Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives.
Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.
“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.”
I’m so worried and stressed about all the layoffs! I’m safe for now, but it has made me realize I need to take control of my own destiny. Are there any visas or green cards that I can apply for on my own without relying on my employer?
— Silicon Stressed
Dear Stressed,
I applaud you for taking the first step toward determining your own immigration destiny — and gaining peace of mind.
Let me take your question about green cards first, since recent developments impact the timing for the two green cards that individuals can apply for on their own: the EB-1A extraordinary ability green card and the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver). Individuals can apply for either the EB-1A or the EB-2 NIW without an employer sponsor or even a job offer.
Last week, the U.S. Department of State released its Visa Bulletin for December 2022, which shows which green card applications can move forward based on the number of green cards available in each category, and the number available to individuals born in certain countries with high levels of immigration to the U.S., such as India and China.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) releases a monthly report that clarifies whether it will accept adjustment of status applications — the final step in the green card process, along with an interview — based on the State Department’s Final Action dates or the Dates for Filing. The USCIS December report, released last week, states USCIS will accept I-485 adjustment of status applications based on the Dates for Filing.
If you are eligible to apply for an EB-1A green card, you should file ASAP — and file your I-140 green card application and your I-485 adjustment of status concurrently. The reason for the urgency is that even though the EB-1 green card category remains current in December for all individuals regardless of where they were born, that’s expected to change for individuals born in India or China.
Due to high demand for EB-1 green cards and the decrease in green card numbers available this fiscal year compared to the previous one, the State Department is projecting that it will impose cut-off dates for individuals born in India and China. If that applies to you, speak to your immigration attorney now about moving forward quickly.
Each fiscal year, 140,000 employment-based green cards are available, plus any unused green cards from the family-based categories from the previous fiscal year. This fiscal year (FY 2023), USCIS estimates there will be 197,000 green cards available compared to last fiscal year (FY 2022), when there were 281,507 green cards. I’ve long advocated for increasing the cap on the number of employment-based green cards available each year and eliminating the per-country cap on employment-based green cards, both of which require action from Congress.
Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives.
Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.
“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.”
I’m an entrepreneur working on building up my qualifications for the EB-1A green card (or maybe an O-1A).
Toward that goal, I’ve been trying to get media coverage about my startup, but it’s competitive out there! Any advice?
— Craving Coverage
Dear Craving,
Thanks for reaching out! Yesterday was the six-year anniversary of my law firm, and shortly after I founded it, I set a personal challenge: to achieve the level of success that would qualify me (if I needed a U.S. green card) to meet the EB-1A criteria as a person of “extraordinary ability.” What right did I have to expect this of my clients if I couldn’t achieve it myself?
Starting from scratch (my kids were young, I had taken a multiyear career break, and I didn’t have a network in Silicon Valley), it took me about two years to reach this level of success (and it was also a great marketing plan for my firm).
So, I know this from experience: Achieving the level of success required for an EB-1A or O-1A is totally possible. And remember, you only need to meet at least three of the criteria to qualify!
The key is to be strategic about getting media coverage. Know the audience of the trade publication or major media outlet where you’re seeking coverage and figure out the type of stories that get their interest.
Generally, reporters like to be the first to break news or to get an exclusive story, so consider offering a scoop about a significant multimillion-dollar deal involving your company or a story idea, such as an emerging trend in your field or a unique perspective on a big issue, to one reporter to start. If that reporter isn’t interested, move on to another.
One service that can help technology entrepreneurs is EllisX, which helps founders get coverage for their startups in articles and podcasts and secure speaking engagements. Or you can try to cultivate a relationship on your own with a journalist who writes about your field. Offer yourself as a resource to explain new developments or challenging issues in your field. I took this approach when I began working on meeting the EB-1A criteria, and I soon found myself being quoted as an expert on immigration in publications around the globe — and that led to me writing this weekly column!
Remember, for O-1A and EB-1A immigration purposes, newsletters and press releases that were never published in a major publication, as well as articles in student-run or university publications, usually don’t count.
Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives.
Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.
“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.”
Now that the U.S. has a new president coming in whose policies are more welcoming to immigrants, I am considering coming to the U.S. to expand my company after COVID-19. However, I’m struggling with the morass of information online that has bits and pieces of visa types and processes.
Can you please share an overview of the U.S. immigration system and how it works so I can get the big picture and understand what I’m navigating?
— Resilient in Romania
Dear Resilient:
We welcome you to the U.S.! Our country greatly benefits from international entrepreneurs like you who expand here to innovate, create jobs and bolster the global economy.
I followed in my father’s footsteps to become an immigration attorney to fulfill my personal mission of helping people live the life of their dreams in the United States. A big part of making that happen is to give individuals the information and the tools they need to clearly set their immigration goals and to reach them quickly.
Check out my recent podcast where I provide a brief, high-level overview of the U.S. immigration system. The United States is a nation founded by immigrants. The immigration system is based on many of the same values and principles enshrined in our Constitution.
In 1965, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, the foundation of all of our immigration laws today. Although some amendments to the act have been made over more than 50 years since then, the immigration system still operates under the same framework created back then. One of the things I appreciate about this framework is that there are so many legal routes to immigrate to the U.S. that are available.
