5 ms·

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 he

by vgurgov 16y ago

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. Although you might need to come back to your country every 6 months or so. 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.

eru 16y ago
Really? It's sound like this would make it possible to work every job, by sub-contracting to your `company'.
- jules 16y ago
  No, he's partially right but the `company` needs to be big and needs to employ US citizens I think.
- vgurgov 16y ago
  1) not all companies need subcontracting. some need direct hire on various reasons (like taxing) 2) schema should have another overseas layer
arnorhs 16y ago
Everyone can register a company? But you still need a special VISA to work. That's remarkable.
- StavrosK 16y ago
  Do they accept Mastercard?
- vgurgov 16y ago
  This is tricky. Depends how you define work ;)
  - georgecmu 16y ago
    No, it depends on how USCIS and DoL define work.
duke_sam 16y ago
There is a visa (It's one of the E visas) for people bringing capital into the states but you it's not a trivial amount and you need to prove that you will employ a certain number of Americans.
- Sukotto 16y ago
  It's called "Treaty Investing" http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1273.html http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1273.html
- eduardoflores 16y ago
  Info on the E1 (trader) and E2 (investor) on the US Embassy in Mexico http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/eng/evisas_E.html http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/eng/evisas_E.html Highlights for the investor visa: - The investor must be coming to the United States solely to develop and direct the enterprise - The investment must be substantial. It must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the enterprise - must have the capacity to generate significantly more income than just enough to provide a living to the investor and his or her family, or it must have a significant economic impact in the United States I'm not sure if a YC funded founder would be elegible, but seems hard
  - mdda 16y ago
    I've been running my own business in the US on an E-2 visa for the last 12 years. The minimum recommended initial investment is of the order of $100,000 - and a majority the E-2 company must be owned by citizens of the non-US 'treaty country'. Rough guide to application : 0.5-1.0 inch thick.
  - dotBen 16y ago
    You have to bring $100,000 of your own personal money into the company (so investment from 3rd party doesn't count). You also have to maintain control of your company, ie you can never give away more than 50% of the equity in the company - and that will be prohibitive when seeking investment. The company is thus limited in it's ability to fundraise above a certain point and an exit is impossible without the founder leaving the country.
davidw 16y ago
Tourist visas are 3 months, and are for tourism, not for working for your company. I do think that it's possible to register a company, but don't know how that works out for non-US people.
- vgurgov 16y ago
  no b1/b2 is for 6 m and can be extended for another 6. visa waiver is for 3m (its EU can come without any visa)
  - vladd 16y ago
    this is incorrect information. There are lots of countries in EU that still require visa. EU is trying to make US treat it as a single entity ( http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=114061 http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=114061 ) but for the last 4 years they've pretty much failed to do so.
davidw 16y ago
Sheez, what's with the "pile on" downvoting. If he's wrong, vote him down to 0 or -1 and leave it at that.
- vgurgov 16y ago
  Thx, but i dont really care about my carma. I simply cant be wrong here because i experienced this myself and know like 10 friends doing such things with zero probs. Heck even YC says that visa isnt a big deal for their companies. Guess most of downvotes coming from lazy hackers who like to count visa issues as excuse for their own laziness.
  - siong1987 16y ago
    this is really interesting. do you mind to elaborate more? i am Teng Siong Ong from GraffitiGeo(YC S2009). in fact, visa is the worst problem that many YC international founders face now. this will really help if you could share your experience with all of us.
  - davidw 16y ago
    > zero problems Because they haven't been caught, or because what they're doing is legitimate?
  - dotBen 16y ago
    I too know a ton of friends who are doing it with zero probs. I also know for a fact they are working illegally.
vgurgov 16y ago
i know that this will get a ton of downvotes, but problem with getting entrepreneur visa in US is pretty much overvalued! Get this: Most skilled ppl can get this or other solution pretty easy and legal after doing some research in the field. So dont worry about getting a visa, better worry about building a great product!!
georgecmu 16y ago
I think you'd see a lot more upvotes if you gave an explicit description of how "everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it", instead of making this empty (and to the best knowledge of most people that had to deal with the US immigration, incorrect) statement.

by vgurgov 16y ago

eru 16y ago

Really? It's sound like this would make it possible to work every job, by sub-contracting to your `company'.

jules 16y ago
No, he's partially right but the `company` needs to be big and needs to employ US citizens I think.
vgurgov 16y ago
1) not all companies need subcontracting. some need direct hire on various reasons (like taxing) 2) schema should have another overseas layer

arnorhs 16y ago

Everyone can register a company? But you still need a special VISA to work. That's remarkable.

