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My understanding of H-1Bs is that the basis of the visa is that you are required to work for a U.S.-based employer. How does a H-1B holder get around this restr

My understanding of H-1Bs is that the basis of the visa is that you are required to work for a U.S.-based employer. How does a H-1B holder get around this restriction in founding a startup?

ponker 6y ago
You are typically an employee of the startup that you create.
- kolanos 6y ago
  Right, but you need to be sponsored by your employer to get the visa in the first place. Not saying it can't be done, just unclear on how.
  - ponker 6y ago
    You can create the company from abroad. There’s no real additional process for creating a company from abroad. The banking setup is the only thing that takes longer.
jgalt212 6y ago
it's a list of former H-1Bs (presumably now green card holders or citizens) who subsequently did X.
- dx87 6y ago
  No, the poster named it that as clickbait. >Hey! Never meant to state that all these founders came here on an H1B; just used that in the website name given what's been going on recently.
satya71 6y ago
Right, used to be that H-1B employees would eventually become permanent residents and start businesses. Myself included. Though it's getting harder. It took me 12 years. There are people in H-1B now who have no realistic chance of becoming permanent resident in the life time.
jahlove 6y ago
> Can I leave my H1B sponsoring employer to work for my own company? Can my own company sponsor my H1B? > If you leave your H1B visa sponsoring employer, you will need to find authorized employment with a new sponsoring company that is authorized on your I-129 Form. In theory, that company could be your company but it can be approved only under a narrow set of circumstances. An employer that hires an H1B visa worker must be in a position to have the “right to control” the employee (you). That is by definition not a company in which you control 50%+ of the shares. You can’t hold a job in which you are the person who determines whether you have a job! There needs to be a hire-fire relationship that exists. There are some ways to create a permissible hire-fire relationship within ‘your own’ company that may pass muster in order to secure H1B sponsorship. For instance, you could have a Board of Directors that has explicit hiring and firing control and can replace you and you could also have a co-founder that owns more than 50% of the company’s shares and can hire-fire you. It’s always best to hire an attorney for help establishing ownership in any company, especially if it could put your visa status in jeopardy. https://myrawealth.com/insights/can-i-invest-in-and-start-a-company-on-an-h1b-visa https://myrawealth.com/insights/can-i-invest-in-and-start-a-...

My understanding of H-1Bs is that the basis of the visa is that you are required to work for a U.S.-based employer. How does a H-1B holder get around this restriction in founding a startup?

ponker 6y ago

You are typically an employee of the startup that you create.

kolanos 6y ago
Right, but you need to be sponsored by your employer to get the visa in the first place. Not saying it can't be done, just unclear on how.
- ponker 6y ago
  You can create the company from abroad. There’s no real additional process for creating a company from abroad. The banking setup is the only thing that takes longer.

jgalt212 6y ago

it's a list of former H-1Bs (presumably now green card holders or citizens) who subsequently did X.

dx87 6y ago
No, the poster named it that as clickbait. >Hey! Never meant to state that all these founders came here on an H1B; just used that in the website name given what's been going on recently.

satya71 6y ago

Right, used to be that H-1B employees would eventually become permanent residents and start businesses. Myself included. Though it's getting harder. It took me 12 years. There are people in H-1B now who have no realistic chance of becoming permanent resident in the life time.

jahlove 6y ago

> Can I leave my H1B sponsoring employer to work for my own company? Can my own company sponsor my H1B? > If you leave your H1B visa sponsoring employer, you will need to find authorized employment with a new sponsoring company that is authorized on your I-129 Form. In theory, that company could be your company but it can be approved only under a narrow set of circumstances. An employer that hires an H1B visa worker must be in a position to have the “right to control” the employee (you). That is by definition not a company in which you control 50%+ of the shares. You can’t hold a job in which you are the person who determines whether you have a job! There needs to be a hire-fire relationship that exists. There are some ways to create a permissible hire-fire relationship within ‘your own’ company that may pass muster in order to secure H1B sponsorship. For instance, you could have a Board of Directors that has explicit hiring and firing control and can replace you and you could also have a co-founder that owns more than 50% of the company’s shares and can hire-fire you. It’s always best to hire an attorney for help establishing ownership in any company, especially if it could put your visa status in jeopardy. https://myrawealth.com/insights/can-i-invest-in-and-start-a-company-on-an-h1b-visa https://myrawealth.com/insights/can-i-invest-in-and-start-a-...