[risico]

I am in your exact situation, I plan to leave everything I've behind and hit the states or Canada in one year or so and as far as I know there shouldn't be any problem for any kind of startup to get you in(legal wise), of course there's the money problem, the startup has to choose if you are worth the money they are going to spend on lawyers and other expenses (~$10k as I've heard) but nothing that a good resume can't beat, also you can offer to pay for the expenses as I am willing to do.

[neilk]

> there shouldn't be any problem for any kind of startup to get you in(legal wise)

Have you spent five minutes to Google this?

* Excepting the premium processing fee, H1B holders can't pay for their own legal costs.

* H1B holders can be "passively" involved in other companies, including founding them, but cannot derive any benefit from them. (Confusing!)

You could work for a startup in the USA simply for wages, but that would be certifiably insane. The usual answer is to assign ownership to the investor(s) or American employees and have some arrangement whereby you'll get the benefits later, but that involves a degree of trust in investors that I don't have, personally.

See http://danashultz.com/blog/2011/05/06/can-i-get-an-h-1b-visa... , http://danashultz.com/blog/2011/01/18/visa-basics-for-foreig... .

There are ways to get around this, which are pretty similar to money laundering (look it up in a dictionary sometime). Some lawyers are willing to do this, others aren't. Be aware that a lawyer specializing in individual immigration cases is not going to jeopardize their relationship with the US Gov't just for you.

Also, even if you conceive of some scheme to get around this, be aware that startups are often very distracted. I tried to join one in the 90s, where a relative of mine was even the CEO, and the relationship was hot/cold for months. One week it was "yes, we're totally doing this!" and the next it was "um, not the right time, wait a month more!"

[sprovoost]

From what I can gather from those two links and the original memorandum, you need to show that you are an employee. They are worried about three scenario's:

* founding your own company and hiring yourself (especially if you do that on borrowed money it would make it too easy to immigrate)

* contractors (not sure why)

* job shop employees

The first item is where ownerships comes in. You're not allowed to be in control of the company, because you could prevent it from firing you. So that clearly rules out having >50% ownership.

However, I don't see how it rules out stock options for say 10% ownership? Particularly because, if I understand correctly, stock options don't give you any control until the company goes IPO.

The easiest way to find out: are there any startups that have given out stock option, without jumping through legal hoops?

[untog]

> You could work for a startup in the USA simply for wages, but that would be certifiably insane.

...why? It would just be like, y'know, having a job.

[neilk]

Because you could get a similar and higher-paying job with zero risk by applying to one of the bigger companies.

[untog]

I'd definitely contend that a job with a bigger company would not be 'similar'. I previously worked at a "bigger company" and the job was utterly miserable. The startup I work for gave me stock in the company, but I wasn't actually expecting it- I would have worked there anyway.

As long as you're getting decent pay I see no reason to stay in a miserable corporate job if you don't want to be in one.

[a-priori]

That $10k number surprises me too. I did the reverse a few years ago, going from Canada to Switzerland to work on a research project. It cost me about $200 for the work visa, and no legal fees. I don't see why a) Canada would be more expensive, or b) why a startup would be different than a university in this respect.

[risico]

Ah sorry, most likely that number doesn't apply to Canada, everything is cheaper there :).But lets wait for someone that has some better numbers and enlighten us.

[true_religion]

It's probably higher because America is protectionist when it comes to jobs.

[jamesteow]

Thankfully, Canadians working in the U.S. have a much easier time. Cost me less than $80 to get a work visa.

[jackwagon]

$10k is plain wrong. It's $2500 for the application (paid to the gov't) and decent lawyers typically charge $2500. Greencards on the other hand are much more expensive, $15k-$20k.

[untog]

I've done it twice now (one initial application and one transfer) and the fees were nowhere near $10k. I think they were $5k, max.

[evjan]

$10k? Wow. If that is true it is much more expensive than I thought.

[risico]

Don't take it as granted but here's an older thread where $15k-$20k is speculated http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2397020.