Ask HN: Any startups focusing on US non-immigrants?

[saradhi]

With the recent layoffs (that hurt H-1B visa & GC status) and the long waiting for the US Visa interview appointments in the countries like India & Canada, it seems, there are barriers to entry into the US and maintaining the status. Are they any startups, especially from non-immigrants, that address these pain points?

[hideo]

Maybe I’m missing the point - all these issues are because of various governments’ policies. how could startups possibly address immigration policy problems? I can’t think of any way a startup could e.g. help someone waiting months for a visa appointment.

[nicbou]

I help people with this in Germany.

Good information goes a long way, and the government is terrible at it. I just tell people what they have to do, which pitfalls to avoid, and how the process usually goes. That makes the whole thing a lot less stressful.

I'm slowly adding more tech to the problem. For instance, I'd love to build a residence permit picker that tells you exactly what your immigration options are. Again, this information is very hard to gather from official sources.

It's not a startup, just a website. Does that still fit?

[Vibgyor5]

Just wanted to mention out there that this is one of the topmost reasons why I left Germany (and moved back to Asia).

- Lack of political will to fix the bureaucratic mess: I had to come to Immigration Office standing in the queue at 3-4am due to lack of appointment slots online.

- One of the biggest companies in Germany didn't know how to move my employment permit from Berlin to Hamburg. No complicated case even! I was on visa, single, residence tied in Berlin and for 4 weeks their HR and Immigration partner kept deliberating on where/how the application should proceed. I worked at small startups as well as some big ones and I felt a major lack of empathy for foreign workers among German/European colleagues who never had to deal with such paperwork.

- I felt tons of virtue signalling here but minimal support for once you were in the country. Eg. Poland had had Immigration Advisory Centers you could call and seek advice on your case for free, in multiple languages incl. English. Poland! - the country "infamous" for not being very foreigner-friendly. Zero such support in Immigration Center (Auslandsamt) in Germany with silly argument of "we can't speak in English even though we work in an office where we must interact with foreigners every day because what if legal repurcussions?"

Long story short, it left a poor taste and I chose to leave.

Turned out for the better but just wanted to point out: I still believe that problem is not just collecting information (there are sites like allaboutberlin that are good at it) but handholding/support (like Jobbatical/Localyze are doing and some lobbying/support to the govt. to fix the bureaucracy that is living 20 years back in time.

[hideo]

Ah, that makes sense. So the focus is on helping people navigate the policy, not changing the policy. I can see how that can help.

[saradhi]

Here are some websites that are helping US non-immigrants. h1bdata.info provides a list of companies that sponsor H-1B visas along with the job titles and salary

checkvisaslots.com informs about visa slot availability in India

visaholics.com a community that shares US visa experiences

boundless.com .. . ..

[hideo]

Those examples help, thanks. I misunderstood your original post and thought you were planning on doing something to _change_ policy.

I see now your thought is more about helping people navigate existing policy. I do think this can be very helpful.

I'd be willing to pay actual money for a "one stop shop" to navigate all the H1B issues that unifies all these things :)

[marymkearney]

Shameless plug for visabuilder.com here. Informational site on O-1 and EB-1A extraordinary-ability visas. Side project, currently writing first paid product. (Back to work as soon as I close this HN tab, LOL.)

[yellow_lead]

There is a big service sector around helping people immigrate to various countries (Law area). A startup could productize this.

[culopatin]

Do you want a startup to give you some special privilege above everyone else trying to get in the country? What makes you think the people laid off the tech sector are the main group of people waiting for visas or even the main concern of the immigration office? If anything you were the most privileged and had an awesome opportunity.

[saradhi]

Why would you expect startup having special privileges. There are websites like

h1bdata.info which provides list of companies that sponsor H-1B visas along with the job titles and salary

checkvisaslots.com which informs about visa slot availability

visaholics.com a community that shares US visa experiences

boundless.com .. . ..

[ravagat]

The barriers to entry and constant status maintenance are well worth it and are set up exactly the way they are for good reason. I don't think there are any startups that explicitly address these pain points. It's likely impossible since they are largely policies in or around government.

In terms of waitlists and queues increasing, which is what has essentially been a lack of control and adoption to an ever growing number, I don't think a startup could feasibly rise as a business in order to address these pain points. If anything offering a system solution to a publicly unknown problem that could be adopted at scale is a great challenge and one that could and should be invested into. But the root problem isn't known publicly and/or is too complicated and entirely not software/tech solvable.

I think this is also why the rise of companies aimed at efficiency that are in some way related to these immigration pain points like Flexport(logistics), Rippling(HR), deel(HR/PEO), Stripe/Modern Treasury/Adyen(finance), Exec (coaching),Replit(edu/dev tool) and others I'm missing, continue to gain prominence, funding, and adoption.

[tacostakohashi]

> there are barriers to entry into the US and maintaining the status

Yes, that's the whole point!

[rhaway84773]

The point is to have to wait so long to stamp an approved visa in your passport that your visa approval will expire before you can get it stamped and will need to get it reapproved before?

So basically for years you cannot LEAVE the US because even though you have all the approvals, you cannot get an appointment?

So much on their site whining about H1Bs simply have no clue what they’re talking about. Which is especially ironic because commenters here simultaneously complain about how there are so many H1Bs that it should be easy enough to ask one of their colleagues.

[culopatin]

The point is that they always wanted to make it hard for people to get in because they believe they have enough people in here and they are all the talent they need. Letting people in is a privilege granted to a few special people, not the norm, and it’s fine if it’s hard and painful.

[stormfly]

I think you need to learn to have some empathy. Nobody is asking for an easy way in. If you want to have a high bar for people who would be in US then make the application process clear and do not approve the visas. Better yet, if they believe they have enough people in here and they have all the talent they need, do not take the applications in the first place. But making them go through the entire process and approving their visas and then you tell them you don't know when they can have the appointment is plain cruel.

Set the standards high but not painful.

Also, I don't get the talk about privilege. US govt is letting people in because they are getting something out of it. On the other hand people are coming here because they are gaining something as well. Nobody is doing any charity work. It is a give and take on both sides.

[culopatin]

This is not my view of how it should be, this is my view of how it is today. I went through the process myself

[user_7832]

> it’s fine if it’s hard and painful

That’s sadistic. Making visa requirements high(er)/stricter is one thing. Making the process painful shows your morality (or its absence, unfortunately) more than anything else.

[culopatin]

It’s fine for the office to keep it that way is what I mean. They have no incentive to change it. I agree it’s sadistic.

[killingtime74]

Yes it's called a migration lawyer...

[908B64B197]

> Canada

Why does Canada have a long wait time? Population is smaller than California.

[tacostakohashi]

Because lots of people from more distant countries go there for their appointments instead?

[readonthegoapp]

layoffs hurt green card holders? like, in a visa status way??

[davchana]

Green card holder should not get hurt. Their status is not tied to their employment (or lack of).

[akudha]

What about EAD card holders?

[testTED]

Same reason as Japan?