Sophie Alcorn
Contributor
Sophie Alcorn is the founding father of Alcorn Immigration Legislation in Silicon Valley and 2019 World Legislation Consultants Awards’ “Legislation Agency of the Yr in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Companies.” She connects individuals with the companies and alternatives that broaden their lives.
Extra posts by this contributor
Ask Sophie: How do I transfer my startup to the US whereas my co-founders stay in India?
‘Ask Sophie’ e-book excerpt: A startup founder’s information to O-1A visas
Bestselling creator Sophie Alcorn, legal professional and founding father of Alcorn Immigration Legislation in Silicon Valley, CA, is an award-winning Licensed Specialist Lawyer in Immigration and Nationality Legislation by the State Bar Board of Authorized Specialization. Sophie is keen about transcending borders, increasing alternative, and connecting the world by practising compassionate, visionary, and skilled immigration regulation. Join with Sophie on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Pricey Sophie,
I’m a world scholar from India who will likely be eligible for STEM OPT beginning in January.
My plan has been to discover a method to make use of it for my tech startup, however finally, I have to shift to a piece visa as a result of I wish to be the CEO.
Can I bypass the entire H-1B visa factor by getting an O-1A visa? If sure, can I do it with only a bachelor’s diploma? What counts as extraordinary capability?
— Spirited STEM Scholar
Pricey Spirited,
I’m so excited to listen to you’re leaping into the function of a startup founder — and I’m so happy you’re planning forward! As all the time, I like to recommend you seek the advice of an immigration legal professional for steering. And observe your coronary heart as you contemplate your path to extraordinary capability; we’ll speak extra about this requirement under!
Sure — you may completely bypass the H-1B specialty occupation visa for the O-1A extraordinary capability visa! No one is ever “required” to get an H-1B, and plenty of routes can result in your inexperienced card. The O-1A usually aligns higher with the skills and experiences of startup founders than the H-1B.
It has no agency necessities as to schooling or wage — not like the H-1B — and your startup or agent can sponsor you for an O-1A. Simply needless to say the bar for qualifying for an O-1A is greater than it’s for the H-1B. That mentioned, since there’s a low barrier to entry for the annual H-1B lottery in March (at present firms pay the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies [USCIS] $10 per registration), guarantee your H-1B eligibility along with your immigration legal professional and contemplate pursuing it in parallel as a backup.
Let’s first look at establishing your startup to qualify for F-1 STEM OPT and O-1A.
Forming a startup
In case you are on common OPT and also you wish to file for an O-1A doubtlessly even earlier than STEM OPT, contemplate forming the authorized entity on your startup. Your company legal professional may help you identify one of the best ways to construction the corporate given your monetary (enterprise capital) targets and immigration necessities, which I’ll go into extra element on in a second.