7 ms·

Folks On Student Visas Leave Comment About Your Burning Start Up Urge!

17 points by bluishgreen 20y ago

anonymous 20y ago
I've been on an H1-B visa for two years, and have been doing a startup on the side for a year. If there are no more delays, I'll get my Green Card in about three months.
- arasakik 20y ago
  I'm going to have an H1-B visa as well soon (currently on TN). I was under the impression that you're not allowed to work for any other company or start your own while you have an H1-B/TN. Is that true?
  - gms 20y ago
    You can work for another company. There is an H1-B transfer process that involves some paperwork and a fee (which your new company might pay).
  - anonymous 20y ago
    You're allowed to start, and own, a company while on an H1-B. You're allowed to work for it too, so long as you continue to also work for the company that sponsors your H1-B. You are not allowed to pay yourself anything from the new company while on an H1-B. If one of your co-founders, or investors, is a US citizen you *might* be able to arrange a transfer of the H1-B to the new company. This is difficult and expensive though (at least we found it so). I decided it was more sensible for me to just wait for the Green Card.
    - akkartik 20y ago
      _"If one of your co-founders, or investors, is a US citizen you *might* be able to arrange a transfer of the H1-B.."_ Can you elaborate on your experience?
    - arasakik 20y ago
      "You are not allowed to pay yourself anything from the new company while on an H1-B." What about any revenues that your new company might make? Sorry if that is a stupid question, I have done almost no research into this issue yet.
      - anonymous 20y ago
        As far as I know these revenues have to remain the property of your new company (you can leave the money in the bank, or the company can spend it on something). You certainly cannot pay yourself a salary using them.
        arasakik 20y ago
        So essentially what you're saying is that any assets that the company makes cannot be transferred to me until I am an American citizen? I wonder what the consequences would be if I am an H1-B holder and revenues from moonlighting grew to a point where I could quit my day job. Since I am a Canadian, I also wonder if it would be easier to just incorporate in Canada instead - this does not seem optimal either, as Canadian taxes are incredibly high, and the fact that I own a company there would mean that I would not be able to maintain non-residency status (and thus am not exempt from Canadian taxes) =(
        jward 20y ago
        I don't know if the visa thing messes it up, but as a generic Canadian you can own American companies with no issues. I believe the issue is in you paying yourself a salary or the like from the corp. However you should be able to collect dividends just fine. It's been a while since I looked into it for myself, so don't trust me on this. Personally I ended up going for a private Alberta named limited corporation for several reasons. The tax rate starts at 16% if you're poor poor poor like me and maxes at 33% or so total for both federal and provincial. Check into the US corporate tax rates. If I remember doing my research right, you might be better off being a Canadian.
- akkartik 20y ago
  Is it ok to write code for your startup while you're still employed? http://reddit.com/info/l1xb/comments/cl41q?context=5
- pashle 20y ago
  How long do you have to be on a H1-B in order to be granted a GC?
abc 20y ago
I was on a student visa and then said goodbye to school after 1 year (in ESL school) and 3 months (college). I would have continued school if I had the fund while I work on my startup. If you still want to be able to see your family and visit your home country, the best way is to moonlight it. It is very hard but you gotta do what you gotta do. ;)
bluishgreen 20y ago
I want to find out if we are the only ones, or if we have company. Basically myself and a couple of my friends are itching start up. We can't quiet sleep! We see the products out there, and we get a funny feeling, we feel we can do a LOT better. But we are International Grad Students, on student visas. We cannot drop out, even if we want to.( Visa becomes invalid, Currently there are no start up visas :)) Oh, if only Paul Graham were president!. I felt so jealous when octopart posted about his/her dropping out of grad school. We have come to the point, where we are trying to moonlight it. But as moon-lighters know, sometimes it is very hard. Are there more people like us? Leave a comment as to how you deal with it (tips!) Or just leave us a comment!
- pg 20y ago
  Sorry, can't be president (born in England). But as far as I know there is no reason you can't start a company on a student visa. You can't be hired by someone else's company, but you don't have to be a US citizen or resident to own a company based in the US.
  - sharpshoot 20y ago
    pg, you were born in england? where abouts :)
    - pg 20y ago
      Weymouth. My father was working at Harwell. Actually 2 out of 4 YC founders are immigrants. Trevor's from Canada.
  - bluishgreen 20y ago
    Oh We can definitely own a company alright! But the problem is with time/mind space. Currently my entire spring break is dedicated (to pretending) to study for my Qualifier exams! I am hoping it will be better once I finish the requirements and start on the thesis. But it has to be moonlighting I guess, the visa has us cornered.
    - 20y ago
semigeek 20y ago
You can own a business on an H1-B visa - I would talk to an immigration lawyer if I were you. I'm in the states on an L1-A right now which allowed me to bypass the PERM process and qualify for my green card under the EB1 classification; the waiting list under this class is only ~8 months. L1's are bit more expensive, but if you're in a hurry they're worth looking into.
- pashle 20y ago
  Is a H1-B a student visa, or a work visa? And how are they awarded?
  - bluishgreen 20y ago
    H1-B is a work visa, Usually if you get a job in the states, the company sponcers you, as in pays fees to the govt, and agrees that they will pay you well so that you do not become a liability for the govt.Usually it is given for 2 years, after which you have to renew it which is a mess of a hell. Don't get me started on that.
goodgoblin 20y ago
I'm working on a startup on the side, and during the day I work with a couple of really amazing programmers on H1 visas. We get along great, I asked them to help, and before they started working my co-founder suggested we ask a lawyer, just in case. We called the Murthy law firm (http://www.murthy.com/consult.html - experts in immigration law) for a free consultation and unfortunately were told that not only could my coworkers not work for us unless they A) got an additional H1 Visa and B) were paid market rates but that they even came by and made the coffee on a regular basis they could be endangering their Visa status. We would have to actually put them on the payroll, which in our case would mean actually having a payroll. Now, that is probably a bit alarmist but its the kind of thing that might scare off investors in the future. The sad part is that these guys would do amazing things for the startup. They have tons of free time, are absolutely the best programmers I've ever worked with and alot of fun as well. So I'm no lawyer, just thought I'd share the bit of info I got on the subject.
budu3 20y ago
I'm on my OPT (Optional Practical Training), can I start a startup and basically sponsor myself for an H1-B?
- bluishgreen 20y ago
  I don't think this will be possible. But the best people to ask about this would be the folks at the International Student Center at your university.( As it turns out they are the ones who do the processing for the OPT in my university, so they know everything! )
inrev 19y ago
Do you know any concrete case of people on Student Visa (F-1) that joined Y Combinator? What type of visa do they have? What are the options?
motivi 19y ago
I feel you, i really feel you. I have been sitting on 3 implemented ideas, one of which is really good. Working on a 4th idea. Hoping that once the green card gets through, I can break out, start a company and hit the road. on reading this discussion here and this one here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40253 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40253, I did what I could, I blogged about it :) Here it is: http://crunchnot.blogspot.com/2007/08/capitalism-and-road-to-green-card-for.html http://crunchnot.blogspot.com/2007/08/capitalism-and-road-to...

