tossing out some accusatory virtue signalling?

Easily? By rejecting your false equivalence between enforcing our country’s immigration laws and being “anti-immigrant?”

Easy: the less rights immigrants have, the more work you can extract from the few you let in and the less they can complain, "or else..."

The tech bosses and the people who aspire to reach their height hate their own workers, whether they are Americans or not (but non-Americans can be put at the bottom of the ladder, and can be pushed further down):

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/17/the-tech-billionaire-on-wok...

Can't speak for the incoming four years, but a look at deportations by year under Trump, Biden and previous to that, Obama show illegal migrant deportations during Trump's first term were lower than they were during every year of Obama's presidency except one, sometimes greatly lower. They were also only moderately higher than they were during the four years of the Biden administration.

A shot of hard facts after being bathed in hyperbole. Oops.

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/.../biden-deportation-record https://ohss.dhs.gov/.../immigration/yearbook/2019/table39

Unfortunately, I just don't know and usually when I guess (because it's just a guess like everyone else), I'm wrong.

The options are limited (H-1B, L-1, and O-1, typically) but oftentimes there's a solution; this will depend on your qualifications and the company's profile.

Just apply for any job at Tesla lol

It's good that you have flagged this potential issue but I can't advise since that's outside my area; you should consult an employment lawyer.

An E-3 requires a job offer but with a job offer, the E-3 is much faster, easier, and cheaper than a marriage-based green card application. After you are here, if you decide that you'd like to make your permanent home here, you can apply for a green card even if you are in E-3 status. That just shouldn't be your intent now when applying for an E-3 visa.

I can't comment on YC and startups and while the administration likely will make changes to the H-1B law and process, I don't see major changes in how remote work is viewed and treated.

He's promised to make a lot of changes immediately, the majority concerning illegal immigration and border security. I'd recommend going to npr.org. There are good summaries there.

No, it's not a lost battle. Unfortunately, their ESTA applications likely will be rejected outright because of their past B-1/B-2 visa application denials. But it's still possible that they could get B-1/B-2 visas. They should apply again but given their previous denials, they should consult an immigration attorney.

Sorry. My expertise is limited to U.S. immigration law.

The E-2 visa is usually a very good and pretty easy option as long as the investment is enough (typically at least $100k USD) and there's a good business plan. I can't comment on tax residency.

Yes, assuming that you qualify, there's no waiting period but to be clear, the EB1C petition is filed by your employer, not you.

Podcasts, blogs, posts matter little and talks are only marginally helpful. The lowest hanging criteria are essential roles for distinguished organization, high compensation, press, and judging (either serving as a reviewer for an academic journal or conference or serving as a judge at a competition or event, such as a hackathon or startup/business competition). By the way, your gut is right; USCIS is sensitive to fake/manufactured press and this can undermine an otherwise strong petition.

We had a window into the administration 8 years ago and as a result we changed the way that we assessed and prepared cases to preempt fights and we continued with this approach during the Biden administration and will continue under the new administration until the fights start up again. I think that the most immediate significant changes in the area of legal immigration will be the imposition of international travel bans. We'll probably learn a lot in a few hours when the administration starts to roll out its Executive Orders.

Sorry. This is a bit too vague. Can you focus your question/clarify your concerns?

They see marginally lower payroll expenses

America is only 5% of the world's population. Do you want Silicon Valley to hire the best of the world, or only the best of America?

Without immigration, an American only Silicon Valley would surely lose out to places like China and India that can source talent from over a billion citizens. Or lose to a more immigrant friendly country that can source talent from the whole world (which is what America currently does).

I don't know but that's an interesting question and I would be very interested to know the answer.

1. I would recommend applying to renew your green card as well because it's not clear how long the naturalization process will take under the new administration. Regarding potential complications, last time he was in office, I didn't see any extra issues/delays with my Iranian clients becoming citizens. 2. This process could be impacted because she's outside the U.S. and it's easier for the administration to impact those outside the U.S. seeking immigrant (green card) visas through a U.S. Consulate than to impact those in the U.S. seeking to obtain green cards through USCIS. I don't think it matters whether you get married sooner. 3. Possibly but as you know, even Iranians applying for F-1 students visas can be subject to significant delays.

These tend to be pretty straightforward easy applications. There really are no gotchas in this context.

It's not really within my area since this question concerns the rights of citizens but this is something I've been concerned about because we have a lot of LGBTQ clients who are eligible for or in the process of applying for citizenship. I suspect that there will be clarity about this soon and I suspect that it won't be favorable to trans people.

I haven't seen that. The delays I've seen are for those from certain countries (such as Iran or Russia) or for those whose area of expertise/study is subject to export control laws/concerns.

The law distinguishes between the two so from a practical standpoint for me, the answer is yes.

Largely because of the Biden administration's policy of waiving the in-person interview requirement in marriage-based green card cases, the process has been very fast over the last 4 years, often taking less than 6 months from the time of filing until the approval of the green card application. If the new administration brings back the interview requirement, then I suspect that the processing time will go back to what it was before, which typically was at least 1 year. While a green card applicant is waiting for their green card application to be reviewed and approved, they will receive a temporary work card. The processing of work card applications is all over the place but has been better over the past 2 years and can take less than 3 months now (although it also can take much longer). There is a way to request expedited approval of a work card application but the standard is high. Instructions for requesting expedite review of an immigration application are available on the USCIS web site.

Canadian and Mexican citizens have their own visa classification, the TN, and so this is almost always the first option to look at because it is often very quick and easy (and relatively cheap) to get. Other work visa options for Canadians (and the citizens of most countries) are the E-2, L-1, and O-1.

Why do you say that?

> Do you feel the H1B system denies jobs to Americans or suppresses wages for those with jobs?

Yes.

If you have a problem with that, move to Europe.

The US is known for making money. Not for taking care of its citizens.

I don't agree with that view/trope since my clients (granted, a limited dataset) are hiring H-1B workers because they believe that they are the best candidates.

It sounds like that term (“H1Bs”) is simply shorthand for foreign citizens that are potential candidates for U.S. work via an H1B visa. Why is that bothersome?

> why referring to an entire, diverse bunch of people as "H1Bs"

Even though you seem to be getting downvoted aggressively, I’m going to provide a short, good-faith reply.

First, I’m not Peter, and I’m not an immigration lawyer, but I can provide insight as someone who knows and has worked with many H1Bs.

Second, this thread covers the major points, imho:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskALiberal/comments/1huxnn1/why_is...

For tech folks in particular, I think that there are two particular pain points that cause H1Bs to be referred to pejoratively sometimes (which I think is what your underlying issue is with):

1. Companies like Infosys that are gaming the system aggressively, often times using dark patterns. Net loss for the economy, and unnecessary stress on the immigration system, imho.

2. Qualified Americans losing their jobs (e.g., relatively recent layoffs) and struggling to find work. Meanwhile, H1Bs remain employed and new ones are added regularly. This doesn’t pass the sniff test of “lack of talent” in the domestic market. Additionally, folks on the inside know that the reality is that either the company is gaming the hiring/h1b system and/or the company has a broken hiring process.

Note that I don’t necessarily advocate for a rapid and aggressive culling of h1b workers like some do, but the h1b system could definitely use some improved oversight and/or refined regulation. It’s being abused at scale by multiple actors.