4 ms·

Disclaimer: I scanned the comments and couldn't see anyone talking about this, but please forgive me if I've missed this as it does seem like an obvious point.

by verelo 11y ago

Disclaimer: I scanned the comments and couldn't see anyone talking about this, but please forgive me if I've missed this as it does seem like an obvious point. Coding for a startup and not receiving pay, is likely still not legal. In my experience with US immigration (I'm Australian, living in Canada...traveling to the US from time to time) they don't really care about the money, they really just are about if you're taking away work that could have otherwise been done by a US citizen. Which leads me to the point of: The fact you're doing the work for free is very likely to be irrelevant, its just the fact that you're doing work that is an issue, irrespective of the reimbursement you're receiving.

mattthebaker 11y ago
Not to mention the fact that, legally speaking, if there is no compensation then there is no transfer of ownership on any of the work done. There could be a strong claim to code copyright later on, though without him being citizen I'm not sure what rights he would actually have. Would cost a bit for a lawyer to draft up some contract stipulating the housing as a form of compensation, but again not being a citizen could be a problem.
TheCapn 11y ago
I think you've got it right here and I hope this gets seen. US Border Patrol denied my entry to the US once because a coworker and I were coming over to oversee the installation of a number of electrical devices our company built/designed/tested and shipped to the client. We didn't have the adequate paperwork to state that this was a contractual "job" and we were simply there to assist local tradespeople in the installation should they have any questions since, you know, we designed the thing. When we were turned around at the border it was explained: without the paperwork to detail what we were doing, that this was agreed upon ahead of time and likely a bunch of other legal matters they had no method of knowing whether we were hired to save wages that would otherwise go to an American citizen. We weren't being paid for this work, it couldn't be done by anyone else (short of them taking the design work and learning it from the ground up over several months) and we were still denied entry. OP, work, even if free, is still work. Contact legal aid for what you are and are not allowed to do.

by verelo 11y ago

mattthebaker 11y ago

Not to mention the fact that, legally speaking, if there is no compensation then there is no transfer of ownership on any of the work done. There could be a strong claim to code copyright later on, though without him being citizen I'm not sure what rights he would actually have. Would cost a bit for a lawyer to draft up some contract stipulating the housing as a form of compensation, but again not being a citizen could be a problem.

TheCapn 11y ago

I think you've got it right here and I hope this gets seen. US Border Patrol denied my entry to the US once because a coworker and I were coming over to oversee the installation of a number of electrical devices our company built/designed/tested and shipped to the client. We didn't have the adequate paperwork to state that this was a contractual "job" and we were simply there to assist local tradespeople in the installation should they have any questions since, you know, we designed the thing. When we were turned around at the border it was explained: without the paperwork to detail what we were doing, that this was agreed upon ahead of time and likely a bunch of other legal matters they had no method of knowing whether we were hired to save wages that would otherwise go to an American citizen. We weren't being paid for this work, it couldn't be done by anyone else (short of them taking the design work and learning it from the ground up over several months) and we were still denied entry. OP, work, even if free, is still work. Contact legal aid for what you are and are not allowed to do.