17 points by bluishgreen 20y ago

I've been on an H1-B visa for two years, and have been doing a startup on the side for a year. If there are no more delays, I'll get my Green Card in about three months.

arasakik 20y ago
I'm going to have an H1-B visa as well soon (currently on TN). I was under the impression that you're not allowed to work for any other company or start your own while you have an H1-B/TN. Is that true?
- gms 20y ago
  You can work for another company. There is an H1-B transfer process that involves some paperwork and a fee (which your new company might pay).
- anonymous 20y ago
  You're allowed to start, and own, a company while on an H1-B. You're allowed to work for it too, so long as you continue to also work for the company that sponsors your H1-B. You are not allowed to pay yourself anything from the new company while on an H1-B. If one of your co-founders, or investors, is a US citizen you *might* be able to arrange a transfer of the H1-B to the new company. This is difficult and expensive though (at least we found it so). I decided it was more sensible for me to just wait for the Green Card.
  - akkartik 20y ago
    _"If one of your co-founders, or investors, is a US citizen you *might* be able to arrange a transfer of the H1-B.."_ Can you elaborate on your experience?
  - arasakik 20y ago
    "You are not allowed to pay yourself anything from the new company while on an H1-B." What about any revenues that your new company might make? Sorry if that is a stupid question, I have done almost no research into this issue yet.
    - anonymous 20y ago
      As far as I know these revenues have to remain the property of your new company (you can leave the money in the bank, or the company can spend it on something). You certainly cannot pay yourself a salary using them.
      - arasakik 20y ago
        So essentially what you're saying is that any assets that the company makes cannot be transferred to me until I am an American citizen? I wonder what the consequences would be if I am an H1-B holder and revenues from moonlighting grew to a point where I could quit my day job. Since I am a Canadian, I also wonder if it would be easier to just incorporate in Canada instead - this does not seem optimal either, as Canadian taxes are incredibly high, and the fact that I own a company there would mean that I would not be able to maintain non-residency status (and thus am not exempt from Canadian taxes) =(
        jward 20y ago
        I don't know if the visa thing messes it up, but as a generic Canadian you can own American companies with no issues. I believe the issue is in you paying yourself a salary or the like from the corp. However you should be able to collect dividends just fine. It's been a while since I looked into it for myself, so don't trust me on this. Personally I ended up going for a private Alberta named limited corporation for several reasons. The tax rate starts at 16% if you're poor poor poor like me and maxes at 33% or so total for both federal and provincial. Check into the US corporate tax rates. If I remember doing my research right, you might be better off being a Canadian.
akkartik 20y ago
Is it ok to write code for your startup while you're still employed? http://reddit.com/info/l1xb/comments/cl41q?context=5
pashle 20y ago
How long do you have to be on a H1-B in order to be granted a GC?

