Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk, precisely relayed in an interview that Elon (and Kimbal) had been as soon as “unlawful immigrants” within the U.S.
A viral meme that circulated within the mid-2010s claimed that South African-born Elon Musk — some of the influential tech entrepreneurs of our time because the founding father of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla — was as soon as, in his youthful brother’s phrases, an “unlawful immigrant” in america.
This is not the primary time Snopes has tried to fact-check this declare. In 2016, we explored whether or not Musk’s immigration standing had ever been “unlawful,” stating that his pathway from pupil visa to eventual U.S. citizenship in 2002 appeared to contain varied authorized visa applications and classes.
The declare gained traction once more on social media platforms together with Reddit and Facebook after an previous interview resurfaced in 2024, during which Musk’s brother, restaurateur Kimbal Musk, talked about their unsure immigration standing whereas recounting the early days of their tech startup, Zip2.
As an illustration, on March 8, 2024, an Instagram account shared the next clip from that 2013 interview with the Musk brothers, the place they mentioned their prior U.S. immigration statuses:
So, was Elon Musk ever actually an undocumented immigrant within the U.S., or does this story have extra nuance?
Snopes reexamined the declare about Musk being a former undocumented immigrant, trying to find any new developments within the eight years since we first explored the declare about his U.S. authorized standing.
Musk’s Murky Immigration Timeline
New discussions round Musk’s immigration journey had been seemingly prompted by the recirculation of that 2013 interview in early 2024, maybe as a result of his feedback surrounding unchecked migration to the U.S. For instance, in February 2024, Musk tweeted the next message, which had acquired practically 33 million views:
(Elon Musk/X)
Nonetheless, on Sept. 29, 2024, Musk adopted up with another post that many interpreted as anti-migrant, during which he claimed, “The Biden/Harris administration has been flying ‘asylum seekers’, who’re fast-tracked to citizenship, instantly into swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Arizona. It’s a surefire method to win each election.“ That put up had greater than 103 million views as of that writing. (Snopes investigated a set of claims similar to this in March 2024.)
A brand new report by The Washington Post, revealed Oct. 26, 2024, tried to uncover the reality about Musk’s personal pathway to U.S. immigration, concluding that he “labored illegally in america as he launched his entrepreneurial profession after ditching a graduate research program in California.“
For its report, The Washington Submit spoke with a number of of Musk’s former enterprise associates in Silicon Valley from the Nineties and with immigration specialists. The report didn’t make clear whether or not these immigration specialists had any direct working data of Musk’s immigration case.
It is also value noting that beneath the Privacy Act of 1974, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies doesn’t share or talk about private immigration details about U.S. residents and lawful everlasting residents as a result of privateness issues. A lot of what we find out about Musk’s pathway to citizenship comes instantly from his statements to the media. Though we reached out to Musk for clarification, he had not responded as of this writing.
Derek Proudian, a board member for the Musk brothers’ former web startup Zip2, which they based in late 1995, informed the Submit, “Their immigration standing was not what it ought to be for them to be legally employed operating an organization within the U.S.,” including, “We do not need our founder being deported.”
The Submit additionally referenced an unnamed 2020 podcast, during which Musk reportedly stated he had a “student-work visa“ in 1995 after deferring his research. Musk acknowledged within the podcast, “I used to be legally there, however I used to be meant to be doing pupil work,“ including, based on The Submit, “I used to be allowed to do work form of supporting no matter.“
The outlet unearthed a number of paperwork, together with an e-mail Musk apparently wrote in 2005 to Tesla co-founders Martin Eberhard and JB Straubel. Reportedly submitted as proof in a defamation lawsuit between Musk and Eberhard, the e-mail included Musk’s account of his determination to defer Stanford to launch his web startup, nevertheless it didn’t affirm Musk’s previous immigration standing. Per the Submit’s recounting of the e-mail:
“I did not actually care a lot for the [Stanford] diploma, however I had no cash for a lab and no authorized proper to remain within the nation, in order that appeared like a great way to unravel each points,” Musk wrote. “Then the web got here alongside, which appeared like a a lot surer guess.”
The day after the Submit revealed its report on Musk’s obvious previous unlawful standing within the U.S. on Oct. 26, 2024, he responded on X, asserting that he did have a J-1 nonimmigrant visa, which later transitioned to an H-1B visa, permitting him to to take part in trade customer applications within the U.S.:
I used to be on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B.
