[jasonkester]

I remember a time when this very TechCrunch article would come out and I'd read through it with a sense of dismay at the sheer unadulterated badness of every single idea.

Things have changed.

An example: Teleborder charges $5,000 per visa application, ... gathering documents, collecting information, and sending information to the government.

This is one of those ideas where you just stop and wonder why nobody has run with it before. These guys are going to make bank. I rode a dotcom into the ground in the early 'aughts that was tackling a similar problem with 10x the paperwork of a H1B and roughly 0% of the hair-on-fire demand that tech companies with tons of money have for help getting labor into the country.

That's the kind of company I wish I'd founded. Nice work.

[hpagey]

I m not sure if this will work.

The cost per app goes down with each additional app. After about 10 apps the company typically has figured out and streamlined the entire process. The documentation requirements for the H1B applicant are pretty well known. (previous status, transcripts, degree certificates,...). These are not overly complicated documents (unless you are a special case).

Also 5k fee sounds kinds of high (I am assuming these are in addition to the government fees). A lawyer for h1b application should not cost more than 2 to 3k. So, why would a company pay more NOT to work directly with a lawyer?

On the other hand, if the fees include government fees then this is a very good deal.

H1b applicant feels secure in the knowledge that his application is handled by a lawyer. Its like buying an insurance, they are indirectly buying "peace of mind". If they find out that company is not directly using a lawyer, I am not sure how they will react.

Am I missing something?

[bduerst]

You're not far off.

My girlfriend and a couple friends recently went through this year's LCA process (H1B, H1B1, etc.) and the lawyers cost exactly that: $2-3k.

The $5k price point is only going to drive away your target market. These customers are people who have already busted their ass to get a work sponsor, so they know the ins and outs of the market, including what the laywers cost and who is typically better. If they don't, then they are deferring to their employer's lawyers, who are already experts, to handle it completely.

There isn't anything new that teleborders is bringing to the market here, except a more expensive price point.

[jrichards27]

Thanks Jason! I'm one of the cofounders.

There seems to be a bit of confusion around our pricing in the comments below, so let me clear it up: we charge an average of $5,000 per visa application. The real fees range from sub-$2k for simple transfers all the way to above $10k for some green c cards. For simplicity, we (and the press) sometimes abbreviate this to "$5k per visa".

So far, customers haven't had a problem paying a slight premium to use us; what they pay out in cash they more than make back in time saved and employee happiness, and that's why some even told us we're cheap!

[huhtenberg]

> This is one of those ideas where you just stop and wonder why nobody has run with it before.

Hahaha... seriously? You have never heard of "immigration lawyers" and "travel agents"? This is exactly the service they have been providing since the dawn of time.

[pessimizer]

That's like sneering at Amazon because bookstores. Or sneering at Excel because ledger paper.

[gamblor956]

Unlikely. Most immigration firms (outside of the Bay Area and New York) charge less than $5000 to handle all immigration visa matters, and I am including major specialty firms like Fragommen. While the idea is sound, the pricing is going to need a lot of work if it wants to take off outside of the Bay.

[c0mpute]

One thing going against them is how h1b gets consumed. The 2013 cap (last year, not thing year) distribution indicates more than 40k out of 65k worker cap was filled by outsourcing company. (source: http://www.myvisajobs.com/Reports/2013-H1B-Visa-Sponsor.aspx). I am sure the number is similar even this year just as it has been the last so many years.

Even the other often abused visa L1 is primarily filled by outsourcers (I am trying to find some numbers on this but hard to find).

The outsourcing companies have been filing h1 for less than 1k lawyer fee (outsourced too!). 5K seems too high for someone to take note . The best law firms themselves charge about that here in USA.

I think this company can help out the startups in the bay area that are clueless how to sponsor a H1 (all the legalities of it) and makes it simple to them perhaps doing everything online from get go. That won't be more than 15/20k per year. So even the best case they are probably seeing a $1million dollar run rate per year (Which might be great for a 4/5 member startup?).

They should diversify into other areas - tax (for immigrants)/corporate (hiring/transfers) - which will have more incidences to charge.

[sharkweek]

Teleborder definitely caught my eye - seems to be curing a major headache

I think my favorite of the past few batches is still FlightCar; that's the one I looked at and thought "damn where has this been all my life"

[jacoblyles]

It does seem that YC companies have moved away from the "give some service away on the internet for free" model that used to predominate. Most of these seem like they are filling real needs.