Ask HN: Do YC startups hire people from abroad?

[consta]

I see it quite frequently on HN that YC startups are looking for employees, mostly in the tech area. I am curious whether those startups hire people from abroad who will move then to the US to start working? Do visa issues and work permits cause too much trouble, so only US citizens are considered being employed?

[patio11]

Ask a simple question, get a simple answer: Many YC companies hire foreign employees. This does cause a LOT of visa headaches for them, so much so that YC has held events for people to swap stories and strategies for getting visa issues resolved. (YC companies additionally frequently have founders coming from abroad, which is a headache which is, if possible, more complicated than hiring an employee from abroad.)

Anecdotally, most (?) YC companies seem to prefer their employees to be located close to them, but that preference is not universal.