throwaway219450 (u/throwaway219450)

throwaway219450 commented on I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA · Posted by u/proberts

gsck · 13 days ago

I have recently taken a job with an American based company and will need to complete a few weeks training in Miami. Based on the information they have given me I need a B1 visa and maybe an ESTA since I'm in the UK, and a C-1/D for moving through the US.

However they keep flip flopping between me needing a B1 and me just using my ESTA for the training, and their communication hasn't been the most straight forward. Which visa do I need to get to enter the US for the training?

throwaway219450 · 13 days ago

Not a lawyer. The VWP (ESTA) for business specifically says:

> attend short-term training (you may not be paid by any source in the United States with the exception of expenses incidental to your stay)

"source in the US" might be problematic if you're paid by the US company directly and not a UK arm. You'd have to take those days as unpaid, except for a per diem? If you're paid in pounds by a UK source, ought to be fine.

I would confidently say you do not need a C visa. That's for immediate transit (like you have to change airports or something, and you would use an ESTA anyway). A D visa is for people like airline crew who have to stay and have to work whilst there (like getting an aircraft ready for international departure from a US airport). If you needed that, your company ought to know.

throwaway219450 commented on I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA · Posted by u/proberts

fencepost · 13 days ago

I think a related but separate question would be "Can I do these things if the proceeds are going directly to charity instead of to me?"

I suspect it would be important that any funds never reached you, so you couldn't simply receive money then donate that amount. Playing a charity gig where the receipts go directly to the charity would likely be fine, streaming/Spotify revenue I don't know, acting in a movie might be out of the question if it's being professionally shot because the producer might have insurance or other requirements that only paid performers and crew can be on set, etc.

throwaway219450 · 13 days ago

Some visas that are employment-limited specifically mention volunteering and charitable work as problematic. You do not need to personally gain financially. A crude way to tell is "is this an activity which someone could be paid for, even if I'm doing it for free?"

However the practical answer is ask. Some visas like the J1 allow this - even consulting, provided it meets a bunch of criteria and relevant people sign off. It's not a trivial process, but it's not outright forbidden.

throwaway219450 commented on Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says reuters.com/business/medi... · Posted by u/mriguy

DeRock · 3 months ago

> the companies that try to boost their chances with the lottery by creating multiple applications for the same person

This was already addressed by changing the odds to be per unique candidate, not application, thereby reducing the incentive to game it. More context here: https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/uscis-announces...

throwaway219450 · 3 months ago

I find it odd that the H-1B has no per-country limits, which would have avoided all of this from the start.

throwaway219450 commented on ‘Overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI theguardian.com/technolog... · Posted by u/Brajeshwar

michaelt · 3 months ago

I know for certain it's whatever you care to contract for, but rotation between tasks is common.

A lot of these suppliers provide on-demand workers - if you need 40 man-hours of work on a one-off task, they can put 8 people on it and get you results within 5 hours.

On the other hand, if you want the same workers every time, it can be arranged. If you want a fixed number of workers on an agreed-upon shift pattern, they can do that too.

Even when there is a rotation, the most undesirable tasks often pay a few bucks extra per hour, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some people who opted to stay on the worst jobs for a full shift.

throwaway219450 · 3 months ago

Having tried both strategies, unless your task is brain-dead simple and/or you have a way to cheaply and deterministically validate the labels, always pay to retain the team.

Even if you can afford only a couple of people a month and it takes 5x as long, do it. It's much eaiser to deal with high quality data than to firefight large quantities of slop. Your annotators will get faster and more accurate over time. And don't underestimate the time it takes to review thousands of labels. Even if you get results l in 5 hours, someone has to check if it's any good. You might find that your bottleneck is the review process. Most shops can implement a QA layer for you, but not requesting it upfront is a trap for young players.

throwaway219450 commented on How to negotiate your salary package complexsystemspodcast.com... · Posted by u/surprisetalk

moralestapia · 6 months ago

How do you negotiate when the position already has a fixed number in there that was even published along the job description?

throwaway219450 · 6 months ago

Let's assume the amount is fixed. One approach is to ask to re-frame the position to be better value.

Ask for working hours that effectively pays you more per day, like an 80% contract at the same comp. If they mumble HR and hours, offer to do 4x10 hour days. The magic phrase in corporate is "flexible working". This doesn't solve your comp going up, but you get a 3-day weekend and 52 more holidays a year.

This one even works at intensely bureaucratic organisations like universities. With grants, the amount you can be paid is very fixed, but almost anything else can be approved if three people sign off on it.

throwaway219450 commented on Trump administration halts Harvard's ability to enroll international students nytimes.com/2025/05/22/us... · Posted by u/S0y

djoldman · 7 months ago

Ah thanks, that makes sense.