There are many visa and green card categories you can use to chart your course. As a creative lawyer with plenty of lead time before somebody moves to the U.S., it provides many options to work with. Law doesn’t just place restrictions on people; it can be used as a tool for creation.
So, even though the system has its challenges and can be greatly improved, successfully navigating the system is doable. Everyone from individuals to founders, CEOs at startups and HR and Global Mobility at giant companies, families and couples in love — you just need to know the right questions to ask and the information to empower you to find the right immigration path.
My father used to always say there are five main areas of immigration law:
Business immigration
Family immigration
Asylum
Appeals
Removal and deportation
I have worked on cases in each of these areas, but my firm focuses primarily on business and family immigration. Business immigration encompasses both visas and green cards, whereas family immigration only involves green cards that are based on an individual’s relationship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (green card holders), including fiance visa and different pathways to green cards.
At a high level, the U.S. offers two types of visas: nonimmigrant visas and immigrant visas. Immigrant visas are also called green cards.
Nonimmigrant visas allow for a temporary stay in the U.S. Each nonimmigrant visa that allows its holder to work in the U.S. requires an employer to sponsor the individual and hire them after approval and arrival. Each nonimmigrant is designed to allow an individual with certain skills, education or expertise that will benefit the employer, the employer’s industry or the U.S in general, such as a multinational executive (L-1) an individual in a specialty occupation (H-1B) or with extraordinary ability (O-1).
Some nonimmigrant visas are based on the candidate’s home country or whether the individual’s home country has a trade agreement with the U.S. Each work visa has different requirements for renewals. I discuss these and other startup-friendly visas and green cards in more detail in a podcast on the most startup-friendly visas and green cards.
A green card allows its holder to live and work permanently in the U.S. and is the first step to obtaining U.S. citizenship. Some nonimmigrant visas lead directly to a green card. However, many do not. So it’s important to be creative and strategic from the beginning of your U.S. immigration journey.
Most employment-based green cards require an employer sponsor. The two exceptions are the EB-1A green card for extraordinary ability and the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) for exceptional ability. Individuals can apply for these green cards on their own without an employer sponsor or job offer. We cover both of these green cards, as well as the O-1 nonimmigrant visa in Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp, an online course that takes a deep dive into the O-1A nonimmigrant visa, and the EB-1A and EB-2 NIW green cards, for which you may be eligible to apply.
Most international founders and entrepreneurs typically qualify for an E-2, L-1 or O-1 visa, or an EB-1A, EB-1C or EB-2 NIW green card. Take a look at the immigration options chart we created that outlines the most common visa and green card categories that apply to founders, investors and talent.
In addition to the various visa and green card options, you should know that you can apply for a visa or green card while living outside the U.S. or while living inside the U.S. Living outside the U.S., you can apply for a visa or green card at a U.S. embassy or consulate, which is called consular processing. Once living in the U.S., you can apply for change of status to another visa or adjustment of status to a green card. For more information about specific visas and green cards and how to navigate the U.S. immigration system, check out my weekly podcast.
Even during COVID, I’m confident you’ll find your way to the U.S. to begin your journey of expanding your company. I wish you good health and much success in 2021!
Best regards,
Sophie
Have a question? Ask it here. We reserve the right to edit your submission for clarity and/or space. The information provided in “Dear Sophie” is general information and not legal advice. For more information on the limitations of “Dear Sophie,” please view our full disclaimer here. You can contact Sophie directly at Alcorn Immigration Law.
Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives.
Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.
“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.”
I’m in people ops and our team is trying to plan ahead for immigration in the new year and beyond.
What’s ahead for U.S. visas and green cards?
—Ready in Redwood City
Dear Ready:
Ha! I love it. Well, although I don’t have a crystal ball (yet), there’s a lot of opportunity, predictability and security that we can anticipate for immigration ahead.
Our U.S. immigration policy will experience a tremendous growth spurt in the coming months as Trump completes his regulatory agenda, litigation culminates and Biden takes office on January 20. The changes I’m tracking will incentivize U.S. companies to hire and retain top global talent and will make it easier for them to do so. There are also going to be increased opportunities for families and founders, strengthening the U.S. and Silicon Valley tech startup communities.
We can anticipate that the first 100 days of President-elect Biden’s term will focus on undoing many Trump-era immigration changes. Some of this will happen by executive order (although probably not tweets!) and some of it will be required to follow the procedures set forth in law through the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations.
Following procedures to rescind or amend rules already put into place — even on an expedited basis — takes time to allow for adequate review and public comments. We can anticipate that due process will unfold to effectuate these changes.
Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives.
Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.
“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.”
The last 24 hours have been a nail-biter; I feel powerless and I’m angry that we’ve come to this. I’m worried things won’t improve and I’m confused about where we even stand.
Sometimes I just feel so very, very tired of the struggle. I am just so ready to let go. I want to live in a world where we can create harmony, peace and opportunity for all. Can I still find that in the United States?
— Wanting in Walnut Creek
Dear Wanting,
I hear you.
