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Comment by jameshush | Hacker News Reader

Hi Peter,

I'm a Canadian citizen with a four year computer science degree. I've gotten a TN work permit twice, with two different companies over the past three years.

If I started a company with an American citizen and they opened it up, could they then hire me as a Computer System Analyst? Is there a minimum salary they'd have to pay me (e.g. could I get a TN and still only get paid $10/hour)? Is this a common way for Canadian co-founders to enter the United States or is there a better route?

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I'm not the OP, but as I understand it a founder of a company would be eligible for immigration on an EB-5 visa. From this website ( https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-through-job/gree... ), they would be eligible if they plan to create/preserve 10 jobs and invest $1m (or $500k in a "targeted high employment area". This is pretty similar to most developed nations--provide enough investment money and you can immigrate without much question.

jameshush would need to have $1 million or $500k (if he wants to open his startup in a poor/remote area) to get this visa.

I don't know about jameshush, but most people don't have that level of disposable assets lying around that they can just expend on a business venture.

Also, FYI, you cannot get $500k of investment and qualify for the EB-5 visa. The $500k has to be your own money.

(recalling verbatim from a friend): TN-1s are not available for "owners" of a business. Technically, ownership is defined as > X% of a business (X is some number I can't recall like 30 or 40). Recently, some Canadian founders have had their TN-1 revoked at the border at the discretion of the officer because they were founders, even though they didn't have sufficient % of shares to be owners as per the definition.

Also curious about this.

Excellent and important issue. Ownership in and of itself is not a bar to TN classification - to be a bar the ownership is supposed to rise to the level of controlling - but USCBP (at the "border") and even USCIS sometimes (and more and more) take the position that it is or conclude that if one is a founder or has an ownership interest, one is a "manager" and not an "engineer" and therefore ineligible for TN classification because there's no NAFTA occupation for managers.

Thanks Peter! So then would you suggest to wait on (fingers crossed) getting an H1-B from an employer and then transferring to the new startup?

Not necessarily because the law is clear that a minority non-controlling interest is not a bar to TN classification (and where the law is on your side, it's usually worth pursuing/arguing).

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