Sophie Alcorn Podcast

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’m joined by Bobby Franklin, the President and CEO of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). For nearly 50 years, NVCA has been a strong advocate for the American entrepreneurial ecosystem. Bobby began his professional career working on Capitol Hill in the office of Senator David Pryor. He has a fascinating professional journey in government affairs and consultancy, managing different organizations and trade associations. Bobby recently became the chairman of the board of Venture Forward, a nonprofit launched by NVCA in 2020 to shape the future of the VC industry beyond public policy.  

In the last few years, the country's share of global venture capital dollars has dropped to about half, losing significant market share. From an economic policy standpoint, the U.S. needs to roll out the red carpet and make sure entrepreneurs – from wherever they are in the world – can come to the United States, so they can start and grow companies and experiment and try to build products and services.

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• How he found his way into public policy and venture capital
• Why trade associations exist
• Why U.S. immigration law is important and valuable to the NVCA
• The America COMPETES Act and its potential impact on immigration
• How startups become victims of unintended consequences

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

National Venture Capital Association

Venture Forward

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 73: International Entrepreneur Parole is Back!

• Episode 78: Parole Entry Process

• Episode 89: Advocating for International Startup Founders with Jeff Farrah of National Venture Capital Association

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook
• Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’m joined by my law partner Anita Koumriqian as we talk about love and immigration. We're talking about marriage-based options, including adjustment of status and the K-1 fiancé visa. Anita highly suggests that if you can go through a marriage-based option in good faith, then do that over the employment-based one. 

From an immigration standpoint, you can have two weddings as well –  one being a civil ceremony and the other, a larger wedding, whether time or finance was the issue at that time, and now you can do that. 

Regardless of how you're going to do it, take both weddings seriously, especially the legal ceremony. In the immigration's eyes, that's the date they care about. They want to know if you have taken your marriage seriously from the day you legally married and filed a green card application. Or whether you just did it as a show so you can hurry up and go through the green card process. 

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• Benefits of a marriage-based green card over an employee-based green card
• Basic requirements for marriage-based green card application
• How to prove marriage in good faith
• Adjustment of status: application, supporting documents, and complications
• Getting the green cards from your home country
• An overview of the K-1 fiancé visa
• Stories of people who went through the marriage-based green card process 

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 13: Show the Love: Family-based Alternatives for Technology Professionals

• Episode 49: Never Do This in Immigration – Family

• Episode 58: Engaged, Now What?

• Episode 92: Marrying a U.S. Citizen

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook

Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’m joined by Jen Holmstrom, the Associate Partner and Head of Platform Services at GGV Capital. With leaders and founders now having access to global talent, Jen believes we now live in the future of work and that companies need to be intentional in the kind of environment they provide to employees.

Based in Silicon Valley, Singapore, and China, GGV Capital is a VC firm and a $9.2-billion fund that invests across multiple sectors. In her role, Jen leads the talent and recruiting support for portfolio companies of the fund. She has also created an amazing leadership program called Founders + Leaders. Today, she talks about its curriculum and how she helps early-stage startup founders and companies from around the world create rapidly scaling, high-value startups across a number of verticals. 

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• Creating a platform team
• The impact of the Great Resignation on immigration
• The frustration around compensation
• Creating an environment employees want to work in – physically and virtually
• Looking to intrinsic motivation for retention
• Leadership management best practices 
• Psychological contract vs. psychological safety 

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

GGV Capital 

https://www.ggvc.com/

Founders + Leaders

https://www.ggvc.com/for-founders/ 

Books:

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham

https://www.amazon.com/First-Break-All-Rules-Differently/dp/1531865208 

The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

https://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Manager-Kenneth-Blanchard/dp/0425093980 

Living the Remote Dream by Darren Murph

https://www.amazon.com/Living-Remote-Dream-Setting-Advancing/dp/1506192130

Redefining HR by Lars Schmidt

https://www.amazon.com/Redefining-HR-Transforming-Business-Performance/dp/1789667046

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 16: E-2 Visa for Founders and Employees

• Episode 40: Due Diligence and Founder Immigration for VCs

• Episode 41: Investing in Immigrant Entrepreneurs with VC Carmen Pallafox

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook

Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’ll be giving an update on the H-1B visa and the lottery. If you want to participate, and you don't already have an employer, whether you're an individual or a company and you don't already have a law firm, you need to get moving right now.