The good news is that there is great potential, even as the world watches the U.S. presidential election results. If anything, what the last four years have taught me is that two clichés are really true: necessity is the mother of invention, and, where there is a will, there is a way. I can relate to many folks around the world because I know what it’s like to have the world of Silicon Valley feel so close, yet so far away, at a time when I felt powerless to make a difference.
Looking back over the past four years, amazing things have been possible for our clients and my team at Alcorn Immigration Law. I founded the firm out of my kitchen just years ago when my kids were toddlers. I would look out my kitchen window hand-washing tiny baby dishes. I can still remember the feeling of the suds on my fingers as I gazed longingly at the tall building on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View where 500 Startups used to sit on the top floor. YC was just down the street.
I felt so powerless. I desperately wanted to make the world a better place, and reaching the world of Silicon Valley, even though it was just past my backyard, seemed like getting to Mars.
From those humble beginnings to now, as I founded and bootstrapped Alcorn Immigration Law on my own journey of becoming a single mom, I know what’s possible, even during the last four years of the Trump administration. We’ve had amazing success — claiming thousands of victories in supporting companies, people and families to live and work legally in the United States. If I was able to grow my firm during the last four years, I know that it’s possible for anybody to follow their heart and succeed. It’s our human essence to long to be a creator in this world, and anybody can and deserves to make a difference.
And here is what else I know: immigration law is created by acts of Congress and signed into law by the president. Mere tweets may be intended to try to bend the rules, but they cannot break them. That is what democracy is about.
In democracy, we have agreed to abide by basic laws, such as the inviolable dignity of the human being and that we want to agree on procedures for how we make decisions, like the process of passing a law about immigration. Democracy is not about majority tyranny. Democracy is about the fact that we uphold a few principles and we agreed on a decision-making process. When Trump ignores our basic laws and he ignores our legal processes, democracy is in peril.
But democracy does not need to be disrupted, it only requires small adjustments to thrive. In any group it is possible to make jointly supported decisions, taking the needs and resources of all into consideration. “Although the world is complex and decision making is complex, the components of decision making are simple,” according to Richard Graf, founder of K-i-E. Simple tools like the DecisionMaker can allow a miracle to happen — in an environment of openness and anonymity, we can all safely share our needs and concerns so that proposals can be formed based on collective best practices, knowledge, experience, intelligence and intuition. Even if it’s a complex situation, the way forward can immediately become clear.
And in our democracy, the paths to live and work in the U.S. will always remain viable, even if we need to remove a branch or navigate around a new boulder. Here at Alcorn, despite the furor and fear-mongering present in the world surrounding immigration, we are continually securing real victories for our clients. Not a client yet? Global founders can still create a startup, pitch it to investors and secure pathways to live and work legally in the United States with visas, green cards and citizenship.
So I know this and will repeat: Whatever the election results, there will still be many ways for people to legally navigate the U.S. immigration process and access the opportunity and security of life here. For more insight on these ways, please join my Election Results Webinar next week.
In the meantime, here are my thoughts on how the election results will affect the future of U.S. immigration:
Looking ahead, if Biden takes the victory, he has pledged to undo all Trump-era immigration regulations in the first 100 days and support comprehensive immigration reform. He promised to promote immigrant entrepreneurship, which could finally mean a startup visa! He also wants to speed up naturalization, rescind the Muslim travel bans, pass legislation to expand the number of H-1Bs, increase the amount of employment-based green cards, exempt international STEM PhD graduates from needing to await a priority date, create a new type of green card to promote regional economic development and support immigrant entrepreneur incubators.
Alternatively, we can expect that a Trump administration would continue restricting immigration, leading to litigation and judges deciding the fate of many recent policies. We can foresee a continued COVID freeze on green card interviews at consulates.
Also, DHS recently announced its intent to remove the randomness from the H-1B lottery and prioritize the annual H-1B selection process from highest to lowest wage starting in spring 2021. I’m sure there will be litigation about this; in the meantime, Alcorn Immigration Law continues to recommend that all employers proceed with registering employees and candidates in the lottery as usual. These details will take time to shake out and we don’t want anybody to lose a chance at being selected.
In other updates, immigration is just continuing along and there is actually some great news for folks: The State Department recently released the November Visa Bulletin and it stayed the same from October. (If you think your priority date is current or may be current soon, please contact your attorney as soon as possible to discuss filing your I-485 this month to avoid the possibility of retrogression in December!)
And if you need the freedom to build your startup, but were told that you don’t yet qualify for an O-1A visa, EB-1A or EB-2 NIW green card, you can join me in Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp with promo code DEARSOPHIE to receive 20% off.
We’re optimistic about the future. Life always offers us opportunities to grow through contrast and uncertainty, and we remain passionate about our mission to create greater freedom, empowerment, knowledge and love in the world.
Sophie
Have a question? Ask it here. We reserve the right to edit your submission for clarity and/or space. The information provided in “Dear Sophie” is general information and not legal advice. For more information on the limitations of “Dear Sophie,” please view our full disclaimer here. You can contact Sophie directly at Alcorn Immigration Law.