It's a pretty weird system.

throwaway219450 · 7 months ago

You can view the DS-2019 as more like a work permit. The visa lets you leave and re-enter the country.

Some European countries work in a comparable way where you don't need a visa at all (depending where you're from), but you can't stay unless you have a valid work permit.

throwaway219450 commented on Trump administration halts Harvard's ability to enroll international students nytimes.com/2025/05/22/us... · Posted by u/S0y

djoldman · 7 months ago

I was curious how this could legally be done. It's through this:

https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/schools/apply/getting-start...

As far as I can tell, the headlines are not quite accurate. From my reading, a more accurate description would be that one cannot obtain a student visa to go to Harvard.

So presumably, if someone could acquire legal residence in another way, they would be free to attend Harvard.

throwaway219450 · 7 months ago

Yes ish, see my other comment.

Foreign students normally enter via a non-immigrant visa (F1), or rather they are eligible to apply for that visa at an embassy, if a registered sponsor supports it. The visa permits a request for entry into the country for the purpose of study (at a port of entry). The most important document that you need day to day is a DS-2019 and you must remain "in F1 status" in the SEVIS system for the duration of your program. If you don't leave the US, you don't need another visa even if your original one expires, the university can issue you a new DS-2019 annually until your end-of-program date. That's up to 5 years dependent on the category. If you leave after your visa expires you have to renew it out of the country, which is normally straightforward (using the dropbox system).

The government has not prevented foreign people from studying or working at Harvard, they have withdrawn their ability to maintain status while at Harvard. Hence why they can transfer to another institution.

throwaway219450 commented on I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA · Posted by u/proberts

appleaday1 · 7 months ago

Tell me more about Vienna or Austria please, I used to live there for like 3-5 years as a kid,

throwaway219450 · 7 months ago

https://www.migration.gv.at/en/types-of-immigration/permanen...

Lots of info on the government website.

throwaway219450 commented on Trump administration halts Harvard's ability to enroll international students nytimes.com/2025/05/22/us... · Posted by u/S0y

goatlover · 7 months ago

I don't get how DHS has control over what universities foreign students can attend. Either than can attend school in the US or not. Saying they have to transfer from Harvard to another American university is total abuse of power. Surely there are lawsuits in the works over this.

throwaway219450 · 7 months ago

The F/J exhange visa is tied to a specific sponsor (ie the University) for a very specific goal. There are a lot of restrictions on what you can and can't do. If your visa sponsor has its privilege revoked then presumably you have a choice to transfer to a different institute, if one will take you, or leave the country.

There is a mechanism for that transfer built into the visa, which could be used for example if your professor moved institutions and wanted to re-hire you to fulfil the original goals of your exchange program.

It's unclear if this affects all foreign academic staff, many of whom who would be on the J, or just the F visa.

Edit: apparently all exhange visas.

throwaway219450 commented on I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney, who does work for YC and startups. AMA · Posted by u/proberts

abraxas · 7 months ago

> You can move to France with a regular paying job no problem or just a few thousand euros in savings

Unless something has changed dramatically in the last decade this is patently false. Getting an EU work permit was historically very hard with employers having to demonstrate that a position can't be filled by an EU citizen before a non-EU citizen candidate can be considered.

throwaway219450 · 7 months ago

The difference in the US is that it's (comparably) extremely difficult to change status from a temporary visa to a permanent one. Even if you are highly qualified. For example the most common academic visa, the J1, is explicitly a temporary exchange program and you can't have immigrant intent (on application). Most universities won't give out academic H1Bs even though they're cap-free.

In most European countries, once you're in, you can find a way to stay. One exception I can think of is Switzerland, which can be pretty annoying for temporary visas because they don't count for time accrual.

Austria has a pretty good system (RWR) that lets you job seek and is a pathway to permanent residency as a 3rd country citizen. I think there are similar programs in France and Germany.

For example "very highly qualified" in Austria is satisfied by almost anyone with a STEM degree, being under 35 and (amazingly) being an English speaker. If you have that initial visa, companies can hire you without worrying about sponsorship.

You could also use that as a route to the Blue card I think. I wouldn't say the bar is exactly low, but a lot of mobile people are sufficiently educated and are paid enough. As in, a typical European STEM salary would cover it.

But also the grandparent's comment is out of touch. Of course countries want people who are more skilled than local labor, that's the whole point. Aside from the benefit of attracting talent and higher tax revenue, it's much harder for your voters to argue that immigrants are taking your jobs this way.