It's important to avail yourselves of the opportunities to participate because all of this takes time even though the lottery is electronic, which has been a wonderful change and improvement. But setting things up takes time and creating an attorney-client relationship takes time.  Whether it's a startup or a large, established organization, getting company details takes time. So you want to get moving right away. Get this done as soon as possible to have a chance at participating. Make sure everything is correct and that you qualify so you have a chance to participate and take responsibility for your future. 

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• Creating USCIS online accounts
• Timing: registration, filing, and selection 
• Cap gap for the F-1 international student status
• H-1B job titles
• Legal and government fees
• Companies with the most approved petitions
• Denial rates

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 9: What Makes a Strong H-1B Petition

• Episode 11: Your Startup’s First H-1B

• Episode 104: H-1B FY2023 Lottery Planning

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook
• Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, we're joined by Kori, our associate attorney, as we’re taking a New Year's approach to immigration through these immigration must-dos for the new year and things you can do to be more successful with reaching your New Year's resolutions. It's also important to talk to an attorney because they can help you devise your strategic plan as well as your backup options. 

For instance, if your goal is family reunification, there's always that delicate balancing act of juggling the work visa route or the marriage immigration route. And sometimes, it's better to go as a spouse in that you can do whatever you want from a work perspective, once you arrive. For people considering starting tech startups, there are a lot of questions that they need to consider as well. Ultimately, these strategic plans are often specific to the individual, their situation, what their options are, their timelines, and their goals.

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• Why should people talk to an immigration lawyer
• Options for family reunification goals
• Keeping your documents organized
• Cultivating a support network
• How to be proactive through the immigration process
• Making sure all your taxes are sorted out

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter
• Study: https://www.alcorn.law/immigration/study-finds-strong-public-support-for-highly-skilled-immigrants/ 

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 49: Never Do This in Immigration – Family

• Episode 52: Never Do This in Immigration – Business

• Episode 100: ILT’s 100th Episode Celebration!

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook
• Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’ll discuss how to set up your company for immigration success – both for yourself and for your future team members. If you are an immigrant and you're new to entrepreneurship in the United States, or you know some people from your founding team or people you want to hire that will be immigrants, it is important to set up some basic things in your company. That way, the visas and green cards your company petitions for will get approved. 

For somebody thinking about what type of non-immigrant visa or green card process they should embark on, a common answer they get is to do an H-1B transfer. However, there are a lot of things that could and should go into that consultative advisory process because you don't want to be spending all these resources if you're barking up the wrong tree. So before you invest your time, money, and resources into the process, you need to know how to mitigate risks and define your best strategy.

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• How to structure your company and how to work with experts
• What is preferred in the technology scene by investors in the United States
• Different considerations for setting up your company 
• Different considerations for your company's immigration policies
• What types of visas your potential team members might benefit from the most
• How you can set up your company to be compatible with those eventual visa applications and have the strongest chance for success

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 07: Immigration Best Practices – Part II

• Episode 39: Startup Law with Attorney Lindsey Mignano

• Episode 105: Immigration Pitfalls for Startup Founders

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook
• Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’ll discuss the immigration pitfalls that every startup founder should avoid. 

If you are international or if you need to hire early-stage employees at your company who are from around the world, it is essential to be careful and strategic with your actions to ensure everybody critical to your company can live and work in the United States, at least in the short term, although many people also want to be able to stay in the United States long-term. 

Those are two different sets of parameters you need to consider so you can optimize this task and use the opportunity to take charge of your immigration and support the immigration needs of your highly valued early-stage team members. 

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• Canadians doing PERM by themselves
• Talking to your legal team about the process
• Getting clear on what timeline applies to you
• Your startup structure and specific visa requirements
• Need for a strategic plan based on your goals and options
• The risks of doing unauthorized work on visitor status.

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 16: E-2 Visa for Founders and Employees

• Episode 19: Australian Visas Including E-3

• Episode 20: TN Visas and Status for Canadian and Mexican Citizens

• Episode 21: Intracompany Transfers – L-1 Visas and EB-1C Green Cards for Multinational Managers, Executives, and People with Specialized Knowledge
• Episode 97: How to Build an Immigration Program with Erin Teter and Lydia Buurma 
• Episode 57: 11 Tips for Companies to Support Valued Humans 

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook
• Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’ll discuss planning for the H-1B lottery. Yes, it’s that season again! And it is coming up in March. If you are looking for a job that might sponsor you for H-1B or if you're an employer looking to sponsor someone, I will be giving you some pre-lottery actions and your document assembly to-do list to help you get prepared. 

