Ask HN: How do you sponsor H1 VISAs or otherwise facilitate non-citizen hires? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you sponsor H1 VISAs or otherwise facilitate non-citizen hires?

12 pointsFlemlord3 comments

I run a small company and have never sponsored anybody for citizenship. We turn away ~25% of applicants because they need this. Is this something that is even possible for a small company? If so how do you do it? Most of the online advice seems to start and end with "hire a lawyer".

I almost want to suggest this as an idea for YC applicants. It would be nice if there was a site/service that clearly laid out the process, with prices on each step and a checklist that I (and the employee) could monitor. Currently I have no idea what I'm getting into and don't have the time/$ to spend figuring it out.

Does anything like this exist?

View on HN

I'll throw in a couple tidbits:

An H-1B visa isn't citizenship, nor is it permanent residence. It allows someone to stay in the US and work for a US employer (and hold no other jobs at the same time). In general, H1 and L1 visas are among the only way for people from outside of the NAFTA trade zone to seek employment-based entry into the US. There are other visas like O visas (typically used by people with extraordinary talents) or refugee visas and the like, but those are generally not applicable to your candidates.

If you want to hire Canadian (or possibly Mexican) citizens, they do not need a visa to work for you. You can instead sponsor them to obtain a TN (NAFTA) work permit. These permits are somewhat easier to obtain because there is no lottery, no cap, and no window of opportunity effect (The H-1B visa cap is generally filled within the first moments of April 1st of every year). Since a TN work permit is not a visa, it doesn't lead to permanent residence. It can be renewed virtually indefinitely, however.

Hiring a legal firm to handle paperwork of dealing with USCIS and other entities involved in bringing a person into the US is pretty much unavoidable, though not unheard of.

I'm curious, you say you want a service that performs this for you. Yet you don't accept "hire a lawyer" as valid advice. What do you think an immigration lawyer does? What is putting you off using one?

I'm actually working on project that does pretty much everything your asking for :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com