I researched on this a while ago and it is a difficult situation. You can open a company on H1B (not all types though. E.g. Only US citizen/permanent residents

I researched on this a while ago and it is a difficult situation. You can open a company on H1B (not all types though. E.g. Only US citizen/permanent residents can open an S-corp). The problem comes if you actually want to work actively using that company. You are allowed to have equity stake as long as you do not do any work yourself. It is kinda like holding stocks in a company which is allowed to anyone under the sun. In short, you cannot perform any active duties as part of that corporation. You can perform some volunteer work but that remains in a grey area which only attorneys can help with.