YC-affiliated immigration attorney Peter Roberts answers startup and tech worker questions on visas, green cards, and current policy changes.
Key Takeaways
Peter Roberts specializes in immigration for YC companies and startups, making this a rare practitioner-level source on startup-relevant visa strategy.
The $100k H-1B fee applies to applicants outside the U.S. or those ineligible for in-country change of status, not blanket to all H-1B filings.
Roberts does not use AI for legal advice generation, citing reliability concerns: immigration answers that are “a little wrong” are completely unreliable in practice.
Larger companies are pulling back on PERM sponsorship due to new requirements; smaller startups face compounded difficulty retaining H-1B workers on a path to permanent residency.
Hacker News Comment Review
The $100k H-1B fee dominated questions; commenters probed scope, exemptions for nonprofits, and whether it will survive past September, with Roberts confirming it chills offshore hiring and limits travel flexibility.
ITAR and aerospace employment for EU citizens surfaced as an underserved topic: commenters noted restricted-person rules create a de facto citizenship filter for certain defense-adjacent roles even with valid work authorization.
Commenters with active immigration cases used the thread for real triage, including spouse-based green card timelines and wrongful termination scenarios affecting H-1B status, revealing how fragile employment-tied visa status is under current enforcement.
Notable Comments
@onetimeusename: H-1B worker terminated via email, received a lump-sum wire missing 401k and at least one paycheck, then was asked to sign a no-money-owed release, a scenario with both wage theft and visa status implications.
@bedobi: Switched from E-3 to H-1B before the $100k EO, now pursuing spouse-based green card with EAD/AP filed, asking about document-request frequency and timeline risk.