StavrosK 16y ago
Do they accept Mastercard?
vgurgov 16y ago
This is tricky. Depends how you define work ;)
- georgecmu 16y ago
  No, it depends on how USCIS and DoL define work.

duke_sam 16y ago

There is a visa (It's one of the E visas) for people bringing capital into the states but you it's not a trivial amount and you need to prove that you will employ a certain number of Americans.

Sukotto 16y ago
It's called "Treaty Investing" http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1273.html http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1273.html
eduardoflores 16y ago
Info on the E1 (trader) and E2 (investor) on the US Embassy in Mexico http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/eng/evisas_E.html http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/eng/evisas_E.html Highlights for the investor visa: - The investor must be coming to the United States solely to develop and direct the enterprise - The investment must be substantial. It must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the enterprise - must have the capacity to generate significantly more income than just enough to provide a living to the investor and his or her family, or it must have a significant economic impact in the United States I'm not sure if a YC funded founder would be elegible, but seems hard
- mdda 16y ago
  I've been running my own business in the US on an E-2 visa for the last 12 years. The minimum recommended initial investment is of the order of $100,000 - and a majority the E-2 company must be owned by citizens of the non-US 'treaty country'. Rough guide to application : 0.5-1.0 inch thick.
- dotBen 16y ago
  You have to bring $100,000 of your own personal money into the company (so investment from 3rd party doesn't count). You also have to maintain control of your company, ie you can never give away more than 50% of the equity in the company - and that will be prohibitive when seeking investment. The company is thus limited in it's ability to fundraise above a certain point and an exit is impossible without the founder leaving the country.

davidw 16y ago

Tourist visas are 3 months, and are for tourism, not for working for your company. I do think that it's possible to register a company, but don't know how that works out for non-US people.

vgurgov 16y ago
no b1/b2 is for 6 m and can be extended for another 6. visa waiver is for 3m (its EU can come without any visa)
- vladd 16y ago
  this is incorrect information. There are lots of countries in EU that still require visa. EU is trying to make US treat it as a single entity ( http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=114061 http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=114061 ) but for the last 4 years they've pretty much failed to do so.

davidw 16y ago

Sheez, what's with the "pile on" downvoting. If he's wrong, vote him down to 0 or -1 and leave it at that.

vgurgov 16y ago
Thx, but i dont really care about my carma. I simply cant be wrong here because i experienced this myself and know like 10 friends doing such things with zero probs. Heck even YC says that visa isnt a big deal for their companies. Guess most of downvotes coming from lazy hackers who like to count visa issues as excuse for their own laziness.
- siong1987 16y ago
  this is really interesting. do you mind to elaborate more? i am Teng Siong Ong from GraffitiGeo(YC S2009). in fact, visa is the worst problem that many YC international founders face now. this will really help if you could share your experience with all of us.
- davidw 16y ago
  > zero problems Because they haven't been caught, or because what they're doing is legitimate?
- dotBen 16y ago
  I too know a ton of friends who are doing it with zero probs. I also know for a fact they are working illegally.

vgurgov 16y ago

i know that this will get a ton of downvotes, but problem with getting entrepreneur visa in US is pretty much overvalued! Get this: Most skilled ppl can get this or other solution pretty easy and legal after doing some research in the field. So dont worry about getting a visa, better worry about building a great product!!

georgecmu 16y ago

I think you'd see a lot more upvotes if you gave an explicit description of how "everyone can come to US, register a company and work for it", instead of making this empty (and to the best knowledge of most people that had to deal with the US immigration, incorrect) statement.