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Ask HN: Visa advice for a UK guy to live in SF for a year

4 points by dubeye ↗ HN
I'm from the UK. My news year resolution (fireworks are going off now!) is to move to SF Bay area for 6-12 months. And possibly get involved in a business over there. How can I achieve this?

I have modest funds of around $400k in cash set aside to invest in this new venture. I also have a UK based business which is close to passive that earns me about $150k pa.

My dream is to rent a flat in SF, just hang out, get networking, going to conferences, just generally soaking up the atmosphere over the seasons as a local would, and scope out opportunities to either invest or start something up.

My main problem is that I am eligible for the VWP which allows me 3 months. And I don't have a good reason for wanting more than 3 months. My understanding is that a B visa would be denied for this reason.

So I'm in the early stages of looking at E2 etc and even hiring a lawyer..... But I thought I'd post here first in case anyone has relevant anecdotes or experience.

8 comments

[ 3.9 ms ] story [ 30.2 ms ] thread
hackerboos
Honestly I'd enter on the VWP and fly back to the UK after 3 months then fly back to the US to get 6 months. That's the easiest way but you could be denied re-entry if you can't satisfy the border agents that you don't intend to immigrate (return air tickets and other evidence helps convince them otherwise).

With your funds though, I would have thought that you would qualify for B-1 especially if you book conferences in advance with breaks that span longer than the 90 days.

If you apply and are accepted the B-1 then it's valid for 10 years and allows you to stay for 3-6 months.

alain94040
Talk to an immigration lawyer, but if you have an existing real business (with real revenue) and you really want to stay much longer than 3 months, then E2 would be great. I still recommend you move for 3 months on the VWP, see how much you really want to stay, then if you do, file for E2.
dubeye
I don't really understand how an E2 works if starting a new company.

Yes the company has approx $700k real revenue.

So getting started, could be as simple as paying a few hundred dollars to incorporate a company in the USA, and redirecting $150k of revenue through the new company. (easy to do as it's an online company).

Or am I grossly oversimplifying this?

alain94040
The E2 would be to explore opening a US branch of your existing company, not to start a brand new, unrelated company.

The nice thing with the E2 is that once you have it, you are allowed to work on multiple things at once (unlike an H1-B or L1 for instance).

falsestprophet
Be careful with the VWP. I'm an American (for context I'm white) and recently tried to the same thing in the UK. Specifically, I wanted to work on my software business in London for a little less than three months. Just because.

The UK Border Force wasn't having any of it. I spent a night in an immigration detention facility (which is broadly speaking a prison) and was sent back on the next flight.

For context: The border force found a receipt for registration as an Irish citizen in my luggage, which they interpreted as a sign I never intended to return to the US [1] [2].

US immigration is at least as severe and our immigration prisons are probably not any fun.

Get a visa from the embassy if you are planning an usual trip even if you are not required to get one, because neither the US or the UK is required to let anyone in.

[1] The irony that Irish citizens are entitled to live anywhere in the European Union was not lost on anyone during these proceedings.

[2] But they also interpreted a card from my aunt that said "have fun on your trip" as a sign that I intended to abandon my life in the US. They are really imaginative people.

dubeye
you were detained on a first visit? That's unlucky, are you sure you didn't accidentally admit to intending to work or something like that?
_p6xs
That was my first time visiting the UK.

I told them I intended to work on my company and they weren't bothered by that. They were mostly concerned that I didn't have a job elsewhere that I would have to go back to.

But you are right, it is a matter of luck.

Getting a visa may save you a lot of trouble. You really don't want to spend a night in a California immigration facility with MS-13 gang members [1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-13

dubeye
That sucks. I wouldn't have guessed that the UK were worried about people leaving the largest economy in the world to live in England!

I think to play the VWP game, you need to have weighty social and economic ties to your home country. A full time job is good. Luckily my business has deep roots in the UK so I think I should be ok.