abc 20y ago

I was on a student visa and then said goodbye to school after 1 year (in ESL school) and 3 months (college). I would have continued school if I had the fund while I work on my startup. If you still want to be able to see your family and visit your home country, the best way is to moonlight it. It is very hard but you gotta do what you gotta do. ;)

bluishgreen 20y ago

I want to find out if we are the only ones, or if we have company. Basically myself and a couple of my friends are itching start up. We can't quiet sleep! We see the products out there, and we get a funny feeling, we feel we can do a LOT better. But we are International Grad Students, on student visas. We cannot drop out, even if we want to.( Visa becomes invalid, Currently there are no start up visas :)) Oh, if only Paul Graham were president!. I felt so jealous when octopart posted about his/her dropping out of grad school. We have come to the point, where we are trying to moonlight it. But as moon-lighters know, sometimes it is very hard. Are there more people like us? Leave a comment as to how you deal with it (tips!) Or just leave us a comment!

pg 20y ago
Sorry, can't be president (born in England). But as far as I know there is no reason you can't start a company on a student visa. You can't be hired by someone else's company, but you don't have to be a US citizen or resident to own a company based in the US.
- sharpshoot 20y ago
  pg, you were born in england? where abouts :)
  - pg 20y ago
    Weymouth. My father was working at Harwell. Actually 2 out of 4 YC founders are immigrants. Trevor's from Canada.
- bluishgreen 20y ago
  Oh We can definitely own a company alright! But the problem is with time/mind space. Currently my entire spring break is dedicated (to pretending) to study for my Qualifier exams! I am hoping it will be better once I finish the requirements and start on the thesis. But it has to be moonlighting I guess, the visa has us cornered.
  - 20y ago

semigeek 20y ago

You can own a business on an H1-B visa - I would talk to an immigration lawyer if I were you. I'm in the states on an L1-A right now which allowed me to bypass the PERM process and qualify for my green card under the EB1 classification; the waiting list under this class is only ~8 months. L1's are bit more expensive, but if you're in a hurry they're worth looking into.

pashle 20y ago
Is a H1-B a student visa, or a work visa? And how are they awarded?
- bluishgreen 20y ago
  H1-B is a work visa, Usually if you get a job in the states, the company sponcers you, as in pays fees to the govt, and agrees that they will pay you well so that you do not become a liability for the govt.Usually it is given for 2 years, after which you have to renew it which is a mess of a hell. Don't get me started on that.

goodgoblin 20y ago

I'm working on a startup on the side, and during the day I work with a couple of really amazing programmers on H1 visas. We get along great, I asked them to help, and before they started working my co-founder suggested we ask a lawyer, just in case. We called the Murthy law firm (http://www.murthy.com/consult.html - experts in immigration law) for a free consultation and unfortunately were told that not only could my coworkers not work for us unless they A) got an additional H1 Visa and B) were paid market rates but that they even came by and made the coffee on a regular basis they could be endangering their Visa status. We would have to actually put them on the payroll, which in our case would mean actually having a payroll. Now, that is probably a bit alarmist but its the kind of thing that might scare off investors in the future. The sad part is that these guys would do amazing things for the startup. They have tons of free time, are absolutely the best programmers I've ever worked with and alot of fun as well. So I'm no lawyer, just thought I'd share the bit of info I got on the subject.

budu3 20y ago

I'm on my OPT (Optional Practical Training), can I start a startup and basically sponsor myself for an H1-B?

bluishgreen 20y ago
I don't think this will be possible. But the best people to ask about this would be the folks at the International Student Center at your university.( As it turns out they are the ones who do the processing for the OPT in my university, so they know everything! )

inrev 19y ago

Do you know any concrete case of people on Student Visa (F-1) that joined Y Combinator? What type of visa do they have? What are the options?

motivi 19y ago

I feel you, i really feel you. I have been sitting on 3 implemented ideas, one of which is really good. Working on a 4th idea. Hoping that once the green card gets through, I can break out, start a company and hit the road. on reading this discussion here and this one here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40253 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40253, I did what I could, I blogged about it :) Here it is: http://crunchnot.blogspot.com/2007/08/capitalism-and-road-to-green-card-for.html http://crunchnot.blogspot.com/2007/08/capitalism-and-road-to...