There's so much hope that comes with this lottery as long as you have the right things in place. If you are an intending beneficiary who wants to be sponsored by a company for an H-1B, just start your meditation practice now since we can't control the future. You might be selected or not, so you need to figure out a way to deal with both possibilities. Also, as an employer, you need to mitigate the risk of the process to be able to secure your top talents the ability to live and work legally in the United States. 

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• The H-1B lottery: guidelines, updates, and filing dates
• Qualifications: the employer, the role, and the candidate
• Defining the employer-employee relationship
• Registration guidelines and selection process
• Requirements and documents you need to prepare
• Other things to consider before seeking an H-1B 
• Some workarounds and alternative routes

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 11: Your Startup’s First H-1B

• Episode 09: What Makes a Strong H-1B Petition

• Episode 44: 7 of the Most Startup-Friendly Visas Explained

• Episode 99: H-1B Planning for FY2023

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook

Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’m joined by ​​Jamais Cascio, a futurist and distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future, a nonprofit group based in Palo Alto, where he determines plausible outcomes for the future. Also a notable speaker and writer, Jamais focuses on the intersection of emerging technologies, environmental dilemmas, and cultural transformation. 

Futurists are like historians in reverse. They don’t make predictions but rather tease out the broader picture of consequences. For instance, futurists have been talking about the pandemic (ever since Jamais has been doing this work for 25 years) as this big potential issue that could hit at any time. Today, Jamais gives us a picture of the future of work and immigration and some questions to ask ourselves and mindset changes we need to do as we're dealing with these radical changes we're facing in a chaotic world.  

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• What is foresight work?
• The future of work, technology, and economy
• The future of immigration and questions to think about
• The concept of “degrowth” and rethinking economic models
• The BANI model and how to respond to the radical changes in the world
• Understanding human connection as the core of the future

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

The BANI Framework: “Facing the Age of Chaos”

https://medium.com/@cascio/facing-the-age-of-chaos-b00687b1f51d

Open the Future

http://www.openthefuture.com

“Innovation and Creation in a World of Chaos” Talk for Brazil Innovation Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCmRDQovvXY

Institute for the Future

https://www.iftf.org/home/ 

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 63: Immigration, Global Mobility, Working from Home, and the Future of Work

• Episode 56: Global Innovation with Tim Draper

• Episode 57: 11 Tips for Companies to Support Valued Humans

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook
• Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.

In this week’s Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast, I’m joined by my law partner Anita Koumriqian as we talk about marriage, adjustment of status, and green cards in a holiday proposal theme. 

Getting married to a United States citizen is the fastest and easiest way for somebody to get a green card. If you are in the U.S. on an H-1B visa or an O-1A visa, and you're thinking of getting a green card based on your work accomplishments or patents, you can definitely do that. But getting a marriage-based green card if you're in a relationship with a U.S. citizen will be so much less work for you – that’s if you don't have that fear of putting additional pressure on your relationship.

Please share this episode with companies, HR and recruiting professionals, startup founders, international talent, or anyone who can benefit from it. Sign up for the Alcorn monthly newsletter to receive the latest immigration news and issues. Reach out to us if we can help you determine the best immigration options for yourself, your company, your employees or prospective employees, or your family whether in the U.S. or abroad.

• Marriage-based Green Cards: process, interview prep, & fees 
• Why people are doing two weddings in relation to a green card application
• Why the U.S. citizen's family must be aware of the marriage
• Guidelines for international travel pending your application
• Getting a combo card and how long it takes to get one (pre and post-COVID)

Don’t miss my upcoming conversations with top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, startup founders, professors, futurists, and thought leaders on Immigration Law for Tech Startups. Subscribe to this podcast here or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or whatever your favorite platform is. As always, we welcome your rating and review of this podcast. We appreciate your feedback!

Alcorn Immigration Law:

• Subscribe to the monthly Alcorn newsletter

• Immigration Law for Tech Startups podcast:

• Episode 49: Never Do This in Immigration – Family
• Episode 64: Immigration, Prenups & Divorce with Lydia Hsu and Kara Foster

• Episode 92: Marrying a U.S. Citizen

• Immigration Options for Talent, Investors, and Founders
• Immigration Law for Tech Startups eBook

Extraordinary Ability Bootcamp course for best practices for securing the O-1A visa, EB-1A green card, or the EB-2 NIW (National Interest Waiver) green card—the top options for startup founders. Use promotion code ILTS for 20% off the enrollment fee.