Ask HN: Does any company hire engineers on part-time H1Bs?

4 points by impish19 4 years ago | 2 comments

I used to work for a FANG-ish big tech company on an H1B and wanted to focus 100% on my pet projects. This left me with no other choice than to quit my job and move out of the US.

I'd still like to be able to do the same while living in the US, and if I could find someone to hire me on a part-time H1B that would work wonderfully for me.

I wasn't even sure if this was possible and I'm mainly going by articles like this one: https://www.immihelp.com/part-time-h-1b-visa/

I've not heard of anyone be hired on a part-time H1B ever though. Does anyone know of companies that might be open to this?

I think this could be a great way to be able to hire some engineers you normally wouldn't be able to hire, so I'm surprised companies don't try to do this more often.

ganoushoreilly 4 years ago |

I would imagine that holding an H1B will limit how your pet projects would go. If you're trying to build your own thing / startup etc. It seems counterproductive for anyone to look for a part time dev when there plenty willing to work full time for the same H1B opportunity.

While possible, I'd say it's highly unlikely.

impish19 4 years ago | |

I wouldn't have dared to think of something of the sort till I came across Gumroad's philosophy: https://sahillavingia.com/work

> It seems counterproductive for anyone to look for a part time dev when there plenty willing to work full time for the same H1B opportunity.

If you're a small company, you're going to have a lot of difficulty hiring a senior engineer who's had experience building highly scalable systems or systems with similar unique characteristics. Being open to a part-time position could give you leverage & result in a win-win situation.