Getting a green card

What are the pathways to permanent residency?

Growing up in Canada, I ranted about wanting to move to San Francisco constantly. There was nothing I wanted more for 7 years: to be part of the tech scene.

It's hard to articulate to Americans how elusive tech entrepreneurship can feel when you're living in another country with no tech scene. Especially 10 years ago.

I probably spent a hundred hours researching U.S. visas. I exchanged dozens of emails with immigration attorneys.

I kept bumping up against the same conclusion that unless I had a million to invest into a business, or was a celebrity, I only had two pathways to get a green card:

• Work for an American business for 3-4 years while staying on an H1-B visa in the hope I get it upgraded to a green card afterward.
• Stay in the U.S. on a temporary O-1 visa that I renew every two years until I get married to an American.

Neither sat well with me.

For one, I'm not comfortable building a new life — meeting new friends, buying a home, orienting myself in a new city — with the looming risk of my visa failing renewal then being sent back to Canada with 30 days' notice.

(I'm risk tolerant when it comes to business — because I can always start something new and I enjoy doing so — but I am incredibly risk averse when it comes to being jerked around over living in the city I've always wanted to live in.)

And even if I was comfortable taking that risk, I'm not willing to work for someone else. (Other than my stint at Webflow, a wonderful company.) I've been self-employed for years and wasn't going to change my career direction for 4 years so that I could possibly get a green card.

Plus, if I hated the job, leaving or being fired would put the green card in jeopardy.

So, for years, I just stayed in Canada. Longing for the U.S... Wanting to be around successful entrepreneurs. Wanting to grab dinner with the people whose work I admired. Wanting access to capital. Wanting access to the American catalogues on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu. Wanting better weather. Wanting better food.

(No offense, Canada. To each their own.)

The turning point

A friend I've known since I was 3 got a green card.

It was out of the blue.

What the heck, Greg? I was just talking to you in a café in Montreal. You aren't a celebrity, you didn't invest millions, and you don't work for an American company.

You weren't even living in the U.S. when you got your approval. You were next to me in Montreal. And, so I asked:

Greg, explain.

He responded in his typically cool way:

Oh, it's an EB-1 visa. StumbleUpon's lawyers figured out how to get it for me when they acquired my startup.

Oh, so you got it because you're now a StumbleUpon employee?

No, it's independent of that. I could have gotten the EB-1 green card without StumbleUpon's acquisition. It was just their lawyers who figured it out for me.

My face: 🤨

Go for the EB-1

The EB-1 is the permanent version of the temporary O-1 visa. Both require you to demonstrate to the U.S. government that you're a notable figure in your narrowly-defined field — by satisfying at least three of ten possible "worthiness" criteria.

The two visas share the same criteria, but the EB-1 requires a higher degree of noteworthiness to satisfy each.

Here they are:

• Evidence of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence.
• Evidence of membership in associations in the field, which demand outstanding achievement of their members.
• Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media.
• Evidence of judging the work of others, either individually or on a panel.
• Evidence of original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field.
• Evidence of authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media.
• Evidence that work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases.
• Evidence of performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations.
• Evidence of high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field.
• Evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts.

Read up on the EB-1. It's changed the lives of several of my friends.