How do I help a key employee stuck in Kafkaesque immigration limbo?
I'm an engineering manager at a mature YC company. I work with an extremely talented and hard working machine learning engineer in Armenia. He received a Special Talents permit to work in the United States over a year ago.
Then his visa was abruptly frozen. He found out at the airport, with is wife, when he tried to board his flight, after moving out and packing everything they owned.
The Department of State has been reviewing his case for nearly a year. They will not release any details about the review.
As his employer, how can we expedite his processing? He's critical to my company's success.
We've tried writing our Congressman and Senators, but it hasn't helped.
Does anyone know someone pro-business in the current executive administration who can help? Since you are in a mature YC company, I assume you guys have an immigration lawyer. If not, get one. If it's not a lawyer you are looking for, ask your founders to talk to YC I am sure YC people can get time with the administration. I agree. @OP: Take a look at https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts and you may want to contact dang hn@ycombnator.com . But in this case it may be better to ask info@ycombnator.com (or whatever is the secret email for founders). Serj Tankian and the armenian community may be able to help You are better off generating media coverage about how this is hurting an American business, assuming you're prepared to get hate from groypers and MAGA boomers for not hiring an American. The entire ethos of this administration is centered on not helping people. Or relocate the business to an immigration friendly jurisdiction. Korea maybe? I’m especially keen to know how you can describe this as “Kafkaesque”. Is your coworker sending you photographs of his cockroach carapace? Is his family keeping him locked in his room? Is he only able to communicate via gesticulations of antennae and disturbing screeches? What an interesting case. Perhaps if we work hard enough, we can collectively blame the Trump administration for a dramatic uptick in Kafkaesque cockroach metamorphoses, worldwide!