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Great post. Could you explain a little about the visa situation being an international founder. There is not much information about the issues faced by interna

Great post. Could you explain a little about the visa situation being an international founder. There is not much information about the issues faced by international founders and most advice comes down to "Contact a lawyer". It would be nice if you can share your experience.

hkmurakami 11y ago
One relatively straightforward path is to apply for an E-2 visa.
- alantrrs 11y ago
  I believe you need to make an investment out of your own pocket to apply for that visa. An immigration lawyer told me $200k, do you know if you can go lower than that?
  - hkmurakami 11y ago
    The requirement is that a majority share of the company be foreign owned (I think it may have to be the founder's country but I don't recall the exact details), and that "substantial operational investment has been made in the United States". The latter represents having a office lease, having purchased equipment and furniture, etc. The latter also will cause you to hear sums like $200k be quoted. Our number was higher than this when we applied (we raised our first round outside of the States), so I do not know if there is a lower bound. This whole process is not well defined and is very much an exercise in compelling storytelling to convince the Visa officer that you're not committing fraud.
freddier 11y ago
My cofounder went for the O1, I'm in the process of getting an L1. A tourist visa is a good start as long as you know the rules and limitations. It's 100% legal to start and own a company in the US with a tourist visa.
cvander 11y ago
Every case is different. Contacting a lawyer is the best advice to avoid getting distracted. You will anyway, but try to delegate as much as possible. Some countries have special quotas in the H1B, others have the NAFTA, some founders might do E2, others L1s, etc. And all the knowledge from achieving this is a good line to start a conversation with other international founders.

hkmurakami 11y ago

One relatively straightforward path is to apply for an E-2 visa.

alantrrs 11y ago
I believe you need to make an investment out of your own pocket to apply for that visa. An immigration lawyer told me $200k, do you know if you can go lower than that?
- hkmurakami 11y ago
  The requirement is that a majority share of the company be foreign owned (I think it may have to be the founder's country but I don't recall the exact details), and that "substantial operational investment has been made in the United States". The latter represents having a office lease, having purchased equipment and furniture, etc. The latter also will cause you to hear sums like $200k be quoted. Our number was higher than this when we applied (we raised our first round outside of the States), so I do not know if there is a lower bound. This whole process is not well defined and is very much an exercise in compelling storytelling to convince the Visa officer that you're not committing fraud.

freddier 11y ago

My cofounder went for the O1, I'm in the process of getting an L1. A tourist visa is a good start as long as you know the rules and limitations. It's 100% legal to start and own a company in the US with a tourist visa.

cvander 11y ago

Every case is different. Contacting a lawyer is the best advice to avoid getting distracted. You will anyway, but try to delegate as much as possible. Some countries have special quotas in the H1B, others have the NAFTA, some founders might do E2, others L1s, etc. And all the knowledge from achieving this is a good line to start a conversation with other international founders.