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by spinlock
3156 days ago
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Startups do not use H1B workers. A startup is actually hiring someone for a role and they can't take the risk that their guy will lose the lottery. Plus, the application is just beyond what most startups are going to have the time to do. |
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If they hire someone who already has an H1B working at another company they only have to perform a transfer, which is processed as a lottery-exempt new application i.e. same salary and credential and experience requirements as a new application but no need to go through the lottery. Most startups likely aren't going to hire someone fresh out of school or straight from another country (hence needing a new, lottery H1B). They will prefer someone who is local and has some experience.
> Plus, the application is just beyond what most startups are going to have the time to do.
H1B transfers take 15 days if premium processed, which is an additional fee of ~$1500. That's well within the budget of your average VC-funded startup. The transfer also adds an extra 2 weeks to an H1B candidate's start date over a domestic candidate (because no candidate is going to give 2-week notice at their current job until the transfer is approved) but it's not an insurmountable issue.
It's true that super-early stage startups (< 20 employees) may still not bother with this extra bureaucracy. But there I think it's because at that size the founders' and early employees' professional networks provide a sufficiently healthy pipeline of candidates, so they'd rather keep working and shipping than deal with immigration lawyers. On the other hand if someone on the founding team isn't a citizen/permanent resident, they'd still do it (eg. Laks Srini at Zenefits).