They know this, as they’ve all my information.
Shedding the election is making them determined.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2024
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies web site describes a J-1 classification as approved for people collaborating in authorised applications for educating, researching, lecturing, finding out, observing or consulting. Musk obtained Canadian citizenship a number of years previous to enrolling at Stanford College in 1995. Canadians generally do not need a U.S. entry visa if they’ve an F-1 pupil visa or J-1 visa. Nonetheless, U.S. Customs and Border Protection does require Canadian college students to acquire an I-20 Certificates of Eligibility from their chosen U.S. establishment or trade program.
The Origin of the ‘Unlawful’ Declare
This declare that Musk as soon as had “unlawful” standing within the U.S. appeared to stem from the 2013 interview on the Milken Institute Global Conference. Throughout the interview, Kimbal Musk recalled that enterprise capitalists they met in 1996 (earlier than Elon graduated from the College of Pennsylvania) “realized that we had been unlawful immigrants.“
Elon Musk laughed and corrected him, saying it was extra of a “grey space.”
This probably tongue-in-cheek response fed the narrative that Musk lived within the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant between 1995 and 1997, previous to turning into a U.S. citizen in 2002. A better take a look at the timeline paints a extra sophisticated image.
Born in South Africa in 1971, Musk moved to Canada in 1989 after securing Canadian citizenship via his mom, mannequin and dietitian Maye Musk, who was born in Regina, Canada. Musk’s transfer marked his first step towards authorized immigration to North America.
In 1992, Musk transferred from Queen’s College in Ontario, Canada, to the College of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Philadelphia. Whereas studies point out that Musk enrolled in UPenn on a pupil visa, they do not specify the visa kind. Immigration consultancy Papaya Global claimed he arrived within the U.S. on an F-1 overseas pupil visa, however this element stays unconfirmed. Musk’s documented authorized authorization to reside within the U.S. appears to have begun with this preliminary pupil visa.
Though Musk didn’t graduate UPenn till 1997, after he moved to California, it is unclear whether or not he additionally engaged in Optional Practical Training (OPT), a short lived work authorization typically granted to worldwide college students within the U.S., throughout this time.
In a 2013 South by Southwest (SXSW) keynote handle, Musk described acquiring his H-1B visa, a short lived nonimmigrant authorized work authorization that allowed him to work for U.S. corporations after finishing his research. Nonetheless, he did not point out when he secured the H-1B visa:
“I got here out to Silicon Valley to do a Ph.D. at Stanford [University in 1995], in utilized physics and materials science to work on ultra-capacitors to be used in electrical vehicles. And that is what I used to be going to do, after which I made a decision to place that on maintain to start out an organization. However since I already had my undergrad, I might then get a H-1B visa and that kinda factor. So, the H-1B visa requires a level. However apart from that, if that wasn’t the case, I most likely would’ve stopped schooling sooner.“
Beneath is a snippet of the longer interview from SXSW, shared to X in 2022.
Misinterpretation and the ‘Grey Space’
Kimbal Musk’s feedback in 2013, from which the rumors about Elon Musk’s immigration standing evidently sprang, might have been hyperbolic. Authorized grey areas can typically come up with nonimmigrant momentary visas, particularly if administrative delays to visa processing instances happen between immigration statuses, however no concrete proof exhibits Musk unlawfully residing within the U.S. throughout this era.
Since our preliminary fact-check in 2016, public curiosity in Musk’s immigration standing has persevered, notably with the meme’s resurgence in 2024. Up to date sources additional affirm that whereas Musk’s immigration standing might have been advanced at sure factors, and regardless of claims made by The Washington Submit, no credible proof helps that he was an “unlawful immigrant,” in his brother’s phrases.
In sum, the declare that Elon Musk as soon as held “unlawful” standing within the U.S. stays unproven. Musk’s joke about being in a “grey space” hints at complexities however would not represent proof. Accessible proof signifies he adopted a authorized path via pupil visas and H-1B momentary employment visas, permitting him and his brother to ascertain Zip2 in 1995. Musk later grew to become a U.S. citizen in 2002, although the total particulars of his prior authorized standing stay partially unverified. There isn’t any credible proof that he was ever totally “unlawful” throughout his greater than three many years within the U.S.
We’ll proceed to observe this story for any extra documentation or insights into his early visa standing, and we’ll replace this text as extra info turns into out there.
Snopes’ archives contributed to this report.
