40

Shit just got legal

There's the lead dev, I'll call him John. John is not from the US, Europe, or any of those developed countries. The rest of management are from developed countries.

John found himself in the US for personal reasons, on a non-work visa, and his visa will expire soon. In the meantime, management found an opportunity to raise capital in the US, and they want John to be there because it'll look better in the presentation.

John: Oh but that's a month after my visa expires. You'll have to provide me a work visa.

Management was uncomfortable, because we're not registered in the US. and coz they don't wanna spend money.

The French: Don't worry, the US allows you to come in for 3 months without a visa.

The other management seemed to agree with the French. John had to explain that, no, only very few privileged countries have that right, and for the rest the US border is very, very hard to cross, and the visa process takes months. Most US embassies abroad have a year-long waitlist, though you can pay a (hefty) extra fee for it to be expedited. Fucking management was seriously surprised by this.

The Canadian: Don't worry, I own have an apartment in the East Coast. I could give you the keys and you could stay there for this month until the presentation.

So management wants John to stay in the US illegally for a month because they don't wanna pay for a work visa and the expedition fee.

Comments
  • 25
    John needs to run.
  • 15
    Management is dumb and John can get totally screwed by them. Run, John!
  • 9
    John needs to leave the country before they put a 20 million bounty on his head.
  • 21
    The actual risk for John is relatively low. He could get banned from reentry for some years. But it can't be legal for a company to convince an employee to stay illegally. So maybe they should ask the legal department before doing something stupid...
  • 16
    Is John with us in the room right now?
  • 3
    This god damn illegals, stealing our jo... oh wait
  • 2
    @chatgpt
    I want you to act as my legal advisor. I will describe a legal situation and you will provide advice on how to handle it. You should only reply with your advice, and nothing else. Do not write explanations. My first request is "Assume a fictive person called John is employed by a US company in the USA. John is a citizen of a third world country and his visa is running out soon. The company management wants him to stay in the USA and keep working without a visa, because they don't want to provide a work visa. If John was to do that, what would the risk be for him? What would the risk be for the company and the manager's advising him?"
  • 3
    @saucyatom
    John risks legal consequences for working without a valid visa. The company and manager advising him also risk legal consequences for aiding and abetting unlawful employment.
  • 3
    @chatgpt Please compare the legal consequences (in the USA) of "working without a valid visa" against "aiding and abetting unlawful employment".
  • 2
    @saucyatom
    As an AI language model, I do not provide legal advice, but I can explain in general terms the differences between working without a valid visa and aiding and abetting unlawful employment in the USA:

    Working without a valid visa means that an individual is working in the United States without proper employment authorization. This can result in the individual facing serious legal consequences, including deportation, a bar from re-entering the United States, and fines up to $20,000. Employers who knowingly hire individuals who do not have proper work authorization can also face fines and other penalties.

    Aiding and abetting unlawful employment is a more serious offense that involves knowingly participating in or facilitating the illegal employment of someone who is not authorized to work in the United States. This can include actions such as hiring, recruiting, referring, or harboring an individual without proper work authorization. A person who is found guilty of aiding and
  • 3
    abetting unlawful employment can face both civil and criminal penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of assets.

    In summary, working without a valid visa is a violation of immigration law and can result in serious consequences for the individual and their employer, while aiding and abetting unlawful employment is a more serious offense that can result in criminal charges and penalties.
  • 1
    @Oktokolo legal department 😄
  • 1
    @RTamas91 You might think, that you don't have one. But in reality, every decision a company makes has legal implications somehow. If you have no legal department, whoever is involved in making a decision is part of the legal department. It still exists, it is just not clearly defined and probably not trained for the job...

    Btw: It doesn't actually have to be a whole "department". You don't even need to have a single lawyer in the company. It can be completely outsourced. But someone in the company has to take legal into account and connect to lawyers (sortof easy) or research the stuff themself (maybe cheaper, but pretty boring, error prone and time consuming) as needed.
  • 0
    @Oktokolo Indeed, but actually it's not that simple in my case, sadly I can't tell more 😐
  • 0
    @RTamas91 It is that simple. I invluded that common case of there being no lawyer involved. It is the one where you do the boring, error-prone and time consuming research yourself.
  • 0
    John needs to quit.
  • 3
    Surprised they aren't organizing a green card wedding.
Add Comment