Schear Immigration, a boutique US immigration law firm that operates out of Israel, has revealed how it helps executives from tech startups and other businesses be able to work in the US, and take the next step for their businesses.
According to Jennifer Schear, founding partner of Schear Immigration, Israel is commonly referred to as “The startup nation”, due to the large number of startup companies based in the country, particularly in Tel Aviv. Schear says that 90% of the firm’s clients are tech-oriented companies of various sizes, from well-funded startups to big, publicly traded companies, and the firm helps them obtain US work visas and employment-based green cards for their personnel, typically C-suite executives and their families. Aside from Israel, Schear Immigration’s clients are also based in Europe and Asia.
Clients typically approach Schear Immigration after they obtain venture capital funding and they need to obtain work visas for their executives to be able to set up their initial presence in the US. Schear says that some clients gain funding for their startups, move to the US to set up operations, grow the company a few years, have a major exit by getting acquired by a global tech company, and then return to Israel to found a new startup and repeat the process in its startup-friendly ecosystem.
This has led to Schear Immigration becoming a go-to immigration law firm for clients that fit this particular profile. Schear says that her firm provides a higher level of support to clients, and what sets it apart from other US-based and Israeli firms is that it specializes in consular processing. She explains that most immigration processes have two steps – the sponsoring company submits a petition to the immigration service in the US, which adjudicates it, and once it is approved, the next step is applying for a visa at a US embassy abroad.
“For many stateside firms, the representation often ends after the first stage or minimal support is provided for the consular processing. After the petition has been approved, they'll send the client a link to the US embassy's website, and they're on their own in getting their visas. But, there are a lot of things that can go wrong at the consular stage such as background and security checks and other admissibility issues, and these could prevent their entire relocation from going through. That's why we hold the client's hand through visa issuance, because if they don't get their visa, they're going nowhere. This can be catastrophic for tech founders, as their investment is based upon their ability to expand into the US market, which requires them to be on the ground.” Schear says.
Schear Immigration also prides itself on its use of technology tools to manage its files and clients. For example, it partnered with a client of the firm, project management software developer giant monday.com to create a platform for document management with clients and task management within the office. This proved especially valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic, when offices were closed and movement was restricted.
According to Schear, the US immigration eligibility requirements are similar, regardless if the startup executives are coming from Israel, Asia, or Europe. She and her team have an intimate view of the tech startup ecosystem, because they have worked with many founders and have seen many successes and failures.
“Early planning is extremely important. We've seen companies that plan everything carefully from the beginning, including how they set up their company and their immigration strategy.
Those that do not formulate a clear roadmap, tend to face significant obstacles, which can be both costly and delay their entry into the US market,” Schear says.
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