I was in your situation circa 2002/3. Here the journey I took; Since I couldn’t earn money while on H-1B, I focused on an open source project that I ended up mo

I was in your situation circa 2002/3. Here the journey I took; Since I couldn’t earn money while on H-1B, I focused on an open source project that I ended up monetizing after I got my green card. It was the best option that turned out to be perfect way to bootstrap a company / project. It was longterm play but it worked for me. Perhaps there are better options now - I would say you need to talk to immigration attorney to be sure. Also worry about making sure your current employment contract (non competent etc) is not an issue down the road. PS: Forgot to mention that EB-5 (investments visa) is a quicker option if you have $500k-$1M to invest.