My I-140 (for EB1A) was already approved, back in April 2019.
My I-485 (and I-765 and I-131) were filed around Oct 15, 2020 (last month), and I'm still waiting on the receipt notices. Just last week I saw the check debit my bank account, so I assume I'll get the receipt notices anytime now.
Getting a H-1B for your own start-up is quite straightforward if if you have more than one founder and you've raised some investment. You need to be able to show that you can be fired, so typically having <50% ownership and a functioning 3-person (or more) board who can control your actions is sufficient. You can get one of the other directors, or a co-founder (assuming they are in a position of power, such as CEO or Director or President) to sign off on the petition. They don't need to be a US resident, just an officer of the company.
For new companies, you need to be able to show enough bank balance for 1-2 years of salary (we had 300K in the bank when we applied for my visa).
For salary requirement, to start off with, don't list yourself as CEO or CTO in your first petition, as that greatly increases the salary you have to be paid, this may not make sense in the early days of the company. In reality, for the first 3 years, I was a solo-developer, so I simply listed myself as a software developer. 3 years later, once we had a team, and when my H1B came up for renewal, I listed myself as CTO, and had to pay myself 2x.
Just be careful to list the role that closely resembles what you actually do in the company, and while it maybe nice to call yourself CEO or CTO, in all likelihood, in the first couple years, you're not really functioning anywhere close to that capacity, so take advantage of that :)
H1B => EB-1a (assuming your credentials are in place) is also quite straightforward. EB-1a can be self-petitioned, so you don't even need the company to sign off. Just get a good lawyer (like Peter) and that'll be sufficient.
I'm a start-up founder, on a H1B, and I just filed my EB-1a-based I-485. My H1B expires end of March 2021. Do I need to renew my H1B, or can I simply use the AOS application to maintain status while the green card comes through? I imagine after my H1B expires, if I don't file for a renewal, I won't be able to work, unless my EAD comes through on time?
Under normal circumstances I'd renew my H1B, but given the insane salary requirements due to recent changes to the program, I need to pay myself upwards of 250K, and I just don't feel too good drawing that level of salary as a founder :)
Do you have any advice? Would USCIS relax the salary requirements for founders?
My I-140 (for EB1A) was already approved, back in April 2019.
My I-485 (and I-765 and I-131) were filed around Oct 15, 2020 (last month), and I'm still waiting on the receipt notices. Just last week I saw the check debit my bank account, so I assume I'll get the receipt notices anytime now.