Visas for Startup Founders and Early-Stage Startups

​Your startup is the reason you need a visa and the reason the visa is hard. There's no HR department to file for you, no decade-long track record to point at, and the only company that would sponsor you is the one you incorporated eight months ago.

​Founders have more options than they think. Some of them work best early — before the cap table, the board, and the payroll settle into a shape that closes doors. And the category you pick now decides what evidence you spend the next year building.

​Ana Senior, immigration attorney at Manifest Law, walks through:

• ​The pathways founders actually use — O-1A, EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, and a self-sponsored H-1B through your own company — and how they differ

• ​What your startup needs to look like to sponsor you: ownership, control, who signs the petition, and who has the authority to let you go

• ​Which extraordinary ability criteria founders tend to already meet — funding, press, critical roles, judging — and which ones take deliberate building

• ​What to start collecting at pre-seed and seed, so filing later isn't a scramble

​The earlier you start, the more time you have to strengthen your case. Bring your questions — we're leaving plenty of room for Q&A.

​RSVP now to save your spot!